Ronald Searle: A Letter to Miss Kerley

This hand-written letter contains the only drawing by Ronald Searle to be offered for sale at Christie's South Kensington this summer, a sad state of affairs for collectors indeed, and one which would have been almost unthinkable just a couple of years ago when the artist, apparently, was quietly selling off many classic drawings at the venerable auction house. In this 1947 letter, Searle, unable to come up with a recent photograph of himself, has one of his St. Trinian's girls "draw" his portrait instead, something that is infinitely better, one would think, than any publicity photo. The letter sold for less than twice its high estimate which in the cool light of day, given some recent stratospheric prices for coveted St. Trinian's drawings, seems fairly reasonable.

Ronald Searle, A Letter to Miss Kerley, Christie's South Kensington Auction Listing

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/drawings-watercolors/ronald-william-fordham-searle-a-letter-to-5588831-details.aspx?from=searchresults&pos=1&intObjectID=5588831&sid=4f3d8da4-f667-4fa4-8f2a-fa3f27f3a0dd

Ronald Searle, A Letter to Miss Kerley, detail, Christie's South Kensington Auction Listing

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/drawings-watercolors/ronald-william-fordham-searle-a-letter-to-5588831-details.aspx?from=searchresults&pos=1&intObjectID=5588831&sid=4f3d8da4-f667-4fa4-8f2a-fa3f27f3a0dd

Ronald Searle, A Letter to Miss Kerley, Christie's South Kensington Auction Listing

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/drawings-watercolors/ronald-william-fordham-searle-a-letter-to-5588831-details.aspx?from=searchresults&pos=1&intObjectID=5588831&sid=4f3d8da4-f667-4fa4-8f2a-fa3f27f3a0dd

Note:  My previous post about Ronald Searle is here. The subject is Mostly Mozart and the post contains a Searle cat drawing never before seen on the internet. Would I lie to you?

432