Ronald Searle: A Strange Procession

For the occasion of a christening held in St. James's, London, on November 24, 1951, cartoonist Ronald Searle created a presentation drawing for the child's family. The paper backing the frame is inscribed, "With love from Kaye & Ronald Searle" so it seems the Searles framed the drawing themselves before giving it to the recipients. The child depicted is attended by four girls, two of whom are clearly winged angels. They are easily recognized as Searle's popular St. Trinian's girls by their trademark black stockings. The drawing, which has some color, was sold yesterday at Sworders in the Modern and Contemporary Art sale.

"A strange procession
seen passing into
Saint James' thiſ day
Novemb^r 24 1951."
Ronald Searle

"A strange procession

seen passing into

Saint James' thiſ day

Novemb^r 24 1951."

Ronald Searle

Framed original art

"With love from Kaye & Ronald Searle"

Ronald Searle
Sworders item presale description accessed April 7, 2024

https://www.sworder.co.uk/auction/lot/lot-200---ronald-searle-1920-2011/?lot=496

443&so=0&st=searle&sto=0&au=&ef=&et=&ic=False&sd=0&pp=96&pn=1&g=1

Sold!

04613

Marcelle Methlin's Copy of Médisances by Ronald Searle

Médisances is Ronald Searle's 1953 cartoon collection published for the French market. It is marketed as "Humour anglais" and presents Searle's postwar British black comedy with French captions. There is a generous helping of St. Trinian's cartoons depicting Searle's murderously wicked schoolgirls who proved so wildly popular in England.

For Valentine's Day of 1962, Searle embellished a copy of the book with a full-page ink and wash drawing of a St. Trinian's girl holding a shedding floral bouquet and a wine bottle. It is inscribed to Marcelle, whom I take to be Marcelle Methlin, the proprietor of the Restaurant des Beaux-Arts on the Left Bank of the Seine. Searle and his girlfriend Monica Koenig, later his second wife, found an artistic and culinary home in Methlin's establishment. Searle was poor in cash but rich in gratitude this February, when he also gave Methlin a personalized copy of his new English-language book Which Way Did He Go? seen in yesterday's post.

Médisances translates as backbiting, gossiping, or mudslinging.

Ronald Searle
eBay listing ended September 24, 2023

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124015197978?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20200818143230%26meid%3Dce4bccc444ee47ae92ec1b8790a37a64%26pid%3D101

224%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D392594507350%26itm%3D124015197978%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D4429486%26algv%3DDefaultOrganicWebV9BertRefreshRanker&_trksid=p4429486.c101224.m-1

Ronald Searle
eBay item description

Offer of 1,610 Euros accepted

Note:  I've never seen this book before; it scarcely crosses the English Channel, let alone the Atlantic. Regardless, this copy easily qualifies as a "best copy" in that it has one of the most elaborate original St. Trinian's drawings in any Searle book I've come across. I don't know whether I've mentioned it before, but Attempted Bloggery is always eager to show outstanding copies of books by Ronald Searle, including those difficult to define but easy to recognize "best copies." Your submissions are encouraged.

"Bohème," as I mentioned yesterday, is Matt Jones's 2014 post on the Ronald Searle Tribute blog concerning the in-crowd at the Restaurant des Beaux-Arts. Check out Searle's menu design for the place.

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Arnold Rosenberg's Copy of Ronald Searle's The Curse of St. Trinian's

Photographer Arnold T. Rosenberg (1931-2017) produced much fine work, most famously his 1958 portrait of Marcel Duchamp playing chess on a glass table. A print in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian was donated by Rosenberg and his wife Rochelle:

Arnold T. Rosenberg
Marcel Duchamp

https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2009.93

Many years after destroying his most popular creation, cartoonist Ronald Searle (1920-2011) revisited his wicked St. Trinian's school with a new collection called The Curse of St. Trinian's (1993). Rosenberg's copy was dedicated to him by Searle in May of 1993 with a full-page sketch of a leggy St. Trinian's schoolgirl. Searle writes almost apologetically, "This is the best I can do. I haven't drawn St. Trinian's in 30 years or more." It's a nice conceit belied by the book's brand new St. Trinian's artwork on the cover, and indeed Searle had other occasions to redraw his abandoned schoolgirls from time to time. Rosenberg and his wife lived in East Hampton on Long Island. His copy of the book was sold on eBay by a Sag Harbor dealer in December of 2013 about two years after Searle's death.

"For Arnold
Rosenberg
with best wishes.
In [?] of 1959
from
Ronald Searle
May 1993
                 /"

"10 May 1993

Dear Arnold Rosenberg—

     Sorry this has been so long in coming

but I was waiting for the book to appear—

which it did, the other day.

     This is the best I can do. I haven't

drawn St. Trinian's in 30 years or more.

     Hope you have dried out now.

All good wishes
            Ronald Searle
                                         /"

Ronald Searle
eBay Listing Ended December 9, 2013

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=151184513310&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:3160

Ronald Searle
eBay Item Description

Note:  Ronald Searle was born ninety-nine years ago today on March 3, 1920. Mathematically-inclined readers will recognize that there is only one year remaining until his centennial. To celebrate, Attempted Bloggery asks fans to send brilliant images of Searle sketches, correspondence, and original art. The clock is ticking…


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Ronald Searle

Books with Original Sketches

Attempted Bloggery's Wicked Index

02852

Ronald Searle: Commercial Christmas

Many of Ronald Searle's Christmas illustrations captured a special luminous joy, but he could also be critical of the holiday's commercialism. Three unpublished illustrations for a circa 1960 Holiday magazine article entitled "Christmas Lifemanship" were apparently owned by Hilary Knight, whose conception of Eloise was somewhat influenced by Searle's devilish St. Trinian's girls. The watercolors were sold off at Bonham's earlier this month. Unfortunately, only one of the three is illustrated in the catalogue.

Ronald Searle
Commercial Christmas
from Christmas Lifemanship
Holiday, unpublished, c. 1960

Ronald Searle
Bonhams, December 5, 2018

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/24899/lot/20/

Note:  If you haven't seen the Christmas cards that Ronald Searle sent to his friends, you're in for a real treat. They're collected on Perpetua, the Ronald Searle Tribute blog, here. See what I mean by "luminous joy?"

I would love to hear from the buyer of this lot, or from anyone who might have photographed the other two drawings in this suite while they were at Bonhams.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Ronald Searle

Holiday

Christmas

Attempted Bloggery's Blogmanship Index

 02778

Ronald Searle: Giselle by Les Ballets St. Trinian's

An original folio manuscript by Ronald Searle containing eight original ink drawings illustrating the ballet Giselle as produced at St. Trinian's, Searle's naughty girls' school, is currently the most expensive Searle item on AbeBooks. Priced at 17,500 GBP, it comes close to $24,000 at today's exchange rate, or about $3,000 per drawing. The seller, Peter Harrington, is to be praised for resisting the temptation to break up the folio.

Ronald SearleGiselle:  A Romantic Ballet in Two Acts
Presented by Les Ballets St. Trinian's

Ronald Searle
Giselle Portfolio

AbeBooks Listing Retrieved December 11, 2016

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=17509993782&searchurl=kn%3DRonald%2BSearle%26sortby%3D1

The current price in U. S. dollars:

Ronald Searle
Giselle:  A Romantic Ballet in Two Acts
Presented by Les Ballets St. Trinian's

Ronald Searle
Giselle

http://www.peterharrington.co.uk/original-illustrated-manuscript-giselle-a-romantic-ballet-in-two-acts-presented-by-les-ballet-st-trinian-s.html

As noted in the well-researched listing, Searle covered the ballet Giselle at Covent Garden for Punch in 1956:

Ulanova as Giselle
Covent Garden
Ronald Searle
Punch, October 10, 1956, page 446

http://ronaldsearle.blogspot.com/2014/06/punch-theatre-pt2.html

Galina Ulanova as Giselle

https://02varvara.wordpress.com/2010/01/16/i-gave-you-all-that-i-had/

Entrance of Giselle

Ulanova-Fadeyechev, Bolshoi 1956

Adolphe Adam

Note:  Attempted Bloggery stands at the ready (in fifth position) to receive scans or photographs of published and unpublished original art by Ronald Searle.

For more information on the creator of St. Trinian's, see Perpetua, the Ronald Searle Tribute blog curated by Matt Jones.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives

Ronald Searle

Ballet

Attempted Bloggery's Romantic Index

02565

Ronald Searle: St. Trinian's in Rome

The girls of St. Trinian's are on holiday in Rome as depicted in this drawing by the superb illustrator Ronald Searle. The girls are decidedly not relishing the sights of the Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine, and the Roman Forum. I'd say Rome has met its match!

Ronald Searle
[St. Trinian's in Rome]

Ronald Searle: St. Trinian's in Rome, eBay Winning Bid

Ronald Searle: St. Trinian's in Rome, eBay Item Description

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&rt=nc&nma=true&item=370628994408&si=Zv4PhLp6HocGRC23iqci2JeQ2LI%253D&viewitem=&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc#ht_2991wt_1413 

Note:  My most recent post on Ronald Searle and St. Trinian's can be found here.

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