EX LIBRIS DESIGN: WOMAN IN A BLACK BALLGOWN

Two drawings on joined leaves executed in black and brown ink and pencil. The left side shows a delicate foliage design, the right, a smiling woman in an ornate black ball gown standing on a floral lawn. This image has 'EX LIBRIS / Annie French' written on the bottom right corner, suggesting it may be a design for a bookplate. The reverse side is primarily blank, with a small unfinished sketch of a male figure and slight ghosting of some writing. 'AF 39' is written in pencil in tiny characters along the bottom. The sheet measures 26 x 19.5 cm. In very good condition, the drawings bright and crisp, the very edges slightly toned, the centre fold with small holes where it was bound into the sketchbook.

A beautiful pair of drawings by the Scottish artist Annie French (1872-1965), featuring her classic subjects of romantically dressed women and unique floral motifs. French attended and later taught at the Glasgow School of Art alongside her contemporaries Margaret and Frances MacDonald and Jessie M. King at a time when Scottish art and design was enjoying a period of particular innovation and renown. The Glasgow School's distinctive collective style helped to shape the aesthetics of the British Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts movements at the turn of the twentieth century and beyond. Provenance: Christies Scotland, 9th April 1981, lot 19; Private collection.