British Rube Goldberg: W. Heath Robinson Illustration Style

British Rube Goldberg: W. Heath Robinson Illustration Style - v1.0

Trained on nineteen B & W drawings by the English cartoonist, illustrator and artist William Heath Robinson (31 May 1872 – 13 September 1944). All the drawings are from his whimsical Railway Ribaldry, a work commissioned by the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1935. Robinson is considered the British version of Rube Goldberg. He is also the younger brother of Charles Robinson.

To see his works, please go to:

From ChatGPT

W. Heath Robinson (William Heath Robinson, 1872–1944) was a British illustrator, cartoonist, and humorist best known for his whimsical drawings of overly complicated and absurdly impractical machines designed to achieve simple tasks. His work became so iconic that in the UK, the phrase "Heath Robinson contraption" is still used to describe any overly elaborate or ingenious mechanical device.

Early Life and Career

Born: May 31, 1872, in London, England
Family: He came from a family of artists—his father, Thomas Robinson, was a wood engraver, and his brothers, Charles and Thomas, were also illustrators.
Education: Studied at Islington School of Art and later at the Royal Academy Schools.

Heath Robinson initially aimed to be a landscape painter, but he found greater success and joy in illustration.

Illustration Work

Robinson began his career as a book illustrator in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, contributing illustrations to editions of classic works such as:

The Arabian Nights
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
The Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

His early work was highly detailed and in the style of Art Nouveau, but he later transitioned to more humorous and satirical work.

The Famous Contraptions

Around 1912, Robinson began to focus on the humorous, fantastical machines that brought him lasting fame. These contraptions were often drawn in a detailed, pseudo-engineering style, filled with cogs, levers, and pulleys. His inventions were wonderfully inefficient, poking fun at modern technology and society's obsession with machinery.

Typical Examples:

A machine for peeling potatoes using elaborate pulleys and cranks
A device for catching burglars using a complex system of nets and tripwires
A gadget for replacing golf balls in a hole

His work was widely published in magazines and newspapers, particularly during World War I and World War II, where his humorous takes on wartime devices helped boost morale.

Legacy

Term "Heath Robinson": Synonymous with absurdly complex devices.
Influence: Precursor to Rube Goldberg’s similar cartoons in the United States.
Publications: He authored several books, including How to Live in a Flat (with K.R.G. Browne) and How to Be a Perfect Husband.
Wartime Contributions: Produced propaganda and morale-boosting illustrations during both world wars.

Death

Heath Robinson died on September 13, 1944, in London. Despite his passing, his legacy endures in the world of illustration and humor.

How is he related to Rube Goldberg?

W. Heath Robinson and Rube Goldberg were kindred spirits in terms of artistic style and comedic sensibility, even though they worked independently and on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Here’s how they’re related:

1. Parallel Inventors of Absurd Machinery

Heath Robinson (UK) was already famous for his drawings of absurdly elaborate contraptions by the early 1900s, well before Rube Goldberg became known for similar work in the United States.
Rube Goldberg (US), who started his career as a cartoonist and engineer around 1915, created similarly convoluted machines that became iconic in American culture.

While Robinson's contraptions were typically whimsical and British in tone, Goldberg’s were more satirical, often poking fun at American bureaucracy and inefficiency.

2. Cultural Influence

In the UK, any impractical invention is called a "Heath Robinson contraption."
In the US, a "Rube Goldberg machine" describes a similarly absurd, overly complex device designed to accomplish a simple task.
Though the terminology differs, both are used to describe the same kind of humorous, overly complicated invention.

3. Shared Themes

Both artists built their reputations on mocking society’s obsession with technology and gadgets. They exaggerated the complexity of simple solutions to create ridiculous but oddly logical machines.

4. No Direct Collaboration

Robinson and Goldberg never worked together and were not directly influenced by each other. However, Goldberg was certainly aware of Robinson’s work, and both were part of the larger satirical tradition of the early 20th century.

Main Difference:

Robinson’s work: Often charming, whimsical, and set in domestic or rural British contexts, with Victorian-style mechanisms.
Goldberg’s work: More cartoonish, with a focus on social commentary and American industrial society.