Edward Ardizzone CBE, RA (1900-1979)
"Saloon Bar at the Local"
Inscribed to artist's label verso, mixed media, 20cm by 27.5cm

Provenance: The Leicester Galleries, London

Artist's Resale Rights/Droit de Suite may apply to this lot, please refer to our Terms of Business

See illustration

One of the finest illustrators of the 20th Century, Ardizzone is known for his charming paintings, book illustrations and his work as a war artist from 1940-45.
His work is warm, witty and based on observations of the everyday life that surrounded him. Indeed, even his war work was praised for showing a more human side; he captured scenes of quiet heroics, of coping with everyday life in wartime. Ardizzone populated his pictures with instantly recognisable and relatable figures, and he had a keen eye for human interactions which he translated to paper with great humour.
Ardizonne was born in French Indochina to a Scottish mother and a Franco-Italian father, but he a spent his childhood in Suffolk and London, going on to study at Westminster Art School under Bernard Meninski. In addition to his extensive list of book illustrations, Ardizonne wrote and illustrated his own children's books, including an award-winning series about a young boy called Tim. His work is held in many major collections including the British Museum, the Imperial War Museum, Tate Britain, the V&A, and the Ashmolean Museum.