Live Auction 10713Old Master & British Drawings & Watercolours
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, O.M., R.A. (Dronrijp 1836-1912 Wiesbaden)
Lot 255

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, O.M., R.A. (Dronrijp 1836-1912 Wiesbaden)

Head and drapery studies for 'The Contrary Oracle'

Closed9 December 2015

Price Realised

GBP 1,375

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Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, O.M., R.A. (Dronrijp 1836-1912 Wiesbaden)
Head and drapery studies for 'The Contrary Oracle'
both with indistinctly inscribed initials, the drapery study with inscription 'The Contrary Oracle' (lower right)
one pencil, one pencil and red and white chalk on buff paper
5 1/8 x 7 in. (13 x 17.8 cm.); and 4 x 10 ½ in. (10.2 x 26.8 cm.)
(2)

The artist.
Edmund Gosse, from whose family acquired by the family of the present owner in the 1920's or 1930's
and by descent.

Specialist note

The head studies here, with their wooden, statuesque faces, seem to have been taken from an Egyptology handbook. In the delicate rendering of the headpieces and the lack of interest in the faces, we can see Alma-Tadema working out the intricacies of the costume from the flat patterns seen in books.