Lot 55: Anna Lea Merritt (British, 1844-1930)

Dame Frederica Mary Horatia, Wife of Sir Lambton Lorraine with her daughter Jacqueline
signed and dated 'Anna Lea Merritt 1884' (lower left)
oil on canvas
50 x 36 in. (127 x 91.5 cm.)
Painted in 1884

London, Royal Academy, 1885, no. 325.

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ROSALINDE AND ARTHUR GILBERT BENEFITING THE ROSALINDE AND ARTHUR GILBERT FOUNDATION

Anna Lea Merritt was born in Philadelphia, and studied in London with Henry Merritt, who she later married. She relinquished her career in art following her marriage, but after the death of her husband, who was also an art critic and a paintings restorer, she resumed painting. She exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1878-1893. Her career reached its peak when her painting Love Locked Out was purchased by the Tate Gallery.