Robert Stewart Sherriffs

Call to the Dance - 1930s British Theatrical illustration by Robert Sherriffs

c.1935

HARRY CARLETON ATTWOOD (1907-1985) The Model - Design for Eltham Palace Coloured chalks, arched top Framed 21 by 13 cm., 8 ¼ by 5 in. (frame size 39.5 by 31.5 cm., 15 ½ by 12 ½ in...

HARRY CARLETON ATTWOOD (1907-1985) Orpheus - Design for Eltham Palace Watercolour, squared for transfer Framed 22.5 by 14 cm., 9 by 5 ½ in. (frame size 39.5 by 31.5 cm., 15 ½ by 1...

Circle of Erte, Romain de Tirtoff (Russian / French 1892 – 1990) A dress design for Estelle Pencil, ink and watercolour on paper Inscribed ‘Estelle’ (upper left) with other notations...

This beautiful British Art Deco 1930's water colour and ink painting on paper is by well respected artist Averil Mary Burleigh. Painted circa 1935 the composition is of three female figures with flowing robes and head dresses with slender tree trunks beyond them and vivid blue of the sky meeting the sea. (Caerula pertains to the colour of the sky and sea). They are playing between them with two balls or globes. A beautiful painting full of fun and movement and that amazing blue. Signed lower left, and inscribed on a label verso. Provenance: Surrey estate. Condition. Water colour and ink on paper. Image size is 24 inches by 16 inches and in excellent condition. Frame. Housed in a gilt frame. Framed size is 30 inches by 22 inches and in good condition. Averil Mary Burleigh born Averil Mary Dell (1883 – 1949) was a British artist and painter. Based in Sussex, Burleigh was known for painting in egg tempera with the subject usually involving a central figure. Her husband and daughter also painted but she is the best regarded of the three. Burleigh was born in 1883 in Hassocks in West Sussex and went on to study at the Brighton School of Art. She married the painter Charles Burleigh and they lived and worked together as artists in Hove and Sussex. They designed a house with a large sun-lit top floor studio. Their daughter Veronica, who would also become a notable artist, was born there in 1909. The family never became rich from their works, and often relied on Burleigh's flair for buying and selling shares. In 1911 Burleigh illustrated a book of John Keats' poetry and went on to illustrate plays by Shakespeare. In 1913 she was featured in Studio magazine. In 1927 Burleigh illustrated Thistledown by Leolyn Louise Everett. From 1939 she was a member of the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours. Burleigh became very ill in the 1940s, dying in 1949. Shortly before she died, Burleigh was elected an associate of the Royal Watercolour Society. Burleigh specialised in tempera painting, although she also worked in chalk and watercolour. Her works tend to have a bright colour palette with contrasting colours to lead the eye around the picture. A sharp luminosity and strong sense of design govern Burleigh's tempera and watercolour paintings. Frequently, her works portray decorative renaissance subjects, usually dominated by a female figure who is regularly modelled on her daughter, Veronica Burleigh...