Gerald Leslie Brockhurst
Le Beguin (Anaïs)
1922

Name: Le Beguin (Anaïs)
Brand: Gerald Leslie Brockhurst
Price: 750 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Le Beguin (Anaïs). 1922. Etching. Fletcher catalog 33 state iii./iv (before cancellation). 5 1/2 x 4 5/16 (sheet 11 1/2 x 8 13/16). Edition 76. Illustrated: Print Collector's Quarterly 11 (1024): 435. A rich impression printed on '[FJHea]d & Co' cream laid paper with wide margins. Signed in pencil. Housed in a 15 3/4 x 14-inch buff-colored archival mat, suitable for framing The title of the etching comes from the French-Moorish cap or headband worn by women from Dax in South Western France, the Aquitaine. The model is the artist's first wife, Anaïs Folin. Born in Birmingham, the artist attended the Birmingham School of Art from the age of 12. Regarded as a 'young Botticelli', his drawing skills won him a gold medal and scholarship at the Royal Academy Schools in 1913. He studied in England, France, and Italy, where he was profoundly influenced by Piero Della Francesca, Botticelli, and Da Vinci. om 1915 to 1919, Brockhurst lived in Ireland, where he met painter Augustus John, whose painting style was influenced by contemporary French art's simplicity of color and forms. In 1919 Brockhurst returned to England for his first significant gallery exhibition. During the 1920s Brockhurst became an etcher, focusing primarily on female portraits and using his wife as his model. Coolness, technical perfection, and overt classicism mark both his printmaking style and his painting manner. By 1930 Brockhurst had returned to painting with a new teenage model, Dorette Woodard, whom he later married. His haunting portraits of her opened the door to fame and fortune, and he became a fashionable portrait painter; his stated goal was to capturing appearance, not character. His sitters included J. Paul Getty, Marlene Dietrich, and the Duchess of Windsor. In 1939, at the height of his success, Brockhurst settled in the United States. Gerald Brockhurst is best known for his portraits and etchings of glamorous women. Regarded from the age of twelve as a young Botticelli, he studied in England, France, and Italy. Brockhurst's placement of a portrait within a surrounding landscape, recalls the work of Italian Renaissance masters, as there is a sense of mystery and the unknown, which separates the viewer from the sitters. Brockhurst's sitters are given extra emphasis by their surroundings and are usually composed close-up, looking straight at you, positioned in shallow space, against a ledge, or against a blank background. By changing the pose, setting, or costume he could seemingly transform the model into an entirely different person. To add to the shroud of mystery and romance of the image, and to encourage the imagination of the viewer, Brockhurst would attach exotic titles such as Ophelia, Viba, Xenia, and Anaïs. In the UK in the 1930s and later in New York, Brockhurst became a fashionable portrait painter with famous sitters including Marlene Dietrich and the Duchess of Windsor. In retrospect, he is regarded as an impressive portraitist and printmaker.

Creator:

Gerald Leslie Brockhurst (1890 - 1978, English)

Creation Year:

1922

Dimensions:

Height: 15.75 in (40.01 cm)Width: 14 in (35.56 cm)Depth: 0.5 in (1.27 cm)

Medium:

Etching

Movement & Style:

Modern

Period:

Early 20th Century