Lot 134
STANSMORE RICHMOND LESLIE DEAN (SCOTTISH 1866-1944)
GIRL IN A STRAW HAT
Scottish Paintings & Sculpture
Auction: Evening Sale | Lots 109 to 207 | Thursday 04 December 2025 from 6pm
Description
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
68.5cm x 55.75cm (27in x 22in)
Provenance
Peter J. B. Shakeshaft by 1990
Exhibited:
Lillie Art Gallery, Milngavie, Stansmore Dean Stevenson, 16 September-6 October 1984, no.12
Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Girls: Women in Art and Design 1880-1920, 24 August-21 October 1990, illustrated in colour p.209, fig.281
Footnote
Art shaped every stage of Stansmore Dean’s life, from childhood and marriage, through to her death in 1944. Her father, Alexander Davidson Dean, was an engraver and artist and Dean followed in his footsteps by enrolling at the Glasgow School of Art in 1883, studying there until 1889. These six formative years proved pivotal, not only for the high-quality training she received, but also for the artistic community of which she became a part.
During this time, Dean formed relationships with key figures such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh, David Gauld and Bessie MacNicol, amongst others. Her talent did not go unnoticed and in 1890 she became the first woman to receive the prestigious Haldane Travelling Scholarship, which allowed her to study in Paris at the Académie Colarossi, under the guidance of Auguste Courtois.
Dean’s unusual first name, Stansmore, a family name, often led to her being mistaken for a man when she exhibited her work. It is thought that this misjudgement may have helped her gain entry to these exhibitions in the first place. Nevertheless, her skill as a painter quickly earned recognition, regardless of her gender. Her work was accepted by the Paris Salon, the International Society in London and the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh.
Like many of the Glasgow Boys, including her husband Robert Macaulay Stevenson, whom she married in 1902, Dean was strongly influenced by James Abbott McNeill Whistler. This source of inspiration is evident in several of her works, including the current striking portrait, Girl in Straw Hat. Whistler’s emphasis on tonal harmony and balanced composition is reflected in Dean’s use of muted tones. The limited colour palette, where the hat and blouse nearly match, and the earthy hues of the hair and background that almost merge into one, create a deeply atmospheric and gentle effect, quintessential of Whistler’s practice. Illustrated in Jude Burkhauser’s landmark book Glasgow Girls, Woman in Art and Design 1880-1920, Burkhauser also notes Whistler’s likely influence on this portrait.
France also had a profound influence on Dean. She frequently spent her summers in the south of the country or in Brittany and, in 1910, she and Stevenson relocated to Montreuil-sur-Mer in the Pas-de- Calais, where they lived until 1926. The impact of her time in France is evident in the current work, particularly in the distinctive softness of her style and her ability to capture the texture of cloth and hair through subtle, minimal brushwork.
Dean painted as much as she could throughout her lifetime, between raising Stevenson’s child from his first marriage, living through two World Wars and continuing whilst her eyesight began to fail in later years. As with many female artists of her generation, Dean’s work was somewhat undervalued during her lifetime, yet today her talent is rightly acknowledged.