One more exhibition for Ronald Searle's 90th!

Robert Forbes' gallery in New York is re-staging it's 2007 Searle retrospective to tie in with the release of 'Let's Have A Bite!' -the 2nd volume of Forbes' poetry for children illustrated by Searle.  The show will consist of the drawings from the new book and also the collection of Robert and Lydia Forbes.
 I'll try to get to NYC myself before next March but if anyone visits the show please send in a report or pictures.

The exhibition runs in the Carrère Gallery September 1, 2010 - March 12, 2011

"Let's Have a Bite! A Banquet of Beastly Rhymes" was released September 16th in the US market and 7th October in the UK by Duckworth Publishers.

The original drawings from the first book 'Beastly Feasts' will be on display at the Nassau County Museum of Art from September 25, 2010 through January 9, 2011 with a reading of Beastly Feasts! and Author signing on Friday, November 12 at 4 p.m.

Publishing house OverLook Press feature the new book on their blog with a link to a Wall Street Journal artcicle on Mr Forbes.


"Mr. Forbes said he contacted Mr. Searle, who lives in the south of France, and whose work he collects, out of the blue, fully prepared to be rejected, but figuring it couldn't hurt to ask. But Mr. Searle said yes. "I'll write a couple of lines about the poem," Mr. Forbes said of their collaborative process, "and a month or two later back this package comes with all these illustrations. It's like a little boy opening a Christmas present. . . And the poems keep coming. The drawings too. Last month the 90-year-old Mr. Searle delivered five more. "I've got at least two more books done by him," Mr. Forbes said. "I have no idea whether my publisher will do it—but I don't care."

I've added material to the following sections:

Advertising Part 1
Advertising Part 2
Punch French theatre

Munchausen

French readers & Searle collectors will be interested in a new edition of Baron Munchausen.
'Les Aventures du Baron de Munchausen' is available from Editions du Lampion here.

 'The adventures of Baron Munchausen', by R.E. Raspe and others, profusely illustrated by RonaldSearle was first published in 1969.  The style of the illustrations was informed by a series of almost abstract expressionist ink drawings Searle made the previous year entitled 'Anatomies & Decapitations'.

The following images are photographed from the original artwork in the Ronald Searle archive, Deutsches Museum für Karikatur und Zeichenkunst-Wilhelm Busch in Hanover.

Previous French edition

'Inscribed by the artist in blue ink with an original drawing of Baron Munchausen on the front free endpaper “To Jacqueline and Remo / with love / en tout[e] amitié / Ronald / 1969”. The recipients are Jacqueline Voulet and Remo Forlani.' - Lucius Books

REPORTAGE

Wendy Coates-Smith taught illustration at Cambridge and Central St.Martins in London for many years and now writes on the subject, co-editing LINE magazine.  She is also preparing a new publication on the subject of Searle's reportage work.  I'm grateful for permission from Wendy to reproduce her extensive essay on Searle's reportage that was published in the first issue of LINE.

Copyright Wendy Coates-Smith/APU Cambridge/LINE magazine

Wendy's excellent essay refers to an article on reportage in the AOI magazine, a copy of which she kindly also furnished me.  It contains more insightful quotes from Searle on his working methods and also Paul Hogarth.

 LINE issue 3 is due to be published imminently.  Wendy's book on Searle's reportage will be published sometime in 2011.

See more of Searle's reportage work at the following links:

• Searle in Morocco for HOLIDAY magazine here.

• HOLIDAY magazine overview here.

• Searle's experience as a POW here.

• Searle's approach to reportage here. 

• Report on my first meeting with Searle & his thoughts on reportage here.