267. A Drawing for Judith

At the end of this month, Christie's auction includes a drawing by Charles Ricketts, a costume design for Judith.

Charles Ricketts, costume design for 'Judith'

The drawing was for the design of the costume of two (of the) slaves in Arnold Bennett's Judith, which was staged in 1919. Other designs for this production are now in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. A similar sketch on a post card was offered for sale by Leicester Galleries.

Charles Ricketts, costume design for 'Judith'

The drawing at Christie's is described as: pencil, watercolour, gouache and silver paint, signed with initials 'CR' (lower right), 38x26,5 cm. 

On 27 September, it is expected to fetch GBP 1,000 to 1,500. The drawing is offered in the sale of Brian Sewell's collection. Sewell (1931-2015) worked at Christie's as a specialist of old master paintings and drawings. Later he became an art dealer, and a critic with a hostile view of conceptual art and the Turner Prize. He is known for having argued that 'the public doesn't know good from bad' in artistic matters.