Leonard Joel Sunday art auction May 8th 2011

Went to the viewing today and there were two paintings that caught my eye and prompted me to research the artists. The first, dated 1916 was estimated at $800-$1000, painted by Marion Jones (1897-1977). I love its quiet simplicity, the thoughtful expression on the model's face, the grey tones; But I had never heard of the artist. I looked on the AASD database and the last time a painting by her was offered for sale was in 1998, so no wonder.
Here is an edited segment from her online biography;

Back in London, Jones continued to specialise in portraiture.  Jones's oil portrait of Senator D. Andrews was presented to Bendigo Art Gallery in 1930, the year her oil painting of Margaret Itarman was hung at the Royal Academy. She returned to Victoria in 1932, exhibited with the Victorian Artists' Society then abandoned painting professionally, partly because of family bereavements.
During World War II Marion Jones worked in the Bendigo Ordnance Factory. Much of her London work, which had been left in storage, was destroyed during the blitz. 'The world has changed. There is no place for art and beauty', she stated after the war. Despite living on for another three decades she never painted again. Extant work includes a self-portrait Moi Même (p.c.), which Peers calls 'Lambertesque'."

The second- so different to what I normally see here in Melbourne Australia,  was by Emmy Esther (Galka) Scheyer, who has a fascinating history, outlined in the following link. It begins as follows;

"In 1915, a young upper-middle-class German student of painting saw a picture, Alexej Jawlensky’s The Hunchback (1911). She was so moved that she decided she must meet the painter, and by 1916 she was modeling for him. The next summer she visited Jawlensky and his family often in Switzerland; through him she met many important avant-garde artists. By 1919 Scheyer had stopped painting to promote Jawlensky’s work."

Galka went on to promote the work of the "blue four" in Los Angeles, that is, German modernist artists Klee, Jawlensky, Feininger and Kandinsky.

The painting, estimated at Au $1000-$1,500 is dated 1913- before she met Jawlensky. Born in 1889 she would have been 24 years old when it was painted. I think its a beautiful painting and wonder how it came to be here and whether she continued to do much further work of her own..

So, one auction viewing, two paintings and a wealth of fascinating and moving background history..

PS. Just watched the auction live on artfact ( another new experience) The Marion Jones sold for $1900, thats $2318 IBP , the Galka Scheyer for $3200, thats $3904 IBP..Think the estimates were a little low?