In an interview Searle explained: “I work with
no fixed market in mind. Some ideas may be best expressed in lithography,
others are large water-colours, others in pen. When they have been sufficiently
developed I start worrying about placing them… The only factor I watch is:
whatever I do is thought of as an international idea – that it will have equal
appeal in any of half-a-dozen countries. Or be equally rejected.”
In addition to his cartoons about people, the
second part of the 60s brought forth some animal new themes. Gathering scenes
of people interpreted as cats, a new book was issued.
In 1967, De drôles de chats was published by
Librairie Arthème Fayard in Paris, and by Dennis Dobson in London, titled: Searle's
Cats. In the next year, this book was published by Stephen Greene in
Brattleboro (USA), and in Germany by Kurt Desch in Munich, as: Die Katzen
des Ronald Searle. Later on, Searle's Cats was republished several
times: by J. J. Douglas in Vancouver in 1977, by Souvenir Press in London in
1987, by Droemer Knaur in Munich in 1988…
Another book was soon launched in several
countries. Featuring people, cats, birds, pigs, snails, and few flies, Searle
expressed one more time the dark side of the human behavior: aggressiveness, cruelty,
blindness deformity, frustration…
L’œuf cube et le cercle vicieux was published by Librairie Arthème Fayard in Paris
in 1968. In the same time, titled The Square Egg and the
Vicious Circle, it was published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in
London, and by Stephen Greene Press in Brattleboro, USA. In the next year, as Das
eckige Ei, this book was published by Kurt Desch in Munich. Then after
several pocket size editions were printed: published by DTV in Munich in 1973,
by Penguin Books in London in 1980, and by Viking Press in New York in 1981.
The following book has a single theme. It contains
80 ideas on snail subjects. Some cartoons seem to be just like an
image-association, when others are much elaborated.
The title of this French edition was suggested by
the French artist Roland Topor: Tiens! Il n’y a personne? The book was
published in 1969 by Jean-Jacques Pauvert in Paris, and by Weidenfeld &
Nicolson in London, titled there: Hello. Where Did All the People go? In the next year, this book was published by
S. Greene Press in the USA, and by Kurt Desch in Munich, as Nanu, wo sind
die Menschen geblieben? In 1979 it
was republished by Rowohlt in Hamburg, with a new title: Schneckereien.
At left: a set of odd associations. At right: a
"snailish" parody of Fragonard’s famous painting: The Happy
Accidents of the Swing – however, in 1980 Searle drew a new version of this
scene, with pigs in place of snails, that is closer to Fragonard’s work.
In 1972, Searle dedicated a book to one of the
smallest insects: a gnat; but a gnat having a human shape.
The
Suicide & Reincarnation of an Extremely Small Man was published by Daily–Bul in La Louvière (Belgium). It is the 41st
volume in the collection Les Poquettes Volantes; a not so voluminous “volume”,
as this thin micro-book measures 11cm x 13.5 cm. This edition, which was never
republished, was limited to 1,000 copies.
In twenty pages, Searle shows the story of this odd
character that flies, falls and crashes to an apparently enormous eye, eye
which reveals to be just the pattern of a butterfly’s wing. At the last page,
this butterfly bumps into something, and maybe the story can restart from the
beginning, again and again endlessly.
In 1975, Searle came back to his favorite animals with
a book of twenty marvelous color plates of cats (but there were few
birds and one pig too). This More Cats was first published by Dennis
Dobson in London, and then in 1976, by Stephen Greene Press in Brattleboro
(USA), by J.J. Douglas in Vancouver, and by Kurt Desch in Munich, as Mehr
Katzen.
Some cartoons of this book have been already
published in The New Yorker magazine.
One more time, Searle’s cats express
human passions.
Hereunder, this couple of pigs looks like very
human too.
This work was drawn in 1974, and it was edited in the
back cover of the French magazine Le Fou Parle, issue number 9, in
January 1979.
In 1980, Von Katzen und anderen Menschen [Cats
and other people], an anthology of Searle’s former books, was published by
Eulenspiegel in East Berlin. This book has 118 pages.
Only eight real or mythic animals are part of the
signs of the zodiac. Searle changed Virgo into a mole (a private joke with
Monica, his wife), added cats to Libra, dogs to Aquarius, birds to Gemini, so
he finally got the full menagerie of 12 animalized signs. With two cartoons for
each sign, the content of a new book was ready.
Searle’s Zoodiac was first published by Dobson in London in 1977. In the text year it was
published by Pantheon Books in New York, and in Germany by Gerhard Stalling as Searles
Tierkeis.
Some cartoons from this book were used for postcards
published by Verlag L. Dabritz in Munich.
Increasing his private zoo, Searle drew 26 animal
cartoons that were gathered in a new book: The King of Beast & other
Creatures, that was first published by Allen Lane in London in 1980.
In the next year, it was published by La Boétie
/Deux Coqs d’Or in Paris, as Le roi des animaux et autres creatures, and
by Viking Press in New York, as The Situation is Hopeless.
A larger and bigger book was issued in several
countries in 1982. Ronald Searle’s
Big Fat Cat Book was an anthology
containing many new cat cartoons and some others from three former books: The Square Egg, More Cats, and Zoodiac. Four cartoons of this book originally
appeared in The New Yorker magazine and some others were edited as
lithography (like "The coming of the Great Cat God" hereunder at
right)
The English edition of this book was published by
Macmillan in London, and by Little Brown & Co in Boston. As Chats Chats
Chats, it was published by La Boétie /Deux Coqs d’Or in Paris, and as Ronald
Searles Großes Katzenbuch, it was published by Gerstenberg Verlag in
Germany.
Some of Searle’s cartoons only appeared in press
and were never republished in a book form.
This drawing was published in International
Herald Tribune (5 October 1987)
Ronald Searle has also illustrated some books for
young readers. Such are The Tales of Grandpa Cat, written by Lee
Wardlaw, and published by Dial Books in New York in 1994. Obviously, in this children's story,
the felines personify less human faults and vices, but rather human qualities.
Here, Grandpa Cat humorously entertains his
grandchildren with exciting tales about the exploits of various fellow
residents of his retirement community: Billy the Kitten (the fastest paw in the
West), Diamond Jim Kitty (millionaire thanks to his mitten factory), the Great
Tabby Houdini (the great magician), and Miss Kitty Hawk (the cat who was
determined to fly).
In the book Beastly Feasts! - sub-titled:
A Mischievous Menagerie in Rhyme - some of Searle’s illustrations of Robert
L. Forbes’ funny poems, are also real cartoons. In all, 42 various animals are
there. This book was first published by The Overlook Press in New York in 2007.
One year later, it was cleverly translated into
French and, as Bestioles un peu folles [Beasts a bit crazy], it was
published by Jean-Claude Gawsewitch in Paris.
Our next article about Searle’s books will be dedicated
to some sweet dope (well… to legal poisons anyway).
article by JMB
Learn more:
![Bestioles un peu folles [Beasts a bit crazy]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-YSRySOcx5ASkioOjyS8DOInZBIZPOLyMK4YqUxnVnmJGEjOfie3WXiidydZxErKVjtiZmHLHHZoYfYnvHSw28_oVtx90jRp6MEM7hTsRwxiD8t1usw_fxIdowzHi0rBjilX5x6m641fb/s1600/21BUPF.jpg "Bestioles un peu folles [Beasts a bit crazy]")
![Bestioles un peu folles [Beasts a bit crazy]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitw6w_zvre16jTJrLNRgRixlDx89FvPuZqUFDbw_-KDLoyIOy0m7pD-1LcWjmj93D42R07qfjqqdWP_eFuEOuq-zokCH2JD8fKJTPync8L_wgb38M5Aa0QCmQZDl8ad4BWDhAMa5BUw1KX/s1600/227BUPF2.jpg "Bestioles un peu folles [Beasts a bit crazy]")