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by Martin Greenwood (Author)
An affectionate and comprehensive biography of extraordinary Bradfordian Percy Monkman (1892-1986). Actor, comedian, celebrated watercolourist and cartoonist and mainstay of the arts for over eight decades, Percy Monkman was the centre of an illustrious group of writers and artists, including JB Priestley. This illustrated memoir by his grandson chronicles his life.
Born into a working family ion the last decade of the 19th century, Percy Monkman became fascinated by the arts during his service in the First World War. After volunteering for the RAMC, he soon found himself taking part in revues designed to entertain the troops and take their minds off the misery of the trenches. He was quickly picked out by senior officers as a star and was noted for his comedy routines, some of which he wrote. During this period, Monkman also discovered his talent for drawing. These two passions, theatre and art, would be with him for life.
By day he worked in a bank -- the same one all his days -- but by night and on weekends, Monkman was a different man, whether performing in the limelight of the stage, where he was always a hit, or painting in his beloved Yorkshire. His theatre work spanned the gamut from light comedy to more serious drama, but it was as a comic character actor that he really shone and this was always his first love in theatre. In painting he preferred waterclour and is one in a long and noble trandition of English Watercolourists, who preferred the speed and spontaneity of the medium to the slower one of oil.
Monkman was also a devoted family man, remaining married to his wife Doris, whom he married in 1918, until her untimely demise and always supporting his children and grandchildren. He was careful of his friends, and was spoken of fondly by many, including the great JB Priestley, one of England's premier men of letters of the 20th century.
Illustrated with over 80 images including high quality reproductions of some of Monkman's most famous paintings, the book is both a visual delight and a joy to read.
