Property from an English Private Collection DOROTHEA SHARP ROI RBA (BRITISH 1874 -1955) Flower Picking signed and dated Dorothea Sharp 1913 (lower right) oil on canvas 81.5 x 99 cm (32 x 39 in) PROVENANCE: Macconnell Mason, London Purchased from the above in 2002 'I think the chief attraction of Miss Sharp's delightful pictures are her happy choice of subjects, and her beautiful colour schemes. Rollicking children bathed in strong sunlight, playing in delightful surroundings, her subjects appeal because they are based on the joy of life. And she presents them equally happily, with a powerful technique which enables her to make the most of her wonderful sense of colour.' (Harold Sawkins, The Artist, April 1935). Dorothea Sharp was celebrated for her compositions of domestic and everyday subjects that evoked nostalgic memories of childhood. Painted in 1913 (the year Sharp completed her training at Richmond School of Landscape Painting) Picking Flowers is a charming depiction of three young sisters in a cottage garden. In her late twenties Sharp was hugely influenced by the work of the Impressionists which she saw first-hand when she studied in Paris. The work of Claude Monet in particular had a profound and lasting effect on her oeuvre and can be seen to optimum effect in the present lot. Sharp’s strong use of colour and her bold and free brushstrokes create thick impasto and her Impressionist style delivers a glimpse into a carefree summer’s day. Sharp is known for her expert use of colour, influenced in part by the Impressionists. She described colour as that elusive something we cannot quite define... To have good colour sense is to be in touch with nature... Colour is emotional - it is felt, in its finer sense rather than seen. Colour cannot be taught - beyond a point - it is inborn. (Harold Sawkins, The Artist, April 1931).