Showing posts with label Bastille Day. Show all posts

Friday, July 14, 2017

Ronald Searle: The Fourth Republic at the Guillotine

In the May 21, 1958 issue of Punch, Ronald Searle revisits the imagery of the French Revolution in the wake of the Algiers putsch. The coup attempt of May 13 had led to the widespread concern that France lacked the resolve to put down the Algerian Revolution. Many felt a pullout from Algeria would signal a loss of French honor, another debacle comparable to that of Indochina in 1954. Hence the French Fourth Republic is depicted by Searle decapitating herself at the guillotine. It's a remarkably somber image for a Punch cartoon

Ronald Searle, Punch, May 21, 1958

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1958-POLITICAL-CARTOON-FRENCH-GIRL-on-GUILLOTINE-ALGIERS-COUP-Ronald-SEARLE-/322549306636?ul_noapp=true&autorefresh=true&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

May 17, 2018 Update: This drawing appears on page 126 of Russell Davies's biography Ronald Searle (London: Sinclair-Stevenson, 1990) along with some additional information about it.

May 26, 2021 Update: This drawing was reprinted in L'Express of May 29, 1958.

Note: All this is my unusual way of wishing everyone a Happy Bastille Day. In that spirit, Ronald Searle's grotesquely brilliant illustrations celebrating the bicentennial of the French Revolution may be seen on the Ronald Searle Tribute blog here.

At this writing, the page from Punch is available on eBay for $9.99 plus $6.01 shipping.

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Thursday, July 14, 2011

"L'âne à la tour Eiffel"

From the collection of Alice Teriade came this stunning painting by Marc Chagall, which was sold at auction in 2003 by Christie's London. I admire this work for its energy, for it's deep nocturnal colors, and for the way the Eiffel Tower seems to sway with motion, every bit as alive as the horse.