Gerald Leslie Brockhurst, R.A. (1890-1978)

The models for this drawing are Anaïs Mélisande Folin, the artist's first wife, who is shown standing helping her seated sister, Marguerite, with her hair. The title refers to Landes, their native region of South Western France. The couple were married in 1913 and for over a decade Anaïs sat for many of his early works, both on paper and canvas. In the 1920s Brockhurst found commercial success with etchings, and in 1923 the present drawing, of circa 1920, was published, examples of which are in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, the National Museum of New Zealand, Wellington, and the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.