Frank Patterson cycling artist (or ‘Pat’ as he was known) was born on October 12th, 1871. His artistic talent showed itself quite early in life when as a boy in Portsmouth he illustrated sea stories for his sailor father who wrote for the ‘Boys Own Paper’.
As a young man Frank did design work for the furniture trade before his interest in cycling led him in the early 1890’s to the Temple Press, publishers of ‘Cycling’ magazine. From here onwards, scarcely an issue came out without some of his pen and ink illustrations. He became equally popular in the ‘Cyclists Touring Club Gazette’ where his pictures began to appear from 1925 onwards.
This site will, I hope be a tribute to Frank Patterson's work as a cycling artist who through his pen and ink drawings portrayed so well those intimate qualities of being a cyclist during the latter part of the 19th century through to the middle of the 20th century. Some of us would say, these were 'the halcyon days' of the sport.
a |
