Scholars locked in disputation

Dulac, Edmund, French-British artist (1882-1953). It was in vain that all wisest physicians in the country were summoned into consultation.

€ 28.000,00

An original working illustration for "The Story of the Magic Horse", from Laurence Housman's 1907 edition of "Stories from the Arabian Nights". The magnificent drawing shows three scholars locked in disputation, with a bookcase and two more sages in the background, consulting astrological charts.

Writing of Dulac in 1916, Martin Birnbaum remarked: "Persian Miniatures especially have fascinated him, and it will be noticed that he has discarded all attempts at modelling by means of shading, and has wisely adopted the Eastern convention of flat colours". The present, early study shows this transition not yet fully achieved, though Dulac's capacity for elegantly filling large spaces with ornament is already in evidence.

Slight differences between this preparatory design and the finished illustration as printed in the book reveal that the drawing underwent further development: the published version has a different colour foreground, and more symbols on the astrological chart; also, the foreground is broader and bears a signature at lower right. The finalised watercolour design used for publication was sold at Sotheby's, 11 July 2024 (Original Illustrations from the Collection of the Late Colin White), lot 261. The present mock-up has been trimmed and contemporaneously mounted on a working board.