Lot 68: Marie Spartali Stillman (British, 1843-1927)

Autumn
signed with monogram l.r.
watercolour and bodycolour
38 x 28.5 cm. (15 x 11 1/4 in.)

Marie Spartali was very much a part of the Pre-Raphaelite circle. She trained under Ford Madox Brown, was a friend of Burne-Jones and an occasional model for several of the Pre-Raphaelite painters including Rossetti. An extremely distinguished and hard working artist, she was a regular contributor to the Grosvenor Gallery and its successor the New Gallery as well as various venues in the eastern USA.
Many of her works draw on Italian literary themes notably Dante and Boccacio. Female heads were a favourite subject of hers and the present work- an allegory to autumn is typical of her sensitive, delicate portrayal of women.