This lot will be auctioned on Tuesday, June 21st. The auction will begin at 8:00am PDT and lots are sold sequentially via live auctioneer; tune in to the live streaming broadcast on auction day to follow the pace. Note other lots in the auction may close on Wednesday, June 22nd; Thursday, June 23rd; or Friday, June 24th.

A rare, ornately detailed hand-drawn illustration by martial arts legend Bruce Lee. Lee, a gifted visual artist who loved to draw martial arts-related subjects and themes, hand-rendered this alluring illustration of four classical Kung Fu warriors in mid-fight, with each one brandishing a signature weapon. The drawing is beautifully articulated in Lee's distinctive style and features his personal signature in the top left corner in green ink.

Lee gifted this drawing to his younger brother, Robert, between 1968 and 1970, shortly before he returned to Hong Kong to launch his groundbreaking career in film with Golden Harvest Studios. In the years before his death, Lee had been developing a script entitled "Northern Leg, Southern Fist," a film intended to showcase his extraordinary abilities with classical Chinese weapons.

The artist also engaged in two historic photoshoots - one at Golden Harvest Studios and the other at Shaw Brother's Studios - in which he dressed as iconic historical, literary, and pop cultural Chinese characters or archetypes. As he hoped to star in, direct, and produce a film in the popular martial arts sub-genre, it is likely such a project as "Northern Leg, Southern Fist" was on his mind when he created this evocative illustration.

Bruce Lee drawings with this level of detail are extremely rare. This illustration exhibits significant creasing and tanning along the right edge, and mild tanning and creasing along the left edge. The main body of the illustration and the signature, however, retain their original clarity and vibrancy. Dimensions: 10.25" x 8" (26 cm x 20 cm)

Sold without copyright; see copyright notice in the Buyer's Guide.

Estimate: $8,000 - 12,000

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