Signed l.r.: John

Pencil, 43 by 25cm (17 by 9 ¾ ins)

Provenance: Christie’s King Street, British Art on Paper, 5 June 2007,  lot 111

The strong monumental drawings of standing women that John executed between around 1907 and 1910, are some of the most impressive works he ever completed on paper. His sitters were generally members of the bohemian circle of artists and models he mixed with at the time – foremost amongst them his muse and partner Dorelia, as well as Euphemia Lamb (the wife of his close friend Henry Lamb). Another figure from the same circle was Edith Lees, the wife of the Australian-born painter Derwent Lees, who was also known as “Lyndra”. Her strong, sometimes androgenous, features greatly appealed to John who depicted her in life drawings as well as allegorical subjects. This fine drawing of Lees may relate to one such composition from the period.