What a face, and what a perfect head a'tilt, eyebrow-raised expression as she holds her pale blue telephone with one red-nailed hand over the receiver as if to ask, as she looks directly at us, 'how shall I respond to this one?' I take her for a hotel concierge or bellhop, c. 1940s, and it seems perhaps the watercolor was based on a still from a movie? Whether drawn from a film or not, it's got a distinct Hitchcock-ian vibe to me, with that wallpaper looking rather like a wild flurry of birds about to attack, and her frontal gaze and front facing, seated (disarmed) posture suggesting she may soon be the victim either of them or the murderer on the phone!
12" x 9", ink and watercolor on construction type paper. Signed on reverse by a Mary Mishok of Richland, PA. Very good condition.
You might also like
