Gamblin' Towns

On his travels around the US for HOLIDAY magazine during the 1960s Searle visited Reno and Las Vegas. He captured an era in these lavish spreads.

Original art in the Wilhelm Busch Museum, Hanover, Germany.

Original art in the Wilhelm Busch Museum, Hanover, Germany.

 Original art in the Billy Ireland Cartoon Art Library, OSU, Columbus, Ohio. (Unpublished with original article)

An uncomfortable publicity shot in the Nugget Casino, East Reno, March 1964

Original art in the Wilhelm Busch Museum, Hanover, Germany.

 Original art in the Billy Ireland Cartoon Art Library, OSU, Columbus, Ohio.

 Original art in the Wilhelm Busch Museum, Hanover, Germany.

Original art in the Wilhelm Busch Museum, Hanover, Germany. (Unpublished with original article)

 Original art in the collection of John Musker.

Original art in the Wilhelm Busch Museum, Hanover, Germany.

Original art in the Billy Ireland Cartoon Art Library, OSU, Columbus, Ohio.

Travel & Leisure magazine, June 1975

To the beach!

As we all long to get back outside during this pandemic here's three views of the beach by Searle in three wildly different styles.

Nymolle

Lilliput magazine

Punch magazine 14th August, 1957

Book dedications

Friends and family of Ronald Searle were fortunate to be the recipients of his ceaseless sketching in the form of drawn dedications in presentation copies of his books givens as gifts. His secretary Jean Ellsmoor had many given to her as thanks for her help in assembling the print projects.

'How to be Topp, first edition, signed presentation inscription from Searle with pen and ink drawing of a child in bed spinning a top on her nose'-Forum Auctions

Another in 'How To Be Topp' - Abbott & Holder

'A presentation copy, inscribed in ink on the front free endpaper to his friend the dancer and film and stage director Wendy Toye 'A bit of life for Wendy ?Read all about it? with birthday love from Ronnie May 1 1957', alongside a full page original pen and ink drawing of a lady with no clothes on save for pearls and false eyelashes, seated on an elaborate stool, the lady with pen and sketchpad in each hand, drawing an equally naked lady.' -Maggs Bros. Books

Another nude for Wendy Toye:

'First edition. An inscribed presentation copy, with a large original colour drawing by Ronald Searle. Publisher's original pictorial card covers. Very light rubbing to the cover edges otherwise a fine, bright copy.

Inscribed on the title page in black ink "For / Wendy / with love & / Happy Birthday wishes / - this bit of / backstreet reporting / by two of your / chums! / Mo and Ronnie [underlined]." Beside the inscription Searle has drawn full page illustration of a cigarette smoking Fille de Hambourg in heels and stockings which he has dated underneath 1st May 1969. The recipient is actress, choreographer, stage and film director Wendy Toye, with whom Searle collaborated on several projects.' - Lucius Books

THE RAKE'S PROGRESS
LONDON: PERPETUA 1955 FIRST EDITION
PROVENANCE: SIR WILLIAM ALEXANDER FITZWILLIAM BARRINGTON
ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATION ON PAGE 9: SELF-PORTRAIT
SIGNED, INSCRIBED 'FOR FITZ, SOME AWFUL WARNINGS ... AS ALWAYS' AND DATED 'CHRISTMAS 1955' - Chris Beetles Gallery

 'Paris Sketchbook' for Jean Ellsmoor, 1950

'The Female Approach' for Jean Effel, 1949

'The Female Approach' for Jean Ellsmoor, 1954

'The St. Trinians Story' for Jean Ellsmoor, 1959

'A Christmas Carol' for Jean Ellsmoor, 1961

 

'Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines' for Jean Ellsmoor, 1961

'Cats' for Jean Ellsmoor, 1967

'Take One Toad' for John & Midge Locke, 1969

See more personal drawings from Ronald Searle in the 'Correspondence' section here

'Por favor sēnor' - Searle in Spain

I'm not aware that Searle ever visited Spain but he did illustrate an article for the January 1962 of Holiday magazine - it was one of a series of 'By Rocking Chair Across...' satirical reports written by Alex Atkinson.

Original art in the Wilhelm Busch Museum, Hanover, Germany.

These were reprinted in Searle's book collection 'Escape from the Amazon!' (1964) with the following pictures also.

 Peter Harrington Books has a signed edition available here

'First edition, first impression. Presentation copy from Ronald Searle, inscribed in his distinctive hand on the front free endpaper: "For Wendy with love from Ronnie, Christmas 1964"; also tipped-in is an inscribed Christmas card (1965) from Searle (with integral envelope addressed in his hand). "Wendy" is the actress, dancer, and theatre and film director, Wendy Toye (1917-2010) who had collaborated with Searle on a number of theatre projects.'

An Artist's Life

The exhibition 'Ronald Searle: An Artist's Life' was to officially open at the Wilhelm Busch Museum in Hanover last weekend to celebrate the centenary of Searle's birth (March 3). However, due to the Covid-19 lockdown measures I'm not sure if it happened (although Germany does seem to be relaxing lockdown measures).

'The »Ronald Searle Archive« located in the museum is therefore more than »just« an archive: It comprises the majority of Ronald Searle's eight decades of artistic oeuvre, his collection of historical caricatures, his specialist library and the actual archive with diaries and personal notes, project sketches, specimen copies and correspondence with fellow artists and publishers. It also contains historical artist correspondence such as that of the English cartoonist George Cruikshank (1792-1878).

This complex inventory makes it possible to work out and present a variety of connecting lines between the individual collections. The exhibition draws from the abundance of this archive with the aim of providing visitors with intensive insights into a complex artist's personality along central geographic anchor points from Singapore to England and Germany to tour tours in France and two themed islands on »Animation« and »Private Life« To tell contemporary history. Access to the museum's online collection gives an insight into the immediate work with Ronald Searle's estate.'

More info at the museum's website here

France...

Burnt out after a dozen years of fierce productivity across several mediums Searle left everything behind in London and fled to Paris. Journalist and author Martin Amis caught up with him in the French capital for this profile of the artist in the Telegraph magazine on 1978. Ronald was by then settled in the south of France with his second wife Monica.

 The article states Searle earned 25,000 pounds annually throughout the fifties (equivalent to 800,000 today) and bought 'a mansion' which must mean the house at 32A Newton Road. Read more on Searle's modern home studio here

Here he is photographed for Marseille magazine in 1963. Again the article displays a preoccupation with the sum of money he commands for a drawing.

Read my original Marseille post here