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ANNA-MARIE FERGUSON. "The Questing Beast." Illustration published in Sir Thomas Malory's "Le Morte d'Arthur," illustrated by Ferguson and edited by John Matthews (London & New York: Cassells Publications, 2000). Watercolor and ink on paper. 330x260 mm; 13x8 inches on 14 1/2x10 1/4-inch paper. Signed in lower right; additionally signed, captioned and dated in lower margin.
Ferguson's magnificent rendering of the great beast from her celebrated illustrated edition of Malory's great Arthurian legend. The beast is described not alongside the story itself, but buried within the text, as having the "body of a leopard, head of a serpent, and cloven hooves." As such, the scene has eluded many an illustrator: Arthur Rackham found it while Beardsley, among others, did not, and a range of depictions has emerged over the course of its reprinting. Ferguson's is a masterly and sensitive depiction that remains true to the text. See 'Illustrating Camelot' by Barbara Tepa Lupack, (Suffolk: Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2008.)
