Then, all his resistance overcome, he would let himself fall back into a large armchair, and, stretching himself voluptuously and with half-closed eyes, he would sip his sin slowly, savouring it sensuously, and saying softly to himself with a feeling of exquisite remorse: 'Ah! I shall go to hell for this ...'

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Then, all his resistance overcome, he would let himself fall back into a large armchair, and, stretching himself voluptuously and with half-closed eyes, he would sip his sin slowly, savouring it sensuously, and saying softly to himself with a feeling of exquisite remorse: 'Ah! I shall go to hell for this ...'

Edward Ardizzone (1900-1979)

Price

£2,250

Signed

Inscribed 'Father Gaucher's Elixir' below mount

Medium

Ink

Dimensions

7 ½ x 6 ¼ inches

Illustrated

Alphonse Daudet, Letters from my Windmill, London: Penguin Books, 1978, page 202, 'Father Gaucher's Elixir'

Literature

Brian Alderson, Edward Ardizzone: A Bibliographic Commentary, Pinner: Private Libraries Association, 2003, page 195

Exhibited

'The Human Touch: The Art of Edward Ardizzone', Chris Beetles Gallery, London, April-May 2025

'Go on! Just one drop more!' And one drop leading to the next, the unfortunate man would end with his goblet full to the brim. Then, all his resistance overcome, he would let himself fall back into a large armchair, and, stretching himself voluptuously and with half-closed eyes, he would sip his sin slowly, savouring it sensuously…’, page 203

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