Ebbe Sadolin’s London
Danish Illustrator Ebbe Sadolin (1900-82) visited London in the years following the War to capture the character of the capital, just recovering from the Blitz, in a series of lyrical drawings executed in elegant spidery lines. Remarkably, he included as many images of the East End as the West End and I publish a selection of favourites here from the forties.
George & Dragon, Shoreditch
St Katherine’s Way, Wapping
The Prospect of Whitby, Wapping
Stocks, Shoreditch
Petticoat Lane
Tower Green, Tower of London
The Olde Cheshire Cheese, Fleet St
Rough Sleeper, Shoreditch
Islington Green
Nightingale Lane, Wapping
Fleet St
Wapping churchyard
Tower of London
Commercial Rd, Stepney
St Pancras Station
High St, Plaistow
Bride of Denmark, Queen Anne’s Gate
Liverpool St Station
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Beautiful line work.
These are amazing beautiful drawings. A treat to see. Thank you so much GA
These are brilliant drawings – not just the buildings but also the people. He manages to capture the essential characters of both brilliantly with the minimum of lines – a great skill I wish I had!
Such talent, and captured so succinctly. The drawings have real life and movement to them.
Absolutely great sketches. Fond memories of when working in the City area at that time.
Very impressive drawings in quite typical style of the postwar period: very light and airy.
Love & Peace
ACHIM
Deceptively simple and so effective.
A real treasure trove, thank you.
I particularly love the Tower of London and Bride of Denmark drawings. The Guinness and Andrews Liver Salts advertisements made me smile; they are of their time I think.
Love these.
Thanks to this wonderful artist, I can bring these fantastic sketches into 3D, full colour images in my headspace.
Greetings from Boston,
GA, just love Ebbe’s sketches. He has such a way with trees and vegetation. Really captures the spirit of London!
I’m a little rusty on the specifics, but I believe that your nation has a special award……a
MBE? Or some such? Anyhow, may I suggest that a new award should be instituted for
Expert Chroniclers of the Realm? Many of the artists featured here would be acknowledged for their abilities to capture a moment, a street corner, a passage way, a market, etc. Not to
mention the people who inhabit these fascinating places.
Until the award idea takes hold, thank goodness for GA. We salute you, and all the
artists you feature. Hurrah and huzzah!
These make me feel like dancing!
I would love a book of these!
So the stocks had a roof so that the “stockee” wouldn’t get wet if it rained. How civilised.
Nightingale Lane, Wapping is very economical of line. I would love to know if it is really as spare of detail as the drawing suggests. Does anyone know?
Wonderful! Like Su C, I too would love a book of these.