A beautifully understated mother and child study by British artist Muriel Metcalfe (1910–1994).
Executed in delicate pencil lines and broad, spontaneous washes of warm ochre and soft brown, the composition captures the quiet intimacy between mother and child with remarkably little detail.
The figures are only partially described, their forms emerging from the paper through a few confident gestures. There is an extraordinary tenderness to the work, particularly in the protective curve of the adult figure and the softly drawn face of the child.
Metcalfe was herself a mother and an accomplished painter, married to the Yorkshire artist Fred Lawson and mother of the artist Sonia Lawson. While her husband and daughter became better-known names, this drawing demonstrates her own sensitivity to the human figure.
A particularly appealing example of British figurative drawing, intimate in subject and wonderfully economical in execution.
Signed 'Muriel Metcalfe' in pencil, lower right. Undated.
Watercolour and pencil on paper
Max Width - 42cm / 16.5"
Max Height - 51cm / 20"
Age-related toning and scattered foxing to the paper, with some discolouration to the mount.
Presented in its older painted wooden frame, which shows age-related wear.
