Kate Reclining
De Sausmarez was best known as a portrait painter, who exhibited at the Royal Academy, and elsewhere. He was Head of the Fine Art department at Leeds University in the 1950s, and was a friend and teacher of Bridget Riley (b.1931) in the 1960s. In a letter to the Ferens of 1953 De Sausmarez refers to this work as 'certainly the best example of my work during the 1950-52 period'. The sitter is the artist's wife, shown in a formal, almost classical pose. Although the handling of the paint is rather broad, it also has a certain formality, as the brush-strokes are applied quite deliberately, each one helping to define the structure of the form. The painting shows traces of Sickert's (1860-1942) long-lasting influence.
