Jane Allnutt

Known for his glamorous portraits of society’s elite, Lawrence was also particularly adept at capturing the personalities of children. The sitter in this drawing is the youngest daughter of one of the artist’s greatest patrons. Lawrence has placed his seven-year-old sitter in a relaxed posture, tilting her head to one side as she gazes directly out at the viewer, hand on hip and one leg crossed over the other. Though the body is only roughly sketched in, the sitter’s face and hair are rendered in fine, precise strokes of graphite. Touches of watercolor in the lips and eyes lend the image a lifelike quality (2022).