BNF 1973

In 1973 Searle was honored by the Bibliothèque nationale de France,  Paris with a career retrospective- the only living non French artist to be recognized thus.

'In July 1971 Searle received two awards: the "Prize of Humour S.P.H" and the "Avignon City Medal". A few months later, he received the "Great Prize for Black Humour / Grandville". In 1972 he was awarded the "Prize Charles Huard for Press Cartoons". In the same year, crowning these French distinctions, the Bibliothèque Nationale [National Library] invited him to show a personal retrospective at the Cabinet des Estampes in 1973. Of course Searle agreed and became the first non-French living artist to be honored that way by this institution. Unfortunately, for economical reasons, the B.N. suggested that the catalog was just a list on sheets of paper. Searle’s cartoonist friend Jean-Pierre Desclozeaux was outraged, and so as to have a proper, fully illustrated and well documented catalog printed he founded the association "Les Amis de Ronald Searle" [Searle’s Friends] which collected funds and brought life to this book. 259 works were on display at the B.N. from January 26th to late March 1973. . . .

. . . The drawing reproduced on the front cover of the catalogue (here above) is one the three works stolen during the exhibition. The Bibliothèque Nationale having failed to insure itself against such troubles was obliged to acquire these works from the artist, who thus came to be officially “represented in the Bibliothèque Nationale”, as he later put it, “by three phantom pictures”.

-ecc Cartoon Books Club

The catalogue can be found on eBay or there is a digitized version online here.

Photo: Claudia Desclozeaux

POW pt.5

A drawing from Searle's time incarcerated by the Japanese during WWII has popped up here on eBay. It's expensive but appears to be authentic. This will probably go to a private collector but should really be in the Imperial War Museum with the collection of Searle's POW sketches.

The V&A museum, London dug up some early Searle history. His sketch of a prisoner production of 'Hamlet' with the artist appearing as the ghost! Link here
The prisoners would stage plays and comedy revue shows to buoy their spirits. Searle drew programmes- only one or two copies each- that were disseminated around thousands of hands.

The National Archives, Great Britain have several Searle pieces on their online database:

'General Collapse' (Lilliput). Artist: Ronald Searle (signed). Media/Technique: Pen (fountain pen) and ink (black carbon ink) on good quality artists paper attached to board. Artist's signature at bottom right. Coloured ink showing measurements. Graphite notations on top right. Damage to tall man’s face. The fibres are disturbed or lifted. Other media/information: Verso Reference written in waxy black media. Coloured ink (red) stamp showing return address of artist. This is crossed out and new return address is written by Searle. This reads 32 Newton road W2, Bay 3942. Drawings for magazines Ministry of information. Original artwork for Mirror, Echo, Blick in die welt. (Mirror & Echo).

More on Searle's wartime experience here

John Bull magazine

'John Bull' magazine was a similar publication to 'The Strand' and 'Lilliput'.

'The magazine was published by Odhams from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. Similar in style to the iconic American magazine The Saturday Evening Post, the John Bull covers encapsulated post-war Britain and employed some of Britain's finest illustrators.' - Wikipedia

Illustrations in the magazine John Bull in 1947 & 1948

March 20th 1948. Jockey scene cover. 20 pages.

April 9th 1949

"One for All, All for One" by Herbert Hodge illustrated with a Ronald Searle cartoon

April 24th 1948 "Oh to be a Salesman" by Herbert Hodge with an illustration by Ronald Searle

April 30th 1949. "Peak Season for Love" by Herbert Hodge with an illustration by Ronald Searle

November 12th 1949. 32 pages. b/w Ronald Searle advert for Bev coffee essence with a Fireman theme

Granta

'Granta' is the student magazine of Cambridge University, England. It is named after the river that runs through the city. Founded in 1889 it has featured the work of countless writers and artists over the years including Searle.

A later illustration from the 1970s.

I'd love to get hold of a copy of this one- anyone got a collection of these mags?