ANGELIC rosy-cheeked village girls were George Clausen’s (1852-1944) staple subject matter. During his time living in the Berkshire village of Cookham Dean, Clausen was particularly preoccupied with this idyllic rural subject matter and, from around 1889, he began to make a series of studies and paintings of a local child, Rose Grimsdale.
The subject of this 16 x 12in (41 x 30cm) oil on canvas, above, signed G. Clausen to the bottom right, is most probably Rose, who he continued to paint from his earlier sketches until the late 1890s.
The painting is inscribed To R. Crafton Green in Friendship 1896 and has been consigned to Liverpool auctioneers Cato Crane by Mr Crafton Green’s nephew, having remained in the family’s possession since it was painted.
The unframed picture is in unrestored, good condition, aside from some fine age cracks to the paint, and will be offered without an estimate on June 8.
Christie’s have a portrait of the same sitter in their Victorian and British pictures sale on June 16 in the King Street rooms.
Head of a Young Girl (Rose Grimsdale) is rendered in coloured chalks on buff paper, 131/2 x 91/2in (34 x 24cm), signed and dated 1890, and estimated at £250,000-350,000.
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