Bertram Mackennal, Australian sculptor : autograph letter signed, dated 27 November 1922, thanking a well-wisher for congratulating him on his election to the Royal Academy.

1 page, octavo, on embossed letterhead with the artist’s St. John’s Wood address; written in fountain pen entirely in Mackennal’s hand, the letter is dated 27 November 1922, addressed to ‘Dear Mr Bowles’, and signed at the foot ‘Yours sincerely, Bertram Mackennal’; Mackennal had just become a Royal Academician, and although it is not mentioned explicitly, it is certainly this achievement that prompted Mr Bowles to write him a congratulatory letter, with Mackennal replying: ‘It was very kind of you to think of writing and congratulating me, and I thank you sincerely…’; the letter has been very well preserved and is in excellent condition.

Mackennal was Australia’s pre-eminent sculptor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, his highly refined and elegant style drawing inspiration from the Art Nouveau and Symbolist movements.