Beschreibung:

Rice, Anne Estelle 1877-1959 American, Flowers. 20 x 16 ins., (51 x 42 cms.), Oil on Canvas, Stamped verso AER and singed in ink by David Drey, the artist's son, the picture was almost certainly painted in the 1920s. Provenance: James O'Connor and David Drey organised an exhibition of Anne Estelle's work in the Fosse Gallery, Stow on the Wold in 1986, when each painting was stamped AER, because Rice had a habit of not signing her paintings. Only a few were actually signed by David Drey for this exhibition. Anne Estelle had previously held an exhibition at Browse and Darby in 1985. Rice had been almost completely forgotten in her own country, until a major exhibition of her paintings was held at the Hollis Taggart Gallery in New York in 1997, after one of the directors saw some information about an exhibition of her work held at Emscote Lawn School organised by Jonathan Riley and Gillian Drey. The gentleman was seated on the loo when he picked up Country Life and saw the article. Since then she has been accepted as one of the colourists, though still does not receive the critical acclaim she deserves. Her paintings have been dominated by her relationship in Paris with that hugely overrated painter, JD Ferguson. People forget that Anne Estelle won the prestigious first prize at the Salon d'Autome ahead of Matisse and other famous painters twice. Her work in Paris was wonderfully vibrant and strong. She left to live in England after marrying an English art critic, Raymond Drey, in 1913. Fortunately her work remained strong and vigorous until the twenties, after which it began to tail off in vitality with the humdrum pressures of family life. Like so many married women artists of her day, such as Stella Steyn it was very difficult to remain vital and inspired in a life dominated by domesticity.