Jean Cocteau

La Dame Queteuse

1922

This is a beautiful and fine avant-garde finished drawing of a reverent saint by the French female artist, Dora Maar. Dora Maar was a distinctive artist in her own right marked by s...

Richard Dalkins (British, b. 1945) Flying school Pencil, watercolour and gouache on paper Signed and numbered ‘Richard Dalkins P.5’ (lower right) 11.3/4 x 16.1/2 in. (29.8 x 41.6 cm....

William Heath Robinson (British, 1872 - 1944) 'Boring The First Tunnel With An Early Type Of Rotary Excavator, And The Red Flag', circa 1935 (railway ribaldry was published in this year) The former signed 'W. Heath Robinson (lower left) and inscribed with title (lower left and right) The former to mount 14 X 10.1/4in. (35.5 X 26cm.) The latter 1.1/2 X 8.1/2in. (3.8 X 21.6 cm.) Literature: Railway Ribaldry, first published by the Great Western Railway, Paddington, 1935. William Heath Robinson was an English cartoonist and illustrator best known for drawings of ridiculously complicated machines for achieving simple objectives. During the First World War, he drew large numbers of cartoons, depicting ever-more unlikely secret weapons being used by the combatants. In the UK the term "Heath Robinson" entered popular language during this time as a description of any unnecessarily complex and implausible contrivance. Its continuing popularity was undoubtedly linked to Second World War Britain's shortages and the need to "make do and mend". In the course of his work, Robinson also wrote and illustrated three childrens books including The Adventures of Uncle Lubin (1902) which is regarded as the genesis of his depiction of unlikely machines. The inventions he drew were frequently powered by steam boilers or kettles, heated by candles or a spirit lamp and usually kept running by balding, bespectacled men in overalls. There would be complex pulley arrangements, threaded by lengths of knotted string. One of his most famous series of illustrations accompanied the first Professor Branestawm book written by Norman Hunter. The stories provided a perfect backdrop for Robinson's drawings. One of the automatic analysis machines built for Bletchley Park during the Second World War to assist in the decryption of German message traffic was named "Heath Robinson" in his honour. He died in September 1944 during the Second World War and is buried in East Finchley Cemetery. The Heath Robinson Museum in Pinner opened in October 2016 to house a collection of nearly 1,000 original artworks owned by The William Heath Robinson Trust. In the Wallace and Gromit...

Carle Vernet (French, 1758 – 1836) ‘La Marchande de Coco’; and ‘La Tour de Babbe d’un Charbonnier’ Ink, watercolour on paper Both signed C Vernet and Carle Vernet (lower left and lower right respectively) 12.1/4 x 9 in. (31 x 22.8 cm.) A pair Vernet was born in Bordeaux. At the age of five, he showed an extraordinary passion for drawing horses, but went through the regular academical course as a pupil of his father and of Nicolas-Bernard Lépicié. Strangely, after winning the grand prix (1782), he seemed to lose interest in the profession, and his father had to recall him back from Rome to France to prevent him from entering a monastery. In his Triumph of Aemilius Paulus, he broke with tradition and drew the horse with the forms he had learnt from nature in stables and riding-schools. His hunting-pieces, races, landscapes, and work as a lithographer were also very popular. Carle's sister was executed by the guillotine during the Revolution. After this, he gave up art. When he again began to produce under the French Directory (1795–1799), his style had changed radically. He started drawing in minute detail battles and campaigns to glorify Napoleon. His drawings of Napoleon...

Monotype by painter, master printmaker Tom Bennett

Leonor Fini Nude women, ca. 1965 Ink on paper 13 × 13 in l 33 × 33 cm Frame included - 18 x 18 in l 46 x 46 cm Signed lower right Condition: Excellent condition

Allan Rohan Crite Animal Illustrations Signed lower left Pen and ink on paper 23 1/2 x 16 inches Brought up in Boston, Crite received his art training al the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at the Harvard University Extension School in 1968. He worked for most of his life as an illustrator in the Planning Department of the Boston Naval Shipyards, retiring in 1976, but continued to paint at the same time. His work has been widely exhibited and well received in Boston, where a square is named after him. Crite's early paintings depict the daily life of Boston's African-American community, a community that was to be transformed in the following decade by urban renewal and housing projects. In his later paintings, magic-realist visions in which a black Virgin and Child ride on public transportation or float above the city streets, Crite used a bright palette rather than the more somber tones of his "neighborhood paintings...

House of Dreams, 2013 Ink and colored pencil on paper 16.53 H x 11.69 W in 42 H x 29.7 W cm Signed Raluca Arnăutu creates a zoomorphic world, where an...