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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These are stunning. Thank
You for posting.
Behind these delightful, light hearted sketches is draughtsmanship of the highest quality, what an incredible talent and skill.
wonderful drawings…off to look him up….
Love these! Ebbe Sadolin has the rare ability to draw movement, haste, in his people – most artists’ moving figures are static as butterflies pinned to paper. The adverts are evocative. We all Macleaned our teeth, and Gran had Mirro and Rinso in the kitchen… All so very long ago, now.
What an amazing grouping. This artist was so skilled — just notice the VOLUME in his drawings. Although the line quality is light and airy, we can feel the weight and volume of the locations.
A unique ability, if you ask me. Indoors, outdoors, seaside, urban, etc. Hard to have a favorite, but I think the final drawing, looking “down” into the bowl of the terminal, is fantastic. I love the hubbub, the placement of figures, the vast vaulted structure, the comforting view of
humanity, the waiting train. He knew “what to leave in, what to leave out”, for sure.
Thank you for the daily dose of optimism.
I love these sketches – so light of touch, but so full of close observation and humanity. I especially like the almost rural appearance of Plaistow, the Dolls’ Hospital at Islington Green – well I could list what I love about every one of them!
My goodness, what a splendid EYE this artist has!
THANK-YOU so much for sharing these wonderful images. Once seen – never forgotten!
Thanks for posting these, I have a small collection of his ‘Wanderings’ books from around Europe and hope to buy some more when in Copenhagen this summer. Highly recommend them if you can get hold of them, they aren’t more than 15€ gerneally plus postage. A real treat!