Two portraits of Audrey James Field

Primarily known for his commercial illustrations, Etienne Drian (1885-1961) was a prolific artist, fashion illustrator and accomplished painter whose versatility can be measured by his works in decorative art, theatre and costume design. Active in France during the 1920s and 1930s, the elongated forms of his chic female figures perfectly exemplified the sophisticated and refined fashions of the era and could be found in magazines such as 'Fémina' and 'La Gazette du Bon Temps'.

Audrey Field commissioned Drian to create a mirrored screen featuring her full-length silhouette, as well as an overmantel mirror, for her apartment at the River House in New York City, a commission probably encouraged by her friend Sir Philip Sassoon, whose houses at 25 Park Lane, London and Trent Park, she frequented. Photographs from Audrey's private album of her time in America, entitled Caumsett (the Field family estate), show her with Drian and Marshall Field III at the Belmont Races in New York State in 1932. Following her divorce from Marshall Field III and return to Britain from the United States, she installed the Drian screen and overmantel in the Morning Room of her Regents Park house, The Holme, where they were photographed for Country Life in 1940. The screen was later given to a friend and latterly sold at Christie's, New York, 5-6 October 2004, lot 983 ($21,510). Drian and Audrey clearly remained in touch following her return to Britain, and as well as the depictions of Audrey by Drian in this and the following lot, in another of Audrey's private albums there is a charming watercolour sketch of her, signed by Drian and dated 4 April 1936, at Hanover Lodge, the home of her friend and neighbour in Regents Park, Ava von Hofmannsthal (née Astor).