Ronald Searle: Le Nouveau Ballet Anglais

Le Nouveau Ballet Anglais (1946) is a scarce book title by Ronald Searle published for the French market. It contains sixteen drawings, of which only one is reproduced in this recent eBay listing. In the immediate post-war years, Searle had hoped to establish himself as a serious artist chronicling the times. It was in humorous illustration that he was to achieve his greatest success.

Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. puts this period of Searle's life in context for us:

http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/searle.htm

Cover to Ronald Searle's Le Nouveau Ballet Anglais, Paris, Montbrun, 1946

Title page to Ronald Searle's Le Nouveau Ballet Anglais, Paris, Montbrun, 1946

Limitation page to Ronald Searle's Le Nouveau Ballet Anglais, Paris, Montbrun, 1946.
Exemplaire No. 490 of 650 numbered copies plus four lettered copies.

Ronald Searle, "Ballerina" from Le Nouveau Ballet Anglais, Paris, Montbrun, 1946

Hand-written copy of the book review from the Edinburgh Evening News, 

Note:  Stop me if you've heard this before. A world-class exhibition of Ronald Searle's reportage work for the American magazine market is planned for San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum this November. The animation community has contributed brilliantly to an eBay fundraiser for the "Searle in America" show. There are still some fine items to be had here.

The Searle in America blog is dedicated to this forthcoming exhibition as well as the eBay fundraiser and can be seen here.

Of course, Perpetua, the Ronald Searle tribute blog, should be your first stop in exploring the work of this amazing cartoonist, and it's right here.

And once you're done with all that, my own Searle posts are right here. Yes indeed!

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Ronald Searle: "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines"

What is one to do when a fantastic illustration comes along but it is offered at a stratospheric price? As might be expected, the artwork receives no bids, and when the item is relisted the price slowly begins to drop--but not nearly enough to elicit any bidding activity. At some point, one expects, the price may be lowered to a reasonable level and find a buyer, but the owner, who turns 100 during this time period, decides he would rather keep it hanging on his wall than drop the price any further.

That's what happened to a terrific illustration by Ronald Searle from the title sequence of "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" (Twentieth Century Fox, 1965). Initially offered in the $18,000 to $20,000 price range, it subsequently failed to sell for $13,000 to $17,000 and has not been relisted. Sale prices for Searle illustrations occasionally may reach this range, but it is far from the norm.

Ronald Searle, Title Sequence Illustration, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes, Twentieth Century Fox, 1965 

April 2, 2013 Original eBay Listing Price

 http://www.ebay.com/itm/RONALD-SEARLE-ORIGINAL-WATERCOLOR-LARGE-Those-Mag-Men-In-Flying-Machines-MOVIE-/140943839491?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&nma=true&si=VJo29%252F7WbHpl1SY9gWmnl4%252FkT80%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

May 9, 2013 Final eBay Listing Price

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RONALD-SEARLE-ORIGINAL-WATERCOLOR-LARGE-Those-Mag-Men-In-Flying-Machines-MOVIE-/140971264207?ViewItem=&ssPageName=ADME%3AB%3ASS%3AUS%3A1123&item=140971264207&nma=true&si=VJo29%252F7WbHpl1SY9gWmnl4%252FkT80%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Ronald Searle, Title Sequence Illustration, "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes," Twentieth Century Fox, 1965

[End of eBay Listing]

Ronald Searle, Bill Richardson, and Allen Andrews. Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes (London:  Dennis Dobson, 1965), Pages 22-23

Elmo Williams:  A Hollywood Memoir (2006)
Mr. Williams is the owner of this artwork.

Note:  As I've been writing, a major exhibition of Ronald Searle's reportage work for the American market is coming to San Francisco this fall. The eBay fundraiser for the "Searle in America" exhibition can be viewed here.

The Searle in America blog can be seen here.

Perpetua, the Ronald Searle tribute blog, is right here.

In addition to all this, my own Ronald Searle posts are right here. Happy reading.

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Ronald Searle: The Day the Truth Got Out

I've been following cartoonist Ronald Searle's work dutifully, even obsessively, for more than 35 years now and there are still countless published drawings I've never seen. On eBay, this undated (but apparently 1953) supplement to the April-May Lilliput has just been sold. The price isn't bad but the 15 GBP international shipping seemed a bit excessive to me. The good news is that of the six published Searle drawings, the seller has included two of them in his listing. This is how eBay sellers make the world a better place, well, one of the ways.

Ronald Searle, "The Day the Truth Got Out," The First Long Story by Patrick Campbell,
Spring Supplement to Lilliput, April-May (1953)

Ronald Searle, "The Day the Truth Got Out," by Patrick Campbell,
Spring Supplement to Lilliput, April-May (1953), Inside Front Cover and Page 1

"The Day the Truth Got Out" eBay Listing Ended August 4, 2013

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ronald-Searle-The-Day-the-Truth-Got-Out-with-Patrick-Campbell-/290951336323?pt=Antiquarian_Books_UK&hash=item43be0d1183

Note:  As I've already mentioned in recent posts, a major showing of Ronald Searle's reportage work is coming to San Francisco. The exciting eBay fundraiser for the forthcoming "Searle in America" exhibition can be viewed here.

The Searle in America blog is here.

Perpetua, the Ronald Searle tribute blog, is here.

In addition to all this, my own Searle posts are all here.

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Ronald Searle Roller Skater

Right now there's a lot of interest in the reportage work of Ronald Searle. An exhibition of the artist's original illustrations for Holiday magazine and for the American market in general is slated to open this November in San Francisco and should be brilliant. To help raise funds for this project, including shipping vintage Searle illustrations to San Francisco and producing an exhibition catalogue, many prominent animators have contributed original works of art inspired by Searle. There are currently multiple such works listed on eBay as well as a couple of German fountain pens that belonged to Searle himself and were donated to the auction by his estate.

There was, of course, a whimsical side to Searle's artwork as well. For example, this lithograph of an uninhibited roller skater is from the 1970 suite Meilleurs Voeux [Best Wishes] published by Michel Cassé, Paris. The suite consisted of five small lithographs trimmed from the usual 50 x 65 cm sheet and published in a numbered edition of 200 for the Galerie La Pochade in Paris. An additional seven were set aside for the printer and there were ten artist's proofs numbered in Roman numerals. The set of lithographs is Gurlitt no. 72 in the catalogue which erroneously gives the date of 1971 for the suite. The black-and-white 1971 catalogue illustrations as well as this eBay listing both support the 1970 date.

Ronald Searle, Meilleurs Voeux, 1970, 106/200, Gurlitt (1971) No. 72 (5)

Ronald Searle, Meilleurs Voeux, 1970, 106/200, Gurlitt (1971) No. 72 (5)

Ronald Searle Signature

Ronald Searle, Meilleurs Voeux, 1970, 106/200, Gurlitt (1971) No. 72 (5) Detail

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ronald-Searle-original-lithograph-1970-numbered-hand-signed-in-pencil-/111035564865?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&nma=true&si=VJo29%252F7WbHpl1SY9gWmnl4%252FkT80%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Ronald Searle, Meilleurs Voeux, 1970, 106/200, Gurlitt (1971) No. 72 (5)

Note:  All the animators' original artwork and other items up for bidding on eBay to raise funds for the "Searle in America" exhibition can be viewed here.

The Searle in America blog is here.

Perpetua, the Ronald Searle tribute blog, is here.

My own Searle posts are all here.

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Ronald Searle Signed Photo

I have no idea how many cartoonists sign glossy photos of themselves just as any celebrity would, although I suspect not all that many. Ronald Searle certainly was a celebrity by any definition, but even for him it must have been a little unusual to sign this modern print of a vintage photo some 55 years after the fact. It's hard to determine its individual worth, as it was sold with a small, uncommon volume in German as well. The book illustrations provided by Searle seem to be reused from other sources. Still, the entire package seems like a reasonable deal to me.

Ronald Searle Signed Photograph

The back of the photo paper. Clearly, this is not a vintage photograph.

Ronald Searle Signature, January 2011

Oscar Wilde,  Elisabeth Schnack, translator, and Ronald Searle, illustrator. Kleiner Seitensprung (Zurich, 1954) Cover

Oscar Wilde,  Elisabeth Schnack, translator, and Ronald Searle, illustrator. Kleiner Seitensprung (Zurich, 1954)

Oscar Wilde,  Elisabeth Schnack, translator, and Ronald Searle, illustrator. Kleiner Seitensprung (Zurich, 1954)

Ronald Searle, "I'll just die and then you'll be sorry." [1947 or earlier], Oscar Wilde,  Elisabeth Schnack, translator, and Ronald Searle, illustrator. Kleiner Seitensprung (Zurich, 1954)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-RONALD-SEARLE-BOOK-IN-GERMAN-AND-HAND-SIGNED-PHOTO-SEE-SEVEN-SCANS-/290917819837?pt=Antiquarian_Books_UK&hash=item43bc0da5bd&nma=true&si=UB68sj2DvLx%252F9kdb54zXrlCgzYs%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

-/290917819837?pt=Antiquarian_Books_UK&hash=item43bc0da5bd&nma=true&si=UB68sj2DvLx%252F9kdb54zXrlCgzYs%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Note:  Searle's work is still important to illustrators, but today much effort to promote his legacy is coming from the animation community. Storyboard artist Matt Jones, who curates Perpetua, the Ronald Searle tribute blog, has organized an exhibition of Searle's American reportage work. "Searle in America" will take place in San Francisco in the fall. Some 75 members of the animation community have contributed original works inspired by the master in order to raise money to ship artwork to the West Coast and produce a catalogue. The sale is currently under way on eBay.

The eBay sale of works inspired by Ronald Searle to support "Searle in America" can be found here.

Perpetua, the Ronald Searle tribute blog, is right here.

The Searle posts on my own blog are here.

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