Ralph Thompson

Ralph Thompson was born in Yorkshire and studied at the Leeds College of Art and at the Royal College of Art.

Ralph specialised in pen and ink sketches of animal subjects. His draughtsmanship was of the highest order and his work succeeded in capturing the character and charm of his subjects.

He was also an illustrator, his most noteworthy works being his series of book illustrations for the famous naturalist and author Gerald Durrell in the period 1954 to 1964. During this period of time he visited Gerald Durrell’s Jersey Zoo numerous times to sketch his subjects, especially when working on the illustrations of Menagerie Manor.

He had illustration credits for numerous other animal books such as ‘Chess Dream in a Garden’ by Rosemary Sutcliff. He was also the author of two books on animal illustration: ‘A Brush with Animals’ by Rupert Hart Davis (1963) and ‘An Artists Safari’ (Collins, 1970) and a pictorial history of ‘The 15th/19th, The King’s Royal Hussars’ (Quoin, 1989).

His first exhibition was at the Tryon Gallery in 1964, and he featured in further Tryon exhibitions in 1970, 1973, 1976, 1978 (Paris), 1979, 1982, 1985. His last exhibition was held with us in 1998 to celebrate his 85th birthday.