Above: Artist’s notations on verso

Lenore is a rare surviving Henry Clive cover illustration from his 20+ years creating for The American Weekly. The art dates to a 1934 series titled Darlings of the Poets where, Clive illustrated the inspirations for leading poets and writers.

This particular oil on canvas depicts the lost and sorrowful inspiration behind The Raven as written by Edgar Allan Poe.

This comes from the California estate of Patricia Lake, the rumored illegitimate daughter of Hearst and his long time mistress and confident, Marion Davies. This was thought to have been lost in a fire and was stored for years or on display in Hearst’s San Simeon Castle.