Lot 255: Modernist School, 20th Century 'Portrait of a Lady'
A 20th-century modernist work in watercolour and gouache on paper, executed in a surrealist-inspired style. The composition features a female face presented at a diagonal angle, characterised by exaggerated blue eyes with heavy lashes and stylized red lips. The portrait is integrated into a whimsical, atmospheric background containing organic, dreamlike forms reminiscent of aquatic flora, shells, and coral in tones of terracotta, deep blue, and sea green. The palette is dominated by soft, hazy washes of pale yellow and turquoise. The work is presented behind glass in a mid-20th-century stained wooden frame with a gold-toned inner fillet. A rectangular orange adhesive price label reading 255 is adhered to the upper right corner of the glass. There is no visible signature or inscription on the front of the work.
Condition report:
The paper support exhibits visible foxing and brown spotting, most notably in the lower left terracotta-coloured form and the lower right green form (photo 1). The paper appears to have slight undulation behind the glass. The wooden frame shows minor surface abrasions and wear consistent with age, particularly along the outer edges (photo 1). The orange adhesive label on the glass is a later addition. The work has not been examined out of the frame.
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