Artist: Kathleen Walne
Date: 1935
Medium: Watercolour on paper
Dimensions: 54.7 x 37 cm
Credit: Towner Collection, gift of Mr and Mrs R W A Bridges. Image Towner Eastbourne, © Estate of Kathleen Walne
Kathleen Walne secured a scholarship in her hometown at Ipswich School of Art where she was treated to inspirational trips to galleries. Later she worked for the art patron Lucy Wertheim, living in the basement of her London gallery, and they became lifelong friends. Her career was interrupted by marriage, raising a family and the Second World War, but latterly she and her husband moved to Brighton to care for Wertheim and her creative life re-emerged. She never had formal studio space but remained productive into her 90s.
Girl in Caravan is a relatively early work and demonstrates Kathleen’s eye for colour, the female form and her love of pattern and fashion.