Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966) and others - photo 1
Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966) and others - photo 2
Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966) and others - photo 3
Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966) and others - photo 4
Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966) and others - photo 5

Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966) and others

Lot 190
15.12.2023 11:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 1 386
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1108990
Lot 190 | Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966) and others
Estimate value
£ 1 800 – 2 500
Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966) and others
Four autograph letters, England and France, 1771-1989
Norton Nicholls (1741-1809). Two autograph letters to his mother, Chateau D’Aubonne, 6 and 15 August 1771; Evelyn Waugh. Autograph letter signed ('Evelyn') to Robin Campbell, Stinchcombe, 27 December 1945; and Ted Hughes (1930-1998). Autograph letter signed ('Ted') to Nicholas Grant, Devon, 8 May 1989

8 pages in total, various sizes [With:] four drawings by Hughes [and:] the summer 1989 edition of The Duncan Lawrie Journal. Provenance: Sotheby's, 25 July 1975 and Christie's, 29 May 1986, lot 225.

Nicholls responds to the death of Thomas Gray, Waugh offers his views on aesthetics and Picasso, and Ted Hughes supplies drawings for a close friend. In two letters to his mother, Nicholls first describes a trip to Switzerland: ‘here we lay amidst eternal snow [...] the sun shone bright & the weather was that of a fine sharp day in winter – before this we had seen the Glacier of Grindelwald’. Later, he writes on the death of Thomas Gray, lamenting that he has lost ‘all that was most dear to me in this World except yourself’ but reassuring her ‘you need not be alarmed for me, I am well, & not subject to emotions violent enough to endanger my health’ despite claiming, ‘at present I feel that I have lost half of myself’. In a letter to Robin Campbell, Waugh defends a recent letter he wrote to The Times with a fierce attack on Picasso who, he claims, fails as an artist and is a symbol of decadence and the decline of Western civilisation – ‘the only criticisms valid for him are: "Ooh doesn’t it make you feel funny inside" or "the fellow’s a charlatan"' – including Gertrude Stein in his criticism (‘aesthetically in the same position as, theologically, a mortal-sinner who has put himself outside the world order of God’s mercy’). Ted Hughes encloses four drawings entitled 'The Candlestick', 'The Wolf Spitting Flames', 'God Clasping His Head' and 'The Bat' in a letter to Grant apologising ‘I’m afraid there are only four. Two or three others I tried weren’t getting anywhere so rather than delay – here are four, which I quite like’. The Duncan Lawrie Journal contains enlarged reproductions of the drawings to illustrate a short story titled How God Got His Golden Head.

Robin Campbell, the future Director of Art of the Arts Council, believed that the letter Waugh had written for The Times was a hoax and had therefore written to his friend to confirm: the present letter is Waugh’s response. Nicholls acted as a confidante to Thomas Grey in the several years before his death, they shared an extensive amount of correspondence over this period. Meeting in 1980 through a mutual friend, Hughes and Grant became close friends, they shared a passion for fly-fishing.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
09.12.2023 12:00 – 17:00
10.12.2023 12:00 – 17:00
11.12.2023 09:00 – 20:00
12.12.2023 09:00 – 17:00
13.12.2023 09:00 – 17:00
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

More from Creator

When the Going was Good
When the Going was Good
£1 600
Ninety-Two Days
Ninety-Two Days
£1 600
Love Among the Ruins
Love Among the Ruins
£6 000
Scoop and 5 others
Scoop and 5 others
£3 200
The ‘Sword of Honour Trilogy’
The ‘Sword of Honour Trilogy’
£12 000
A Handful of Dust
A Handful of Dust
£5 000
Brideshead Revisited
Brideshead Revisited
£25 000
Officers and Gentlemen
Officers and Gentlemen
£6 000

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.