Bidspirit auction | 20th Century Nora Gray RSW

20th Century Nora Gray RSW (Glasgow Girl) Watercolor Aira Force Westmorland - A 19th-century style watercolor painting with bodycolor highlights on paper depicting the Aira Force waterfall in the Lake District. Believed to be Nora Nielson Gray, on of the Glasgow Girls, not her usual style, there is a 1905 date attribution which is while she was still at Glasgow School of Art. The Glasgow Girls were important because they pioneered the distinct Glasgow Style of Art Nouveau, elevated applied arts to the level of fine art, and proved that women could be professional, self-supporting artists at a time when society viewed art training for women merely as a hobby The landscape is rendered in a naturalistic manner, focusing on the steep rock faces and cascading water surrounded by dense foliage. The artist has used fine brushwork and a subtle palette of earthy browns, greens, and blues to capture the rugged topography of the Westmorland site. The work is housed in a gilt wood frame with a multi-lined wash-line mount. The verso of the frame features a handwritten paper strip reading Aira Force. Westmorland. and a signature N. Gray. The backing board contains several pencil inscriptions including Under Mount:-, AIRA FORCE - WESTMORLAND, N. GRAY, and Nora Gray RSW 1905.