11th Feb, 2026 11:00
The Estate of John Russell Taylor: Author, Critic, Collector
252
FREDERICK CAYLEY ROBINSON (BRITISH 1862-1927)
DRAWING FOR THE FAREWELL OF THE LOVERS IN BLUE BIRD
signed F. CAYLEY-ROBINSON lower left; titled on a label on the reverse; pencil heightened with white on blue paper; 15 x 15cm; 6 x 6in (37 x 32cm; 14 1/2 x 12 1/2in framed)
Provenance: Duncan Grant, London (purchased in 1911)
Exhibited: London, Leicester Galleries (Ernest Brown & Phillips), Water-colour drawings illustrating Maeterlinck's 'The blue bird' by F. Cayley Robinson, A.R.W.S., 1911
Written by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949) in 1908, Blue Bird was first performed in Moscow the same year. It was translated into English by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos with illustrations by Cayley Robinson and published by Methuen in 1911, the year Maeterlinck was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.
A mystical tale of two children's quest for happiness, Cayley Robinson's illustrations are full of Pre-Raphaelite detail and Art Nouveau stylisation with a muted palette dominated by twilight blues creating a dreamlike atmosphere. The influence from Renaissance frescoes and the Symbolist art of Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824-1898) suffuse his work. While best remembered for his monumental mural series Acts of Mercy (1916-20), commissioned for the Middlesex Hospital (now in the Wellcome Library, London), his book illustrations, particularly the 1911 Blue Bird, showcase his gift for visual storytelling.
Methuen published Cayley Robinson's illustrations for Muethen was a significant example of early 20th Century Symbolist book art, where Cayley Robinson's illustrations' aesthetic bridge Symbolism and the Arts and Crafts movement and must have coincided with the Nobel Prize for Literature being awarded to Maeterlinck that same year.
Sold for £11,000
DRAWING FOR THE FAREWELL OF THE LOVERS IN BLUE BIRD
signed F. CAYLEY-ROBINSON lower left; titled on a label on the reverse; pencil heightened with white on blue paper; 15 x 15cm; 6 x 6in (37 x 32cm; 14 1/2 x 12 1/2in framed)
Provenance: Duncan Grant, London (purchased in 1911)
Exhibited: London, Leicester Galleries (Ernest Brown & Phillips), Water-colour drawings illustrating Maeterlinck's 'The blue bird' by F. Cayley Robinson, A.R.W.S., 1911
Written by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949) in 1908, Blue Bird was first performed in Moscow the same year. It was translated into English by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos with illustrations by Cayley Robinson and published by Methuen in 1911, the year Maeterlinck was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.
A mystical tale of two children's quest for happiness, Cayley Robinson's illustrations are full of Pre-Raphaelite detail and Art Nouveau stylisation with a muted palette dominated by twilight blues creating a dreamlike atmosphere. The influence from Renaissance frescoes and the Symbolist art of Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824-1898) suffuse his work. While best remembered for his monumental mural series Acts of Mercy (1916-20), commissioned for the Middlesex Hospital (now in the Wellcome Library, London), his book illustrations, particularly the 1911 Blue Bird, showcase his gift for visual storytelling.
Auction: The Estate of John Russell Taylor: Author, Critic, Collector, 11th Feb, 2026
Auction Location: London, UK
John Russell Taylor was a compulsive collector. When he died at the age of ninety, his two bedroom flat on the corner of Brook Green was floor to ceiling with books and pictures that he had collected over the last seventy years. A precocious talent he was awarded a scholarship to read English at Cambridge aged 16 and graduated with a starred First Class degree. Film, theatre and art critic for The Times for more than four decades, he wrote thousands of articles and reviews for the newspaper. He also wrote over sixty books – critical studies, biographies, and monographs. He was appointed professor of Film at the University of Southern California during the 1970s, when he was asked by Alfred Hitchcock to write his biography. Hitch remains the standard text on the film director. John's interests ranged across all aspects of the arts from Art Nouveau book illustration to Vorticism, fan paintings, poetry and stage design. Struck by the visual rather than the value of a work of art, the sale of his picture collection gives a flavour of the full gamut of his encyclopaedic mind, a man remembered for his phenomenal range of reference, his extraordinary talent for writing and his warm and generous character.
For a copy of the printed catalogue, email pictures@olympiaauctions.com
PUBLIC EXHIBITION
Friday 6th February: 10am - 5pm
Sunday 8th February: 12pm - 4pm
Monday 9th February: 10am - 8pm (Drinks: 5pm - 8pm)
Tuesday 10th February: 10am - 5pm
View Press Release for more information
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PUBLIC EXHIBITION
Friday 6th February: 10am - 5pm
Sunday 8th February: 12pm - 4pm
Monday 9th February: 10am - 8pm (Drinks: 5pm - 8pm)
Tuesday 10th February: 10am - 5pm
