AUGUSTUS JOHN, O.M., R.A. (1878–1961)
Seated female nude
pencil
50 x 34.5 cm (19 3/4 x 13 1/2 in)

This drawing was torn up by the artist in a fit of anger, as referred to in a letter from Augustus John to Mrs Cazalet on 23 September 1939:

My dear Mrs Cazalet,
Do you think The Queen would sit for me at Windsor week-ends for an informal portrait? It would be wonderful if she would and I would have it in my show in America which Francis Taylor is organising. I would stay in some pub and no doubt there's a suitable room in the castle for painting. If she had a pretty costume with a hat I'm sure it would be a success and probably put Poppet in the shade. Please, please, propose it to Her Majesty. Francis Taylor is taking all my beloved drawings and things away (many of which I tore up by-the-by in a fit of madness, but he has pieced them together again!)
Yours affectionately
Augustus

Francis Taylor later persuaded him for the work to be pieced back together, a task which Taylor undertook himself.

We are grateful to Rebecca John for assisting us with this cataloguing