David C. Barker

Over the course of his life David C Barker was a wartime cartoonist, illustrator, painter, animator and etcher. He served during World War One with the Australian Imperial Force Light Horsemen.

Born in Ballarat, Victoria in 1888, David displayed an artistic talent from an early age winning first prize in an art competition at Nnill Art School with a bust of Moses. Soon after this his family moved to Sydney where he was enrolled at Fort Street School. No fan of schooling, David preferred to spend his time fishing, or sketching down by the harbour. Once out of school he worked twelve hour days in a soft drink factory whilst attending art school at night. Within months he secured work with publishers, William Brooks and Co and subsequently an apprenticeship with a firm of engravers.

 

 R.M.S Makura

Upon completion of his apprenticeship David made his way to America via Vancouver, BC, Canada, earning his passage by polishing Brass on the R.M.S Makura. After six months as a waiter in Seattle, David found employment in Philadelphia with The Curtis Publishing Company, publishers of The Ladies' Home Journal, The Saturday Evening Post, and The American Home amongst others. After a spell in New York he was off again, landing in Paris with only smile.

After the outbreak of World War One, David found himself back in Australia and enlisted in April,1915. Serving with the Anzac's as a stretcher bearer on the Gallipoli Peninsula, David was soon putting his art skills to use as Art editor of The Anzac Book. After having suffered losses and wounded in the thousands soldiers under constant fire, scribbled down writings, illustrations, cartoons and poems to create one hundred and fifty submissions. Adorned with a painting by David, The Anzac Book was a best seller upon its release in 1916.

There is not a lot of information available about the following year of David's life other than being assigned to the British Army in Mesopotamia to work as a Cartographer under the orders of Col. T.E. Lawrence commonly known now as Lawrence of Arabia. They were the same age, perhaps Lawrence and David were friends? Lawrence was a prolific writer, a detailed examination of his work might turn up a trace of David Barker.

 

David Barker covers for The Kia Ora Coo-ee

In 1918 David served as the Art Editor for The Kia Ora Coo-ee, a service magazine for Anzac troops during World War One, making a significant contribution to the ten issues that were produced over the year until the wars end. Written and edited by Australian and New Zealand troops serving in Egypt, Palestine, Salonica and Mesopotamia, The Kia Ora Coo-ee was printed through a commercial printing establishment in Cairo which allowed for the production of a professional service magazine with the longest and most regular record of publication during the War.

Cartoons by David Barker for The Kia Ora Coo-ee

After the war David was the art editor for Australia in Palestine (Angus & Robertson 1919) and  a founding member of the council of the Sydney Painter-Etchers Society, who he exhibited with, as well as showing etchings and watercolours with NSW Society of Artists in the 1920s. David Barker Passed away in Granville, Sydney, in 1946.

 

Click on image above to view David Barker animation short Snippy is an Artful Dodger produced c. 1925