JOHN WILLIAM WATERHOUSE, R.A., R.I. | Head of a Model

Peter Trippi, J.W. Waterhouse, London, 2002, p. 44, illustrated 

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting is well stretched on its stretcher. The paint layer is clean and stable. Retouches are visible under ultraviolet light to a reversed L-shaped restoration in the background, just to the right of the figure's hair. There are some unrestored minor losses to the gesso layer on the bottom edge. This oil sketch is in very good condition.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

The present sketch is dedicated to the Scottish artist Robert Payton Reid (1859-1945), who studied in Paris and Munich and may have met John William Waterhouse on one of his journeys to the Continent. Of this dynamic and painterly study, Peter Trippi writes, "suggestive of Italian origin, the crooked nose and curly red hair of the model [...] reflect the current vogue for the actress Sarah Bernhardt's exotic beauty" (Trippi, 44).