The illustrator Fritz Wegner, who has died aged 90, was a prolific creator of funny, detailed and memorable drawings, and a much-loved teacher. Born in Vienna to secular Jewish parents Michael and Eti, his secure childhood was abruptly ended by the Anschluss of 1938. After drawing a cartoon of Hitler and enraging his pro-Nazi teacher, he understood the danger he was in and his parents organised his departure, alone, by train to London.
His parents and sister were able to join him later, but initially Fritz was taken in by George Mansell, one of his teachers at St Martin’s School of Art (now Central Saint Martins), and his wife. As Wegner recalled in an interview: “It was an extremely generous thing to do and indeed I lived with them for several years, learning everything I later knew about lettering, penmanship, gilding and the Roman alphabet. That was the start of an early passion, after which I moved on to doing illustrations.
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At the outbreak of war, Wegner worked as a labourer on the land in Buckinghamshire, gaining further education from his co-workers, mostly conscientious objectors. While here, he met the journalist Janet Barber, who was living in a nearby village. They were married two years later and moved to Bromley, then Hampstead Heath...
Wegner began his long career as a freelance illustrator by working for Liliput magazine and drawing book jackets for a range of publishers. Titles included the English edition of The Catcher in the Rye (1951), and religious works by Dorothy L Sayers such as The Story of Noah’s Ark (1956) and The Days of Christ’s Coming, (1960), in a slightly medieval style. Working constantly to support a family of three, Wegner undertook a range of illustration work, including stamps for Christmas and other festivities and, from 1973, a string of drawings for the American children’s magazine, Cricket, which featured running commentary by insect characters. He found his métier in children’s books, including the new edition by Bodley Head of André Maurois’s Fattypuffs and Thinifers (1968), subsequently reprinted with colour added.
Fritz Wegner illustrations are nearly always comical, and while crowded with detail, the strength of the drawing and composition draws the eye inwards to explore their parallel world. In 1990, he was voted The Illustrator’s Illustrator....
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Although Wegner could be modest and diffident about his work, he was a gregarious man and his domed head and neatly bearded and spectacled face, with a bow tie for formal occasions, were often seen at the Art Workers’ Guild (to which he was introduced by Mansell in 1952), the Chelsea Arts Club and at the dinners of the Double Crown Club. The latter was responsible for publishing a pamphlet, Fritzschrift, for his 90th birthday, which should prompt a wider appreciation.
In his final years, failing eyesight and health confined Wegner to home. He is survived by Janet and their children, Nicholas, Charles and Elizabeth, and nine grandchildren.
Here are some samples of Wegner's work:
And lastly, the artist himself, a self-portrait:
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