Bloomsbury Group artist Duncan Grant (1885-1978), then in his 80s, agreed to be involved, working on two lithographs at the Curwen Press studio in Midford Place, off Tottenham Court Road in London.
Washerwoman and Standing Woman resulted and went on offer in the paper, each in an edition of 350 and selling for £55 each or £99 for the pair. Today, lithographs from these editions surface with some regularity at auction, typically selling in the low to mid-three figures.
On December 7, a lithograph and artist’s proof of the pair appeared in Catherine Southon’s (18% buyer’s premium) sale in Surrey, as part of the decorative arts collection assembled by Richard Channing.
Standing Woman, pictured above and measuring 2ft 6in x 22in (77 x 57cm), sold to a bidder on the internet at £450 against a £100-150 estimate.
The same buyer also secured the slightly smaller coloured print of Washerwoman, numbered 6 of 20 artist’s proofs, at £400 against an identical estimate. In March 2015, Dreweatts sold another, more faded, artist’s proof of Washerwoman for £350.
