Joan Eardley, R.S.A.

Compass Gallery, Glasgow, where purchased by Mr Tom George;
Lyon & Turnbull, Edinburgh, 1 December 2010, lot 173, where purchased by the present owners

Glasgow, Compass Gallery, Christmas Exhibition, 1977, no.67

C. Andreae, Joan Eardley, Surrey, 2013, p.164, pl.153, illustrated

The work is executed on a sheet of plywood which is undulating slightly. There are some small vertical cracks, inherent to the material, to the upper veneer layer of the ply. These are located along the top edge of the board and in the child's face. These cracks appear stable and the work is framed behind glass and in a secure frame. Under ultraviolet light there are possibly a couple of minor areas of retouching to the right of the child's hair.
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“They usually come up to me and say, ‘Will you paint me?’ In fact I am always hearing knocks on the door and this question. Some of them I don’t feel particularly interested in and so I just send them away, but the ones that I want to paint, I try to get to sit still, so mostly I just watch them moving about and do the best I can.”  (The artist quoted in, F. Pearson, Joan Eardley, Edinburgh, 2007, p.31)

Joan Eardley restlessly drew and painted the many children that came knocking on her door in Townhead, Glasgow. Described as having a rather shy and introverted character, Eardley was remarkably sure of herself when she was absorbed by her creative ability. To capture these young children she would have to entertain them in her modest studio, encouraging them to sit still for her. In the present oil painting of a Child’s Head a young girl with her lips slightly parted, is telling the patiently listening and observing Eardley some banality of a five-year-olds life. What is particularly striking about this portrait is the sense of Eardley's protective adult awareness of the child. Within the child’s expressive face and direct stare, one catches a glimpse of an innocent yet mature temper. There is no social message or emotive thrust within this painting; Eardley simply painted what she observed, painting more than a visual representation and in doing so she captured the character of each child that passed through her studio on St James’s Road.