Lot 13: Female head study, looking up

Sir William Blake Richmond, R.A. (1842-1921) Female head study, looking up signed, indistinctly inscribed and dated 'G. Pradeau[/from his friend/W.B. Richmond April 15 1882' (lower left) and inscribed 'Mrs W Pradeau' (on the reverse, according to previous cataloguing) sanguine chalk, heightened with white on buff paper 16 x 11 ¾ in. (40.8 x 29.8 cm.)

40.8 x 29.8 cm.

with The Maas Gallery, London, where purchased by the present owners.

The present sheet appears from the inscription to have been executed during Blake Richmond's first visit to Greece in the summer of 1882. The trip was such a success that he returned again the following year and as a direct result of these visits he painted An Audience in Athens (Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery). This drawing demonstrates the artist's extraordinary ability to capture a vivid likeness with just a few judicious strokes.