500 Gallery
Live Auction

Exclusive Fine Art: Summer Session

Wed, May 25, 2022 05:30PM EDT
Lot 172

Ludwig Bemelmans, Manner of/ Attributed: Circus Scene

Estimate: $2,500 - $3,500

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$20,000 $1,000
$50,000 $2,500
$100,000 $500,000
Ludwig Bemelmans (Hungarian, 1898 - 1962) Manner of/ Attributed: Circus Scene. Pen and ink on paper, signed lower right, unframed.

Bemelmans belongs in the Pantheon of illustrators. A relentless connoisseur of life, he drew with a child's eye and wrote with the shrewd wit of an adult. He knew everyone worth knowing, went everywhere worth visiting, all the while recording what he saw on the backs of menus, envelopes, or on the inside covers of matchbooks. His resume was a checkerboard: hotelier, restaurateur, cartoonist, ad man, theatrical designer, novelist, screenwriter, interior decorator, journalist, and children's book author. What made Bemelmans such a creative powerhouse He confessed, "My greatest inspiration is a low bank balance."

11.75 x 10.25 inches; 29.8 x 26.1 cm.

Private collection England, Estate of Silvio Aguayo Espejo Vina del Mar Chile

Condition

Paper is evenly toned; slight undulation to the paper; corners rounded.

NOTE: If documentation is not listed, the lot is sold without documents.

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