Lot 109: Madeline Green (British, 1884-1947) The step-dancer

Madeline Green (British, 1884-1947)
The step-dancer
signed 'M GREEN' (lower right); inscribed with title, artist's name and address (on the overlap)
oil on canvas
91.5 x 60.5cm (36 x 23 13/16in).

Footnotes

• Provenance
  The artist.
  Thence by descent.
  
  Exhibited
  London, Royal Academy, 1918, no. 54.
  London, PM Gallery Ealing, Moments in Time, 2011.
  
  Literature
  Punch, May 1918.
  Carole and Peter Walker, Moments in Time, Budleigh Salterton, Wolds Publishing Limited, 2011 (illustrated p. 18).
  Nina Edwards, Dressed for War, London, 2015, pp. 10-12, (illustrated p. 10).
  
  The present lot displays many of the typical motifs of Madeline Green's work; the artist depicts herself in a familiar interior, standing on a checked floor, in front of a window dressed with a net curtain. These motifs call to mind such works as Miss Brown and The Velvet Jacket (both sold in these rooms, 2017 and 2015 respectively), as well as The Chenille Net (Dulwich Picture Gallery).
  
  Described by one critic as 'well spaced, and painted in muted tones, as of tarnished silver',υ1 The Step Dancer was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1918. With Britain still at War, the works selected for Academy Illustrated that year reflect a sombre mood, with military subjects and portraiture prevalent among the works reproduced. By contrast, the present lot is 'an image of optimism' according to Nina Edwards, who illustrates the work in her book Dressed for War to demonstrate the fashion of the period. The sitter is depicted in 'striped green silk taffeta iridescent harem trousers... [and] a white blouse rather low-necked and feminine, in soft Pierrot-like folds'. The style that the sitter adopts is, according to Edwards, 'daring, but not too daring', although it was clearly considered striking enough for Punch to produce a cartoon of the work, mocking the costume, with the sitter, now looking 'shrewish' and 'ungainly' declaring: 'I don't think I feel funny enough for a clown'.υ2
  
  υ1 Carole and Peter Walker, Moments in Time, p. 3.
  υ2 Nina Edwards, Dressed for War, pp. 10-12.