April 10 is the birthday of Irish writer, editor, critic, poet and painter GEORGE WILLIAM RUSSELL aka Æ (1867-1935).

"Seek on earth what you have found in heaven."

Russell's "generosity and hospitality were legendary: Frank O'Connor fondly recalled 'the warmth and kindness, which enfolded you like an old fur coat.' He was the most loyal of friends, and in the notoriously fractious Dublin literary world Russell tried to keep the peace between his endlessly quarrelling colleagues: even the abrasive Seamus O'Sullivan could be forgiven a great deal, simply because 'Seamus drinks too much.' His interests were wide-ranging; he became a theosophist and wrote extensively on politics and economics, while continuing to paint and write poetry. Æ claimed to be a clairvoyant, able to view various kinds of spiritual beings, which he illustrated in paintings and drawings." (Wikipedia)

To see examples of Russell’s art, CLICK HERE.

April 10 is the birthday of Austrian illustrator ALFRED KUBIN (1877-1959).

Kubin "is considered an important representative of Symbolism and Expressionism and is noted for dark, spectral, symbolic fantasies, often assembled into thematic series of drawings. Like Oskar Kokoschka and Albert Paris Gütersloh, Kubin had both artistic and literary talent. He illustrated the works of Edgar Allan Poe, E.T.A. Hoffmann, and Fyodor Dostoevsky, among others. Kubin also illustrated the German fantasy magazine Der Orchideengarten. From 1906 until his death, he lived a withdrawn life in a small castle on a 12th-century estate in Zwickledt, Upper Austria. In 1938, at the Anschluss of Austria and Nazi Germany, his work was declared entartete Kunst or 'degenerate art,' but he managed to continue working during World War II." (Wikipedia)

To see examples of Kubin’s art, CLICK HERE.

April 10 is the birthday of American children's book author and illustrator CLARE TURLAY NEWBERRY (1903-1970).

After studying in Paris at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Newberry "hoped to become a portrait painter, but she abandoned this in 1934 for cat illustration. Her next book, Mittens, was the story of a six-year-old boy who posts an ad for his lost kitten. It became a bestseller and was named one of the Fifty Books of the Year by the American Institute of Graphic Arts. Her four Caldecott Honor Books were Barkis, about a sister jealous of a brother's new puppy, Marshmallow, about the relationship between a cat and a baby rabbit, April's Kittens, about a family with an extra kitten in an apartment that permits only one cat, and T-Bone the Babysitter, about a cat with spring fever. Her book Smudge was also one of the AIGA Fifty Books of the Year ... four of her works were named Caldecott Honor Books." (Wikipedia)

To see examples of Newberry’s art, CLICK HERE.

April 10 is the birthday of pianist, composer and the "father of exotica," MARTIN DENNY (1911-2005).

"In a long career that saw him performing well into the 1980s, he toured the world popularizing his brand of lounge music which included exotic percussion, imaginative rearrangements of popular songs, and original songs that celebrated Tiki culture." (Wikipedia)

April 10 is the birthday of French jazz pianist and composer CLAUDE BOLLING (1930-2020).

Bolling "was also noted for a series of "crossover" collaborations with classical musicians. His Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio with Jean-Pierre Rampal, a mix of Baroque elegance with modern swing, has been a top seller for many years, and was followed up by other works in the same vein. It was particularly popular in the United States, at the top of the hit parade for two years after its release and on the Billboard top 40 for 530 weeks, roughly ten years." (Wikipedia)