The Young Fruit Seller, Venice

Helen Mary Elizabeth Allingham, RWS (1848 – 1926)

Watercolour. Signed.

12½” x 9” (31.8 cm x 22.9 cm)

Helen Allingham was the first woman to be elected a full member of The Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours. She made three visits to Venice, initially as a 19-year-old in 1868 and then in 1901 and 1902, when she was at the height of her career. She was inspired by the city’s people, its buildings, canals and colourful fruit stalls and produced a rare collection of watercolours, which featured in a solo exhibition of her work in London in 1904.