Ronald Searle: A Beefeater Is Served

In a 1996 Ronald Searle ink and watercolor drawing, we see a beefeater in a restaurant being served dinner by a bull. The meal is not very filling and not very beefy and he is not very happy. A pencil notation on the front of the artwork indicate that it is one of two drawings made for a Town and Country article on London restaurants. It was sold last month at Heritage Auctions in the  Illustration Art sale.

Searle's art is always better viewed full size:

On the back of the original is an unfinished ink drawing over pencil that was never erased. It depicts a well-to-do man in period attire being attacked by hungry books with cartoon eyeballs and sharp teeth. It's intriguing.

The bidding was strong some sixteen hours before the sale, with a solid $3,100 bid ($3,875 with the premium).

Ronald Searle
Heritage Auctions listing accessed sixteen hours before the sale

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/pulp-pulp-like-digests-and-paperback-art/ronald-william-fordham-searle-british-1920-2011-beefeater-1996-watercolor-and-ink-on-paper-14-3-4-x-14-1-4-inches/a/8224-71268.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515

Ronald Searle
Heritage Auctions item description

But the price was to go still higher in the illustration art sale during the live bidding:

Note:  Was this beefeater illustration actually published? Was the drawing of the dandy attacked by books ever finished? If you have access to print images of either of these, please get in touch.

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