"Monica told us the bicycle in Searle's work is symbolic of happiness."—Matt Jones
"New Year with the Searles"
Ronald Searle's lithograph The Good Old Days was published in 1972. It was followed five years later by The Good Old Days II. Both featured animals on bicycles and both were published in editions of 99.
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| Ronald Searle The Good Old Days Edition of 99, 1972 |
The Good Old days II is in the collection of children's book author and illustrator Sandra Boynton, for one:
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Ronald Searle
The Good Old Days II
Edition of 99, 1977
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Unlike the lithograph, a roughly contemporaneous watercolor of the same subject (seen here published as a postcard) uses the lower left of the image to make an environmental statement. Maybe the good old days weren't quite so good.
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| Ronald Searle The Good Old Days (1976) Image updated December 9, 2022 |
Detail:
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Ronald Searle
The Good Old Days (1976, detail)
https://theanimalarium.blogspot.com/2011/05/sunday-safari-animals-on-bikes.html |
Searle sold a later (but undated) color drawing at Christie's in 2007 depicting a similar scene with a cat warmed by a scarf:
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| Ronald Searle The Good Old Days No date |
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| Ronald Searle Christie's South Kensington, 3 July 2007 |
Another print, 42/99, of The Good Old Days II was offered on eBay in 2015. The photos give an idea of the extraordinary detail Searle put into his lithographic works. It sold for just half the price it had retailed for at Brentano's circa the late 1970s—a steal!
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Ronald Searle
The Good Old Days II
42/99, 1977
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| Ronald Searle The Good Old Days II 42/99, 1977 |
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| Ronald Searle's signature and date in pencil |
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| Ronald Searle eBay Listing Ended October 25, 2015 |
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| Ronald Searle eBay Item Description |
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| No Q&A |
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| eBay Bid History Just one bid four days into the ten day auction |
Note: Almost no casual cyclist wore a bicycle helmet in the 1970s.
Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:
Ronald Searle
Cats
Bicycles
Attempted Bloggery's Index on Training Wheels
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