“Oliver Twist”.
Price: $1,375.00
About the item
Leech, John. Watercolor, pen and sepia ink, inscribed “Fancy Portrait—Oliver Twist”. 1 vols. Approx. 4-1/2 x 5-1/8 inches.
Item #14446
John Leech (1817-1864) was one of the most prolific and successful of the English artists and caricaturists of the mid 19th century. "His humour was like his talent, gentle, warm-hearted and positive, his world, the ups and downs of middle class life, the sports of the squirearchy, and the peccadilloes of army officers and undergraduates" (Houfe). The conventions of social humor he established with his first contributions to the newly founded Punch, in 1841, lasted into the 1920s, but his greatest fame came through his book illustrations, particularly those for Surtees's sporting novels. "Extravantly praised by Ruskin, Leech's often careles but never crude drawings have survived in charm and humour to give us a refreshing glimpse of mid-Victorian society." (Houfe).
