Henry Mayo Bateman was born in Australia but returned to England for his education. His brilliance stems from the ability to capture the essence of a character in just a few small strokes of the pen. He used very thin paper for his illustrations which he stuck down to sheets of card - this means that the freshness of colour of some of his works has been dulled over the years, however his penmanship more than makes up for this oversight.
Bateman was a British humorous artist and cartoonist. His satire and wit brought forth the spotlight of due criticism on upper-class social gaffes. He was noted for his "The Man Who…" series of cartoons, featuring hilariously exaggerated reactions to minor and usually high-class social gaffes such as "The Man Who Lit His Cigar Before The Royal Toast," "The Man Who Threw a Snowball at St. Moritz," and "The Boy Who Breathed on the Glass at the British Museum" which featured in the satirical magazine Punch.