Tommy and the Flapper
1915
- Scottish Art
In this ink and watercolour sketch, Cadell has captured the essence of the scene with an economy of line and colour. The drawing depicts a dashing soldier chatting to a girl. The artist has specified that the girl is a `flapper?, a term used in the 1920s to describe a particular type of liberated young woman. Cadell joined the Royal Scots in 1915 and this is one of a series of drawings of army life he produced before leaving for service in France. The drawings were published in 1916 in the book `Jack and Tommy?, and sold to benefit the Red Cross. Their clean lines and flat colours anticipate Cadell?s painting style of the 1920s.
