Joan Eardley RSA (British, 1921-1963) Two Samson Children 22.5 x 27.5 cm. (8 7/8 x 10 13/16 in.) (Studio inventory no. ED 840 (lower left))Joan Eardley RSA (British, 1921-1963)Two Samson Children pastel on glass paper22.5 x 27.5 cm. (8 7/8 x 10 13/16 in.)Studio inventory no. ED 840 (lower left)ProvenanceThe artist's studioWith Aitken Dott & Son, EdinburghPrivate collection, UKSale; Bonhams, Edinburgh, 16 September 2015, lot 68The two children depicted in this pastel are from the Samson family, who lived near Eardley's studio in the Townhead area of Glasgow. They feature in many of her artworks. A sensitive child portraitist, Eardley often explored sibling relationships. She painted and drew the Samson children for seven years or more; 'there are a large number of them, twelve, so I've always had a certain number of children from this family of any age I choose... some children I don't like... most of them I get on with... some interest me much more as characters... these ones I encourage... they don't need much encouragement - they don't pose - they come up and say "will you paint me?"... they are full of what's gone on today - whose broken into what shop and whose flung a pie in whose face - it goes on and on.' (Fiona Pearson, Joan Eardley, exhibition catalogue for the National Galleries of Scotland, 2007, p.31) This drawing seems to appear in the background of one of Oscar Marzaroli's photographs of Eardley's studio in 1962.