Ronald Searles America
Edited by Matt Jones Published by Fantagraphics Books
Observation – some people appear oblivious to what is around them. Others cast a keen eye across their surroundings and the people inhabiting them. Illustrator Ronald Searle (1920 -2011) was a master of the latter, injecting it both into his reportage work and successful cartoons such as St Trinian’s, and this superb book revisits his impressive output from across America (and Canada) on assignment for several magazines from the late 1950’s onwards.
Curated by Matt Jones, who runs the Perpetua: Ronald Searle Tribute website, this impressive coffee table sized publication breaks down Searle’s travels into various locations, showing work that has rarely been seen since original publication in the 1960’s, with fascinating on site drawing, rough sketches which reveal the workings behind a joke, plus the richly detailed final images in line and colour.
See full review at http://www.theaoi.com/blog/?p=11161