Charlie Mackesy.
Look How Far We’ve Come
Selling Exhibition: 16 December 2022–15 January 2023 • London

Working drawings featuring the characters from The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse


F ollowing on from the success We are all a Work in Progress, a selling exhibition of original works by Charlie Mackesy as part of Sotheby’s Jubilee celebrations, we are proud to announce the return of Mackesy’s work this Christmas in the selling exhibition Look How Far We’ve Come. This selling exhibition features over 60 hand-painted and -drawn, unique working drawings from the book. These delicately rendered illustrations in ink and watercolour give an insight into the sensitivity and relatability of the little world created by the best-selling book The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse which, in today’s heightened awareness of the importance of mental health and wellbeing, acts as a reminder to readers of all ages. We have also collaborated with Charlie on a take over of The Story Café here at Sotheby's, allowing you to immerse yourself in the wonderful world of these four characters.

About the Artist

CHARLIE MACKESY © CHARLIE GRAY 2021

British artist, illustrator and author Charlie Mackesy began his career as a cartoonist for The Spectator, before becoming a book illustrator for Oxford University Press. His award-winning work has featured in books, private collections, galleries and public spaces around the world. His internationally bestselling book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, was published in October 2019 and holds the record for the most consecutive weeks in the Sunday Times Non-Fiction Chart across all formats as well as being the longest running Sunday Times Non-Fiction Number One of all time. A number one New York Times best-seller, it is one of eight books since 2013 that has remained on the number one New York Times Bestseller and on the New York Times Advice, Misc. Best Seller list.

Charlie’s beloved book is the first ever book to be awarded both the Waterstones Book of the Year and Barnes and Noble Book of the Year (2019) and has been translated into over 40 different languages and dialects. Charlie's words and illustrations have brought comfort to many and have been shared online around the world as well as on t-shirts for Comic Relief, magazine covers, street lamp posts, school classrooms, cafés, women's safe houses, prisons, hospital wards and as NHS hospital computer screensavers. Charlie worked with Richard Curtis on the set of Love Actually to create a set of drawings to be auctioned for Comic Relief, and with Nelson Mandela on a lithograph project, The Unity Series. Charlie's paintings have been exhibited widely, most recently in Sotheby's in London. His bronzes can be found in public spaces in London, including Highgate Cemetery and the Brompton Road. Away from art, Charlie co-runs Mama Buci, a honey social enterprise in Zambia that helps families of low and no income become beekeepers. He lives between Brixton and Suffolk with his dog Barney.

View Works


Location:

Sotheby's London
34–35 New Bond Street

Hours:

16 December 2022–15 January 2023
Weekdays: 9:00 AM–4:30 PM
Weekends: 12:00–5:00 PM
The Exhibition will be closed from 24 December–3 January

Contacts:

Helen Culver Smith
+44 207 293 6381

Kira Gurmail-Kaufmann
+44 207 293 5515

mackesy@sothebys.com


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