Phil May

The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is caricature, visual arts and illustration. Places of work recorded in the authority are Netherlands and Volendam. Work by Phil May is recorded in the collections of National Gallery of Victoria, Art Institute of Chicago, Tate, National Portrait Gallery and Yale Center for British Art.

• Name — Phil May • Birth Name — Philip William May • Born — 22 April 1864 • Birthplace — Wortley, Leeds, England • Died — 5 August 1903 • Place of death — St John's Wood, London, England

Phil May was born at Wortley, near Leeds, the son of an engineer, who died when May was nine years old. His mother was the daughter of Eugene Macarthy, one time manager of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. May's grandfather, a country gentleman, had some talent as a draughtsman and liked drawing caricatures. At the age of twelve, in Leeds, May became friendly with Fred Fox, whose father was the scenic artist at the recently opened Grand Theatre. That gave him a free run of the theatre, where he used to sketch sections of other people's designs for costumes, as well as sketching actors' portraits, for which he received one shilling, later rising to five shillings. Another of his contemporaries was Walter Curtis, who became prominent as a music hall comedian and general entertainer. • Illustration — Bookplate of English caricaturist Phil May May had begun to earn his living in a solicitor's office; before he was fifteen he had acted as time-keeper at a foundry, had tried to become a jockey and had been on the stage at Scarborough and Leeds. When only fourteen years old, had drawings accepted for the Yorkshire Gossip. When he was about seventeen he went to London with a sovereign in his pocket. He suffered extreme want, sleeping out in the parks and streets, until he obtained employment as designer to a theatrical costumier. He also drew posters and cartoons, and for about two years worked for the St Stephens Review, until he was advised to go to Australia for his health. • Illustration — "Phil", by Leslie Ward, in Vanity Fair, 1895. During the three years (1886–1889) he spent in Australia he was attached to The Sydney Bulletin, or The Bulletin as it was better known, for which many of his best drawings were made. He produced about 800 drawings for The Bulletin. On his return to Europe he went to Paris by way of Rome, where he worked hard for some time, before he appeared in 1892 in London to resume his interrupted connection with the St Stephens Review. His studies of the London guttersnipe and the coster-girl rapidly made him famous. His overflowing sense of fun, his genuine sympathy with his subjects, and his kindly wit were on a par with his artistic ability. While drawing for The Bulletin he would produce the illustration “The Mongolian Octopus” (1886), an anti-Chinese cartoon which has been described as “the most scandalous and racist cartoon ever to grace the Australian media”. The Bulletin’s motto at this time was “Australia for the White Man”; May himself has been described as “openly racist and anti-Semitic”. It was often said that the extraordinary economy of line which was a characteristic feature of his drawings had been forced upon him by the deficiencies of the printing equipment of the Sydney Bulletin. It was in fact the result of a laborious process which involved a number of preliminary sketches, and a carefully considered system of elimination. His later work included some excellent political portraits. He became a regular member of the staff of Punch in 1896, and in his later years his services were retained exclusively for Punch and The Graphic. In 1898, he was a founder member of the London Sketch Club. He died from tuberculosis in 1903 at his home in St John's Wood, London.

• Illustration — "Information wanted: 'Say, boy, do my boots want cleaning?'," 1891. • Illustration — "The first smoke." • Illustration — "Remember, remember." • Illustration — William Ewart Gladstone, 1890. • Illustration — "I fear no foe," 1894.

• Illustration — "Phil May as seen by himself". • Illustration — Phil May, by C.D. Gibson. • Illustration — Sketch of May, by Hy Mayer, 1899. • Illustration — Self-portrait by May. • Illustration — "Phil May drawn by himself".

Phil May is recorded with the occupation caricaturist. "Phil May's Bust.