John Maxwell, R.S.A. (1905-1962)

Christmas card for Dorothy Peach

Details

John Maxwell, R.S.A. (1905-1962)
Christmas card for Dorothy Peach
signed 'Johnnie' (lower left), inscribed and dated 'A XMAS CAROL/FOR D.P./FROM J.M./1941 D.P./THIS IS/BEST WISHES/FOR ALL THE/CHRISTMASES/FROM/' and extensively inscribed 'CYK' (recto , as part of the design of the card) and inscribed again 'HAPPY XMAS/XMAS/GREETING/S/JE T'AIME JE T'AIME JE T'AIME JE T'AIME JE T'AIME JE T'AIME' (verso, as part of the design of the card)
pen and black ink on two sheets
7.7/8 x 12 in. (20 x 31.8 cm.)

Provenance

Dr. James Ritchie.

Exhibited

Edinburgh, Aitken, Dott & Son, 20th Century Scottish Paintings & Drawings Exhibition, 1976.
Edinburgh, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, John Maxwell 1905-1962, 1999, no. 44.

Lot Essay

Dorothy Peach was a pupil of John Maxwell at the Edinburgh College of Art, where he taught in the Drawings and Paintings Department and later as senior lecturer in charge of Composition. Twenty years his junior, Maxwell became totally infatuated by her. A portrait of her, exhibited at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, 1963, no. 82, which he painted sporadically over a number of years from about 1943-1948 was finally left unfinished. The letters 'CYK', which are extensively inscribed on the card, stand for 'consider yourself kissed'. Sadly his love for her was unrequited, she is thought to have emigrated and Maxwell never married.

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