72: ROSE CECIL O'NEILL (1874-1944) EXHIBITED WORK ON PAPER

Rose Cecil O'Neill
Three Lost (Circa 1915 - 1920)
The original India ink on paper drawing from the artist's 'Sweet Monsters' series, as it's called, signed by the artist in pencil lower right.
At the time this painting was created, Rose O'Neill was the highest paid female illustration artist in the world, and had been for some time. This financial security allowed the fecundity of her imagination to flourish. She said of these stirring works, 'Often I would have no plan before beginning. The plan seemed hidden in the hand itself.' And thus her creative energy would spill forth in 'flowing web(s) of lines.'
This series of astonishing but rarely seen works was the subject of a one-woman exhibition in Paris in 1921 and another in New York in 1922. There were additional exhibitions in the decades that followed.
This work was listed in the New York exhibition catalog as number 73. Three lost.
Image size approximately 12.5 x 15, frame measures 25.75 x 26 inches.
Apparently the condition is very good, very clean, intact, no visible stain, damage, repair, punctures or tears. This work has not been examined outside the frame.
Provenance: The Estate of Frankie Van Johnson of Kansas City, Missouri and then to Robert Allan Haas.
$2,000 - $4,000