Isabel Rawsthorne, 
British 1912-1992 - 
Design for Madame Chrysanthème, c.1955; 
gouache on paper,...

Isabel Rawsthorne, 
British 1912-1992 - 

Design for Madame Chrysanthème, c.1955; 

gouache on paper, bears inscription on the reverse of the frame 'Lambert', 16.5 x 24 cm (ARR) 

Provenance: 
John Sullivan; 
Private Collection, gifted from the above and thence by descent

Note: 
the artist was known variously as Isabel Nicholas, Isabel Delmer and Isabel Lambert. In 1947, Rawsthorne married the composer Constant Lambert (hence the inscription on the reverse of the frame) and through him had started working for the Royal Opera House, creating the costumes and set designs for his new ballet 'Tiresias' in 1951, choreographed by Frederick Ashton. Following Lambert's death in 1954, Rawsthorne married the composer Alan Rawsthorne and the pair worked on the music and design respectively for Ashton's ballet 'Madame Chrysanthème' in 1955. 

John Sullivan was the Lighting Designer at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London from c.1940-1963 and was the Lighting Designer for this production. 

'Madame Chrysanthème' was an 1887 novel by Pierre Loti, which tells the story of a marriage between a French naval officer and a Japanese woman when the former was stationed in Japan. The recognisable form of a Japanese parasol can be seen in the figures in these works and in a related work now in the collection of The Fry Art Gallery in Saffron Walden. Other set and costume designs by Rawsthorne from this period are now in the collections of the V&A and the Royal Ballet & Opera. 

Rawsthorne developed a unique language of figurative painting Rawsthorne developed alongside her friends Francis Bacon and Peter Rose Pulham in the Post-War period. Bacon and Rawsthorne would go on to share an exhibition at the Hanover Gallery in 1949 and their relationship was a major feature of the recent exhibition 'Francis Bacon: Human Presence' at the National Portrait Gallery. Alongside her painting, Rawsthorne is celebrated for her position in European cultural circles across the 20th century, being associated with and depicted by figures including Jacob Epstein, Alberto Giacometti and André Derain.