Dec 10, 2019 - Sale 2526

Sale 2526 - Lot 41

Price Realized: $ 750
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 300 - $ 400
WILLIAM HEWISON.
Daniel Day-Lewis as Hamlet. Illustration of Day-Lewis and Michael Bryant as Polonius, in the Olivier Theatre, National Theatre, London production of Hamlet, published in Punch Magazine, March 31, 1989. Pen, ink, and wash on paper. Signed and dated, lower left image, artist's stamp on verso; Signed by Daniel Day Lewis; image description in green ink, upper left margin.

Additional Details

An illustration depicting the production that spawned one of the most infamous stage anecdotes. For years, it was said that Day-Lewis believed he saw the ghost of his father, poet laureate Cecil Day-Lewis, while performing Hamlet one night and was so shaken that he exited the stage and returned neither to the production, nor acting, for several years. He later disavowed that rumor, stating it was a metaphorical ghost that led to his breakdown.