Tracks the performance of an artwork against its maximum and minimum estimate across time. For example a realized price above the maximum estimate indicates overperformance of the artwork
Provenance
A gift from Patricia Black to the current owner's grand-father, Joan Eardley's first cousin
Eardley is renowned for her portrayal of children, particularly those who lived in the Townhead district of Glasgow, where she had a studio from 1952.
In a taped interview of the early 1960s, Eardley explained 'Some children I don't like...most of them I get on with...some interest me much more as characters...these ones I encourage...they come up and say "will you paint me?" There are always knocks at the door - the ones I want - I try to get them to stand still - it's not possible to get a child to stay still...I watch them moving about and do the best I can...They just let out all their life and energy...and I just watch them and I do try and think about them in painterly terms...all the bits of red and bits of colour.' (Tape recording in the Joan Eardley Archive, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh GMA A09)
In The Red Dress , Eardley has captured her sitter in a brief moment of repose and reflection. Viewed in profile, the girl's facial features are realised in the most detailed passage of the work. Her hair is sketched in with broad strokes of pastel, whilst the dress of the title is suggested in raw areas of bright red which hint at underlying form. The speed with which the image was created is clear in its directness and gestural technique, before the model was once more on the move.
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