Searle at 90

The Times have anticipated Searle's imminent 90th birthday with a new interview. Read it online here.
There's the chance to win a copy of a new book of Searle's drawings published by Inky Parrot Press.
Chris Beetles' Gallery, London will be celebrating too with a new exhibition. You can preview the show online here.

The Cartoon Museum in London is hosting a Searle retrospective.
There will also be a small exhibition of original drawings for The Hatless Man at Maggs Bros.  Antiquarian Books in London.
More details to come on both those events soon.

 The Wilhelm Busch Museum, Hanover also has a Searle exhibition running from the 28th February.

HOLIDAY magazine: Morocco 1965

Searle's Morocco drawings for HOLIDAY were never published in the magazine although several made it into print in book collections of Searle's work. Here's a rare treat for Searle fans: photos of the sketches he made on location which were the basis for the worked up paintings.
















Back at his hotel in the evenings Searle would work up finished illustrations based on his location sketches, notes and ideas.

















The Morocco series is quite atypical of Searle's style-featuring an even broader, looser stye than usual with watercolour washes used more than line-work. This is especially apparent in the next example, photographed from the original in the collection of Monica Searle.

Happy NewYear 2010

Searle's New Year image for French satirical journal SineHebdo. (Thanks to François Moret)


If there are any readers in France who may have Searle's illustrations for SineHebdo or LeMonde please email me at the address in my blogger profile. It would be great to see more of Searle's recent work.

A report on my latest meeting with Ronald Searle is up on my blog. I've updated the Lemon Hart Rum section.

The King's Breakfast

In 1963 Searle & Toye collaborated again on a short live-action film The King's Breakfast "a dramatisation in dance and mime, of the A.A. Milne poem about a king who had no butter for the royal slice of bread" (imdb)

The kitchen

The King's gym

 Maurice Denham as the King (thanks to Brian Sibley)

Yak El-Droubie sent in some wonderful shots taken by Douglas Webb on the set of The King's Breakfast. The sets, seemingly painted by Searle's hand, match his designs perfectly.  Like the 1954 Chelsea Arts Ball it's always a thrill to see Searle's work transferred into 'three dimensions'-imagine being on set in a 'walk-in' Searle painting!

I found all these wonderful designs on Photographers Direct.com but they're all very low-res and I couldn't get anywhere contacting the agency directly.  Please contact me  at the address in my Blogger profile if anyone has more info on the photographer/rights holder