ID number: BIRBI-2006.3 Institution: The Barber Institute of Fine Arts Artist / Maker: Lewis, Percy Wyndham (1882-1957) Title / Object name: A Portrait of the Artist's Wife, 'Froanna' (Gladys Anne Hoskins 1900-1979) Object type: Drawing
Place made: America Culture: British Date made: 1940 Materials: Pencil and coloured chalks on blue paper Measurements: 483 x 310 mm Provenance: Agnew's, London 1960; Benjamin Sonnenberg, New York; purchased from Agnew's, London, 2006 by the Barber Institute
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This portrait of the artist’s wife Gladys Anne Hoskins (1900-1979), known as Froanna, was made in America where Lewis spent the war years. The artist bought the distinctive blue paper in a drugstore and the unusual support perhaps inspired his use of coloured chalks. With the exception of the ornate turban, the artist restricts himself to bold lines and a few areas of shading. Nonetheless, he captures a sense of strain and intensity in the sitter, enhanced by the lack of a setting. Lewis was one of the leading British avant-garde artists who explored the lessons of continental modernism.
Inscriptions / Translations: Signed and dated lower right: Wyndham Lewis/1940
Notes: Exhibited: 'Wyndham Lewis: Portraits', National Portrait Gallery, London, UK, 03 July 2008 - 19 October 2008; 'Wyndham Lewis, 1882-1957', Fundacion Juan March, Madrid, 05 February 2010 - 06 May 2010
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