John Drew Jr as 'Jack Straw'

Sir Max Beerbohm (1872-1956)

Price

£3,500

Signed

Signed, inscribed 'For Egan, Souvenir of Jack Straw' and dated '30 March 1919'

Medium

Ink and watercolour on tinted paper

Dimensions

8 ½ x 6 ¼ inches

Exhibited

'The Illustrators: The British Art of Illustration 1806-2025', Chris Beetles Gallery, London, November 2025-January 2026, no 46

This caricature is likely to be the American actor John Drew Jr, who played the title character 'Jack Straw' in Somerset Maugham's play, which premiered at London's Vaudeville Theatre in 1908.

Max Beerbohm's dedication is possibly to Egan Mew, an author and expert on ceramics, with whom Beerbohm would sometimes attend the theatre.

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