A. H. Fish

Hidden behind the initials "A. H." was Anne Harriet Fish (Sefton), one of Conde Nast's signature illustrators of the 1910s and 1920s. Information about Fish and why she chose to obscure her identity is difficult to come by. Her style was spare and modern, her use of line and color always striking the right balance between too much and not enough. Her viewpoint was satirical, but always charming: lovers are oblivious to the envy they inspire in others; pets are openly skeptical of human emotions; and husbands are never so much fun as boyfriends.

Born in Bristol, England in 1890, Fish began publishing in Vogue and Vanity Fair during World War I. Between 1914 and 1927 she created more than thirty covers for Vanity Fair, making her one of the identifiable illustrators of her era. Why Fish should be forgotten and her contemporary John Held, Jr. be so often reprinted is difficult to understand. Her pixies are as much exemplars of the gaiety of that era as are held's flappers. She married Walter Sefton, an Irishman, in New York City in 1918. She also designed porcelain figurines, as did Susi Singer. Fish died in 1964.

You can see some drawings by A. H. Fish at http://www.artdecoblog.blogspot.com/2007/_04_15_archive.html

There is also some information at http://mum.org/FISH1.htm

I would love to know more about her.