Ronald Searle's 1974 lithograph Nobody Loves Me is surely one of his signature lithographic images. It depicts a lonely and isolated cat high up on a precarious perch. It was first collected in More Cats (1975).
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| Ronald Searle Nobody Loves Me Edition of 99, 1974 |
[January 17, 2022 Update: A hand-colored épreuve d'artiste, or artist's proof, made its way onto a 1978 postcard.]
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| Ronald Searle Nobody Loves Me Postcard of hand-colored épreuve d'artiste aside from the edition of 99, 1974 Image added January 17, 2022 |
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| Postcard verso, 1978 Image added January 17, 2022 |
In 2005, Searle published The Predatory Bite of the Steel Nib in a limited edition of 296 copies. One of his sketchbook drawings reproduced there reveals something of the germination of the lithograph. In this early iteration of the image the unbalanced column is fully recognizable. The plain is not empty but filled with dogs and the cat is not cowering in solitude but delivering a fiery oration to the assembly. Searle plays with two written titles: Top Dog and La Gloire [Glory].
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| Ronald Searle Top Dog/la gloire The Predatory Bite of the Steel Nib: The Scrapbook Drawings of Ronald Searle Predatory Parrot Press, 2005 |
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