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Alice Macallan Swan, A.R.W.S.

British, 1864-1939

Alice Macallan Swan, A.R.W.S.
(British, 1864-1939)

"St. Thais", 1919

watercolor, gouache, pencil, gold paint on "OW Paper & Arts Co." pasteboard
incised signature and dated lower right, a "The Fine Art Society Ltd., London" 1967 exhibition label en verso.
Matted, glazed and framed.
15" x 11", framed 24" x 19"

Provenance: Private collection, Houston, Texas.

Exhibited: The Fine Art Society, Ltd., London, 1967.

Literature: "The Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours", The Builder, Vol. CXII, May 4, 1917, p. 280; "The Royal Water Colour Society", The Art Chronicle, Vol. 8, May 3, 1912, p. 270.

Notes: Alice Macallan Swan was born in England to Scottish parents and received her artistic instruction from her older brother, the well-established painter and sculptor John Macallan Swan.
She exhibited regularly and was consistently mentioned favorably in the art journals of the day. In reference to her portrait of St. Elizabeth of Thuringia, the art critic for The Builder wrote, "If all legends were as well-depicted as this, far more interest would be felt in a branch of art which is too often only indicative of careful research." The exquisite watercolor of St. Thais offered here is part of a series Swan created of primarily lesser known female saints; in addition to the above-mentioned work, others in the series include St. Gudula, St. Mosache, St. Dorothea and St. Elizabeth of Hungary. St. Thais was a repentant Egyptian courtesan in 4th century Roman Alexandria who submitted to being confined in a cell in perpetuity as penance for her sins.
Swan was named an Associate of the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours in 1903 and was elected to full membership in 1929.

watercolor, gouache, pencil, gold paint on "OW Paper & Arts Co." pasteboard
incised signature and dated lower right, a "The Fine Art Society Ltd., London" 1967 exhibition label en verso.
Matted, glazed and framed.
15" x 11", framed 24" x 19"

  • Provenance: Private collection, Houston, Texas.
  • Exhibited: The Fine Art Society, Ltd., London, 1967.
  • Literature: "The Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours", The Builder, Vol. CXII, May 4, 1917, p. 280; "The Royal Water Colour Society", The Art Chronicle, Vol. 8, May 3, 1912, p. 270.
  • Notes: Alice Macallan Swan was born in England to Scottish parents and received her artistic instruction from her older brother, the well-established painter and sculptor John Macallan Swan.
    She exhibited regularly and was consistently mentioned favorably in the art journals of the day. In reference to her portrait of St. Elizabeth of Thuringia, the art critic for The Builder wrote, "If all legends were as well-depicted as this, far more interest would be felt in a branch of art which is too often only indicative of careful research." The exquisite watercolor of St. Thais offered here is part of a series Swan created of primarily lesser known female saints; in addition to the above-mentioned work, others in the series include St. Gudula, St. Mosache, St. Dorothea and St. Elizabeth of Hungary. St. Thais was a repentant Egyptian courtesan in 4th century Roman Alexandria who submitted to being confined in a cell in perpetuity as penance for her sins.
    Swan was named an Associate of the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours in 1903 and was elected to full membership in 1929.
  • Condition: **Unframed for condition report. No signs of past restorations. Good, strong colors; taped to mat board along verso of edges; small area of surface abrasions lower left corner; losses along right edge.
    Frame with surface marks, nicks and abrasions.

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