WELCOME HOME!

Pen, ink, watercolour and colour pencil on illustration board. 31 x 22.5cm. Signed lower left in blue, with a presentation inscription "Hooray! Love & kisses from Mo & Ronald" in black ink, dated 22nd January 1982 in green pencil. In fine condition. Mounted framed and glazed.

A bold and beautiful example of one of Searle's inimitable cat drawings. Typically amusing and evocative, the present work was made for the artist's North American agent in celebration of his return home. John W. Locke established the New York based John Locke Agency (later John Locke Studio) in 1935 and in doing so helped transform the aesthetics of American illustration by introducing satiric European illustrators and cartoonists to magazines, book publishers and advertising agencies. A passion for Expressionism and Surrealism led him to represent some of the most astute satirists and visual storytellers in Europe, including Ronald Searle and Roland Topor from the UK, André François and Folon from France. Among American illustrators, Edward Gorey was perhaps his most renowned client. Together with his wife Margery ("Midge") he ran the John Locke Studio until 1997.