11th Feb, 2026 11:00
The Estate of John Russell Taylor: Author, Critic, Collector
87
WILLIAM BARRIBAL (BRITISH 1873-1952)
DESIGN FOR THE PROGRAM COVER OF THE ALHAMBRA THEATRE, LONDON
signed Barribal lower left and inscribed Alhambra / Theatre London / Managing Director / Alfred Mould lower right; pencil, watercolour and wash on paper; 28 x 34cm; 11 x 13 1/2in (42 x 48cm; 16 1/2 x 19in framed)
The present work is a cover design for the programme at the Alhambra, Leicester Square for the week commencing 15th April 1912. Built in 1854, the Alhambra theatre and music hall was demolished in 1936 to make way for the Odeon Cinema Leicester Square.
Barribal started as a lithographer before studying at the Académie Julian in Paris. A successful commercial designer, his clients included Schweppes, the board games manufacturer Waddingtons and Vogue magazine. His flourished technique was hugely popular, widely copied and known as 'the Barribal style'.
Sold for £600
DESIGN FOR THE PROGRAM COVER OF THE ALHAMBRA THEATRE, LONDON
signed Barribal lower left and inscribed Alhambra / Theatre London / Managing Director / Alfred Mould lower right; pencil, watercolour and wash on paper; 28 x 34cm; 11 x 13 1/2in (42 x 48cm; 16 1/2 x 19in framed)
The present work is a cover design for the programme at the Alhambra, Leicester Square for the week commencing 15th April 1912. Built in 1854, the Alhambra theatre and music hall was demolished in 1936 to make way for the Odeon Cinema Leicester Square.
Barribal started as a lithographer before studying at the Académie Julian in Paris. A successful commercial designer, his clients included Schweppes, the board games manufacturer Waddingtons and Vogue magazine. His flourished technique was hugely popular, widely copied and known as 'the Barribal style'.
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
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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
