Untitled (Lady with monkey) 1923

Watercolour with gold highlights on card, 334 x 254 mm, signed and dated ‘Phil McLachlan 23’ lower right; in very good condition. Housed in a custom timber frame in period style by Philip Tregear, Melbourne.

A stunning original watercolour from the artist’s estate. Painted when McLachlan was just 18, it exemplifies her innate sense of style and design.

Phyllis (Phil) McLachlan was a talented artist of the 1920s and 30s best known for her cover designs for The Home and Triad magazines. She left school at the age of sixteen, and studied painting with Thea Proctor and at the Julian Ashton Art School. She exhibited at the Society of Women Painters in 1924 and married noted naval officer and diplomat John Collins in 1930. McLachlan’s work is rare in the market or in public collections, however notably an archive of naval costume drawings is held by the Mitchell Library, who also acquired a fine watercolour of a ballet scene from us in 2011.

A detailed work by this relatively unrecognised artist.

Provenance:

Estate of the artist

Josef Lebovic Gallery, Sydney