Lot 345: Alexandrovna (Grand Duchess Olga, of Russia,

Alexandrovna (Grand Duchess Olga, of Russia, 1882-1960). A pair of watercolours on paper, one of birds in a snow-laden tree, signed ïOlgaÍ and dated 1940 lower right, 14 x 11cm (5.5 x 4.25ins), and one of blue and cream anemones, signed lower right, 10.5 x 13.5cm (4 x 5.5ins), both framed and glazed, together with a small quantity of related ephemera, including seven autograph letters signed from Olga to Bessie Sinclair, April 1939 to February 1957, a four-page printed catalogue and invitation card to an exclusive exhibition of OlgaÍs work at WalkerÍs Galleries, 118 New Bond Street, London, 19th June-1st July 1939, and a few other items. Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna was the youngest child of Emperor Alexander III of Russia. Her older brother was Tsar Nicholas II. After the downfall of the Romanovs in the Russian Revolution of 1917, she fled to the Crimea with her mother, husband, and children, where they were placed under house arrest. She escaped from Russia in 1919 and lived in exile in Denmark until 1948 when she moved her family to Ontario, Canada. She painted over 2,000 works of art to provide income for her family and charitable causes. Bessie Sinclair had been a lady in waiting to Queen Alexandra. (-) £300-500/p346 Ardizzone (Edward, 1900-1979). The Lovers, pen, ink and watercolour, showing two couples in a bar, signed with initials lower right, 15.5 x 28cm (6 x 11ins), mounted (1)