Lot 72: HOUSMAN, LAURENCE (1865-1959, writer, painter and illustrator, brother of A.E. Housman)

SELF-PORTRAIT AS ST. FRANCIS,
pen and ink drawing, half-length, signed with initials, within an elaborate border with vignettes relating to the scourging and crucifixion of Christ and with a portrait of Christ on a shroud, c. 5½ x 3½ in (14 x 8.9 cm).

EXHIBITED: Beautiful Decadence, Tokyo, 1999

This portrait was published as the frontispiece of The Little Flowers of Saint Francis, 1898, newly translated out of the Italian by T.W. Arnold, a copy of which is included. Original drawings by Housman are scarce; the present drawing is an extraordinary example of his technical ability and skill as a draughtsman.

The identification of the sitter as Housman himself was made by Rodney Engen, author of Laurence Housman, in the Artist and the Critic series, 1983.