ARCHIVE OF OVER 100 ORIGINAL DRAWINGS, PLUS OTHER EPHEMERA RELATING TO THE ARTIST'S CAREER

[Original artwork], [c.1912-1920].. More than 100 original drawings, predominantly in pen and ink with some in pencil, on paper. A number are double-sided, six are heightened with watercolour, and two with gilt. Images range between 35 x 25cm and 4 x 4cm. Condition is very good with just the odd minor mark, tear or crease. A few of the larger drawings have been mounted, with some bearing remnants of mounts to the blank margins. The images themselves remain clean and fresh. WITH: Two copies of a Catalogue of an Exhibition of Drawings "A Child's Visions and Fancies" by Daphne Allen (Aged 13 years) held at the Dudley Galleries, Piccadilly, October 1912, with an introduction by Selwyn Image. Original blue card wrappers with printed titles in black, illustrated throughout. Plus another: Catalogue of an Exhibition of Water-Colours and Drawings made by Daphne Allen Between the Age of 13 & 14, held at the Dudley Galleries in October 1913, with a preface by Reginald Buckley. Original green card wrappers with printed titles in black, illustrated throughout, including a photographic portrait of Allen. The covers of two of the catalogues are detached, otherwise condition is very good. WITH: An original printed illustrated invitation to the 1912 Dudley Galleries exhibition; another for the 1913 exhibition; a large quantity of contemporary newspaper cuttings regarding Allen; a contemporary postcard after a design by Allen; and a contemporary textured card print after Allen. An extensive archive documenting the imaginative early output of the Edwardian child artist Daphne Allen (1899-1985).

Born in Stamford Hill, London, Allen was taught painting from an early age by her father, the artist Hugh Allen (son of the publisher George Allen), and also took life-classes in Chelsea. She began showing her work at the age of 12, holding her first exhibitions at the Dudley Gallery, which coincided with the publication of her first two books, A Child's Visions (1912) and The Birth of the Opal (1913). She went on to exhibit with the Society of Women Artists, at the Burlington Gallery, St. Paul's Deanery, and the Drummond Gallery, also becoming a member of the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours and the Streatham Society. Focussing mainly on painting and drawing fairies and spiritual subjects, in addition to illustrating her own books, Allen also provided drawings for numerous other poetic and religious works of the period, had prints of her paintings published by the Medici Society, and worked for many magazines, including The Illustrated London News, The Sketch, and The Tatler.

In 1919 Allen exhibited alongside the Glasgow School artist Annie French (1872-1965) at the Burlington Gallery, and it can certainly be observed that her aesthetic resembles that of French, and of contemporary Art Nouveau illustration more broadly; with her delicate line and ethereal atmosphere, The Graphic was as bold as to call Allen the "little girl who rivals William Blake".

The present group of drawings encompasses all of Allen's favourite subjects: from angels, nymphs, fairies, mermaids, and cherubs, to mothers and babies, Native Americans, Joan of Arc, and numerous Biblical scenes, particularly the life of Christ, in addition to a self-portrait.

A wonderful insight into the successful career of a teenage girl whose artistic talent led to contemporary celebrity.