Original Pen and Wash Drawing 'la Mome Piaf' by Toby Horne Shepherd 1909-1993. Framed. C. 1957.

This fine pen and wash drawing is from a sketch book dated 1957 which contained works executed in Paris in that year. Toby visited Paris on many occassions and may well have seen Piaf perform. He was never without a sketch book and he recorded what he observed in real time. A fascinating picture from an exceptional portrait artist who could capture a likeness in a deeply meaningful way. The style is gestural and emotive, utilizing dark ink washes to create dramatic contrast and capture a moment of intense performance. The drawing highlights Piaf's signature dramatic pose and facial expression while singing. Born in Dundee and educated at Harris Academy, he attended the Dundee School of Art from 1924-1926 and then Glasgow School of Art where, in 1927, he won a travelling scholarship and prizes for portrait and landscape. In 1929 he took the Painting Diploma, winning a post-diploma scholarship, and became Assistant Art Teacher at Glasgow School of Art 1930-1932. He was also executing medical diagrams at about this time for the Glasgow Royal Infirmary A series of portrait commissions brought him down to London in 1933, and he subsequently referred to these years as the most unsatisfactory period of his artistic life. He became a lecturer at Shoreditch Training College from 1937 until he joined the National Fire Service in 1941. He was appointed Senior Art Lecturer in 1947 and remained at Shoreditch until 1954. Thereafter he had a number of part-time teaching posts, including Ealing School of Art, St Martin’s School of Art and the Sir John Cass School of Art. He retired in 1974, somewhat reluctantly as he had always enjoyed teaching - and was indeed an inspiring teacher with an unrivalled ability to bring out the best in his students. He was also happy to be a student himself in later life, attending sculpture classes for some years; his stone and marble carvings display his superb feeling for form. Image size; 23 cm x 14.5 cm Frame size; 41 cm x 30 cm. Please see a condition report below.