Ronald Searle: L'Apéritif

Yesterday in Monaco at L’Hôtel des Ventes de Monte-Carlo (HVMC), an ink and watercolor depiction of two cats seated at outdoor tables was sold at auction. The artist is Ronald Searle (1920-2011).

L'Apéritif (1974)
Ronald Searle

The cats, female and male, are seated at separate tables. The female cat is as yet unaware of the male cat's attention. On the right we see a rare instance in which Searle dressed one of his male cats in trousers and oxfords. The pants have no top and seem to be an organic part of the cat's crossed legs. The female cat is also endowed with recognizably human legs. They are shapely and end in high heels, not unlike the legs of Searle's Catahari or The Big Show. Most remarkably, though, Searle vividly endowed his cats with distinctive human personalities.

Catahari

Ronald Searle

https://www.flickr.com/photos/queenieandthedew/6580611779/in/photostream/

The Big Show
Ronald Searle

http://flickr.com/photos/queenieandthedew/6580591963

For those who couldn't be there in person, lots from the Monte Carlo sale were listed on the Invaluable website.

Ronald Searle
Invaluable listing accessed July 7, 2026

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/ronald-searle-1920-2011-128-c-374b288f0a?objectID=205007728&algIndex=upcoming_lots_lotNumber_asc_prod&queryID=82d6a89f27f85dac7e0e706e280387eb

Bidding started at 1,000 Euros with an estimate of 1,000 to 1,500 Euros. The buyer's premium was 33%. There were other fees as well.

Ronald Searle
Invaluable item description

Searle's 1974 watercolor L'Apéritif was published as a postcard in 1977. Here's an example of both printed sides, as found on eBay:

L'Apéritif was later included in Ronald Searle's Big Fat Cat Book (1982). No home should be without a copy.

The present work is from the collection of Yanou Collart, the well-connected publicist and actress. Or, as the auction house writes even more intriguingly, "Femme d'amour et femme d'affaires." 

https://www.hvmc.com/news-detail/32/yanou-collart-femme-d-amour-et-femme

Any friend of Sean Connery's is a friend of mine.

The lot was sold for the opening bid of 1,000 Euros:

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Barbara Shermund: Redefining The Bohemian Life

A group of Barbara Shermund's original cartoons was listed on eBay and promptly sold in May. One of them shows a group of art students sitting around a dinner table drinking and smoking. And, as it happens, talking. 

"Well, Russia's been shot out from under us. Now what?"

Barbara Shermund

Original cartoon art

The eBay seller speculates that this is a World War II-era cartoon. Whatever the case, the students may soon be in the market for a new ideology.

Barbara Shermund's signature

Barbara Shermund
eBay listing ended May 10, 2026

https://www.ebay.com/itm/147303767676?_skw=signed+Barbara+Shermund&itmmeta=01KWTHRV3FFT7FYS556YKTA5MB&hash=item224bfd1e7c:g:H88AAeSwYudqAHV~&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAA0GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xDB2IBAw2PkATz90UE0A%2BgJukkuKNdOO3ta%2FRWVr%2BElLIFZtf%2FjzDGVLGDN

J8do2W49cMpR5NSQaS8nLVnK2g7tnVp2XLHZPICjfuYAL3DEnKV01tRZPd5XJiB6xlLbtlaaHz2uW24LA09FNj5zUWAtAJJJcWKJfE73EYlKcWYG0Z4I4ySxcOf1Y902Nd6%2BSY4dNFoazQPTwvzcMUTexTpXJrC3VP1GSZWYrIhIqvJKbdXSftjxNzHH6CF6rJPIVAs%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_Kx49HmZw

Barbara Shermund
eBay item description

Note:  Do you have your own Barbara Shermund originals? Why not share them here, now that Russia's got nothing to offer?

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Newton G.Brand, Jr.'s, Copy of Gahan Wilson's America

Texas banker Newton G. Brand, Jr., (1929-2011) corresponded with a number of New Yorker cartoonists, requesting that they personalize copies of their books by mail. Gahan Wilson (1930-2019) was one of those who complied. In Brand's copy of Gahan Wilson's America (1985), Wilson acknowledges with the word again that this is not the only instance that the artist and the collector have come together in this way. The book was inscribed for Brand on November 19, 1991, some six years after publication. It includes an original drawing of hanging dice and a skull, which recalls an idea that appears on the book's dust jacket. 

Gahan Wilson's signature and date

Gahan Wilson
eBay listing ended July 7, 2026

https://www.ebay.com/itm/377307892029_

Gahan Wilson
eBay listing

Gahan Wilson
eBay bid history
There were seventeen bids in very small increments when the final bidder won the book. Who is that guy?

Note:  I remain eager to use this blog to share books inscribed by Gahan Wilson and other New Yorker cartoonists to Newton Brand, Jr., and other collectors.

05293

Chuck Jones: Coyote Catches Road Runner by Tom Shales of the Washington Post

Back in 1975, animator Chuck Jones presented Tom Shales of the Washington Post with the ultimate compliment to a journalist. The original pencil drawing of everyone's favorite persistent coyote at his moment of triumph is available from Argosy Books. 

Chuck Jones
Argosy Book Store listing accessed July 6, 2026

https://www.argosybooks.com/pages/books/337381/chuck-jones/original-sketch-of-wile-e-coyote-with-personal-inscription

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