RONALD SEARLE
(1920 – 2011,) was an English artist and satirical cartoonist, comic artist,
sculptor, medal designer and illustrator. He is perhaps best remembered as the
creator of St Trinian’s School inspired by his sister's school in Cambridge. Searle
was born in Cambridge and started drawing at the age of five. In 1939,
realising that war was inevitable, he abandoned his art studies to enlist in
the Royal Engineers. He spent much of the war in a Japanese POW camp where he witnessed awful conditions. After the
war, he served as a courtroom artist at the Nuremberg trials and later the
Adolf Eichmann trial in 1961. Searle was
extraordinarily prolific producing a huge volume of work, including drawings
for Life, Holiday, and Punch magazines. His cartoons
appeared in The New Yorker, the Sunday Express, and the News
Chronicle.
6 comments:
Hello Bazza, Searle's name, style and even signature are very familiar to me. He must have been published also in the U.S., and I'm pretty sure if I examined my shelves I would find one of his books.
--Jim
War art was essential, yes. Otherwise there would have only been official military photography, showing the enemy as killer animals and the own-team as heroes, sacrificing themselves for God and country. A second issue was that official military photography was impersonal, with no involvement by the photographer.
Just by looking at Searle's Japanese POW camp images etc, the modern viewer can immediately understand the horror 75+ years ago.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2653/1473/1600/freightTrainTothailand.jpg
Hi Bazza - an interesting selection of Searle's work you've given us ... I didn't realise he'd illustrated an edition of Dickens' classic 'A Christmas Carol', while I remember some of his Punch entries ... such a talented man. The art works we get to see after an artist has been imprisoned is so enlightening ... thanks for adding to my knowledge. Cheers and I can see your interest in Searle - fascinating - cheers Hilary
Jim: Yes, as I mentioned his cartoons were often published in The New Yorker. He was extremely versatile and his drawings would be very well-recognised in the UK.
Hels: I did look at dozens of his POW drawings. He does seem to have been an honest observer. Some of his portraits of Japanese officers are very subtle and display the humanity along with the apparent indifference towards their prisoners. I decided not to show the disturbing stuff - maybe I should have?
Hilary: His versatility and true value as an artist is vastly under-rated in my estimation. I don't think art has to be 'fine art' to have real worth.
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