Isabel Rawsthorne

Alan and Barbara Rawsthorne

previous next

About this artwork

This painting is one of a series based on the artist’s husband, composer Alan Rawsthorne, and his sister Barbara. The siblings are evoked in a spectral manner, their faces dissolving into the void-like grey background. Rawsthorne often captured ‘the idea of the fleeting, the transitory’ in her work, suggesting the human body’s potential for distortion and fragility.  The composition's doubling effect suggests the influence of mirrored ballet rehearsal rooms, where she often drew dancers’ bodies in motion.

Updated before 2020

  • artist:
    Isabel Rawsthorne (1912 - 1992) British
  • title:
    Alan and Barbara Rawsthorne
  • date created:
    1966
  • materials:
    Oil on canvas
  • measurements:
    82.00 x 66.00 cm; Framed: 88.20 x 72.70 x 7.30 cm / 14.00 kg
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Donated in memory of Warwick Llewellyn Nicholas, 2017
  • accession number:
    GMA 5568
  • gallery:
Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? Tell us what you think.

Isabel Rawsthorne

Isabel Rawsthorne