Radnorshire Fine Arts Ltd

Description

Signed Barbosa in pencil (upper right). Pencil, watercolour, and gouache, highlighted with white and gum arabic on paper. This picture is an alternative design for the book titled “The Memoirs of Coral Pearl, the erotic reminiscences of a flamboyant 19th-century courtesan,” published 1983. The picture is illustrated on page 339 in the book “Barbosa – The Man Who Drew Flashman” by Lawrence Blackmore. Published by The Book Palace Ltd, 2017.

‘In Reception’ illustrates the grand hall of a fine building while the mistress of the house ‘dressed in black’ introduces a young girl to a rather sinister and untrustworthy looking gentleman.

This is one of three original artworks we have by Barbosa and we are confident that all three were put forward by the artist as alternative designs for the book titled “The Memoirs of Coral Pearl, the erotic reminiscences of a flamboyant 19th-century courtesan”, published 1983 by Granada. Although Barbosa designed the dust jacket no other illustrations are present in the book. The reason for not publishing the pictures is unknown and we can only speculate as to why.

Lawrence Blackmore points out that the first publication in 1886 of ‘Mèmoires de Cora Pearl’ was greatly anticipated but proved a dull disappointment. The names of the key players were only thinly disguised and the accounts of her sexual exploits and frivolities only tamely recounted. It quickly went out of print and disappeared. In 1983 Granada published ‘The Memoirs of Cora Pearl’ edited by William Blatchford. Barbosa designed the dust jacket. Blatchford claimed to have located a later volume of Cora Pearl’s memoirs, published in 1890 after her death that was decidedly more frank and sexually explicit than its predecessor. These ‘discovered’ memoirs proved to be a hoax, the real author being Derek Parker, a former Chairman of the Society of Authors and well known for his books on astrology, co-authored with his wife.

Artur Barbosa (1908-1995) was born in Liverpool, the son of the Portuguese vice-consul and a half-French mother. He studied at Liverpool School of Art and the Central School of Art in London. Whilst still a student he produced illustrations for Everybody’s Weekly and The Radio Times. He also designed for the stage and produced drawings for fashion magazines and leading advertising agencies. Barbosa was at school with the actor Rex Harrison, the friendship endured into adulthood when Harrison commissioned Barbosa to design the interiors of his villa in Portofino, this in turn led to a commission to refurbish Elizabeth Taylor’s yacht, the Kalizma Cecil Beaton and Laurence Olivier were also among his friends.

His prolific book illustration was the most constant and popular element throughout his long career and he was commissioned by authors such as C.S Forester, George MacDonald Fraser, Patrick O’Brian and Georgette Heyer. His stylised designs are immediately recognisable and have become a characteristic perception of the (extended!) Regency period (Hornblower and Flashman technically fall either side of the years 1810-20!)
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CONDITION AND PRESENTATION
In our description, if a picture is shown to be framed then the frame will be included with the sale of the picture. Unless stated otherwise all unframed watercolours, drawings and prints have been mounted onto acid-free conservation board using either Japanese hinging paper or reversible wheat starch past. Unframed and mounted pictures are then wrapped in clear polyester film to protect both the picture and the mount. All conservation work has been carried out by accredited conservators.