Loving Bewick From ‘Jane Eyre – The Guardians’

Published by The Artist & Marlborough Graphics, London, UK. Date: 2001. Sheet size: 63cm x 87.5cm Image Size: 43cm x 67cm. Original lithograph printed at The Curwen Studio on Somerset Wove. Unsigned printer’s proof aside from the edition of 35. “Loving Bewick” is probably the most often reproduced work in the whole series: it relates to the equally famous passage in which Jane explains her interest for Bewick’s History of British Birds. Much has been written about the disturbing mixture of sexuality and religious symbolism in this picture. Rego’s reinterpretation of the myth of Leda and the swan, conflated with the nurturing presence of the self-sacrificing pelican, is almost entirely founded on the sentence: “With Bewick on my knee, I was then happy: happy at least in my way”. (Source: Bury, Laurent, 2009). In very fine condition. Very scarce.