Art In The Blood.

Art In The Blood.

Arthur Conan Doyle's father, Charles Altamont Doyle, was an architectural draughtsman and artist. His uncle, Richard Doyle, was a renowned painter of fairies. He also illustrated the original cover design for Punch magazine. While his grandfather, John Doyle, was a talented political cartoonist. 

Given such an artistic pedigree, its perhaps not surprising that Arthur Conan Doyle sometimes took up a pen or brush to express himself. 

An early example is The Judkin’s Tragedy. Drawn as a comic strip, it was done when Arthur Conan Doyle was a pupil at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire. It shows Judkin’s having a fight with a sailor. Judkin’s is then arrested by a police constable and brought before a magistrate. Condemned for his crime, he is imprisoned but manages to escape from custody. Sadly that is where the story ends, as it remained unfinished. 

Several years later, Arthur Conan Doyle signed on as a ship’s surgeon (though he was still only a medical student). The ship was called the Hope, a whaler that was bound for the Arctic for six months. Arthur Conan Doyle kept a diary of the voyage. It was illustrated with his own sketches. These depict everyday life on board the ship; the crew, the wildlife, and the landscape of the Arctic. One example is a drawing titled, ‘The Hope among loose ice. March 16th, 1880.‘ 

The sketches and drawings were done in pen and ink, though Arthur Conan Doyle also added watercolour paint to a handful of them. The illustrations are naive and charming, enhancing the words in the diary. 

In 2012, the diary and its illustrations was published under the title, ‘Dangerous Work: Diary of an Arctic Adventure.‘ Edited by Jon Lellenberg and Daniel Stashower, it was published by The British Library. 

When he graduated from Edinburgh University in 1881, Arthur Conan Doyle drew another cartoon. He depicted himself jumping for joy, as he holds his diploma aloft. Underneath the figure are the words, ‘Licensed to kill!‘

In that same year, Arthur Conan Doyle obtained a position as ship’s surgeon on the S.S. Mayumba. Carrying cargo and mail, as well as 30 passengers, the ship left Liverpool on 22 October, 1881. It appears that Doyle did not enjoy the three-month long voyage to West Africa at all. However, he still wrote an account of it, accompanied by 15 drawings. One of these is titled, ‘Fernando Po from the Bay.‘ (Fernando Po - now named Bioko - is an island in Equatorial Guinea). 

Professor Challenger was another subject for Arthur Conan Doyle’s pencil. In 1913, Doyle drew a portrait of the main character of his novels The Lost World, and The Poison Belt. It shows Challenger with slightly downcast eyes and prominent eyebrows. A luxuriant beard covers the lower part of his face. The drawing was annotated by Doyle’s second wife, Jean, who wrote; “Arthur drew this (1913) as an idea of his conception of Challenger.“ 

Arthur Conan Doyle sometimes illustrated his letters to other people, with small sketches and even maps. One such was a letter to his mother, Mary. Dating from 1882, it shows the location of Bush Villa in Southsea, to where he had just moved. 

Toward the end of his life, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle sent a pen sketch to a Mrs Livingston. In this he depicts himself as ‘The Old Horse‘. This stooped equine pulls a heavy-laden cart. This represents Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s lifetime of achievements and travels. Behind the horse and cart is a timeline of Doyle’s life. On top of the cart are various items of sporting equipment, while Sherlock Holmes lies toward the bottom.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle added a note underneath the sketch: “Consultation of vets Webb-Johnson, Parkinson, and Mackintosh.“ The Old Horse “has pulled a heavy load a long way. But he is well cared for, and with six weeks stable and six months grass he will be on the road once more.“ 

During the last year of his life, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle took up painting in oils and watercolour. One of his oil paintings depicts a Regency sparring saloon (these were academies where gentlemen learnt bare-knuckle boxing and self-defence). Titled ‘Sparring Saloon‘, the painting shows two gentlemen surrounded by other figures. At the bottom right of the picture is a caption which reads; ‘Jerry. “Sorry, Tom. Got to give you a dam good hiding.“‘

Another oil painting is titled, ‘My Home-Town‘. It shows a small, orange-coloured demon, sitting on a cupola as it gazes across a town at night. To my mind, this echoes the work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s much troubled father, Charles Altamont Doyle. 

In 2004, a collection of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s drawings and paintings was sold at auction by Christie’s. They fetched £7,170 - easily beating the estimate of £1,000 - £1,500.

One likes to think that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would have been pleased at this result! 

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