Volume 2 of the Astor Collection of Drawings
Spencer wrote of this drawing, ‘…one of Elsie…with arms stretched out towards my work is in no known place.’ Spencer sits with palette and brushes in front of a Holy Ghost figure. Elsie Munday worked for some years as a maid to the Spencers; the artist wrote of her, ‘…Elsie, as usual, is a boon & does everything.’ The drawing displays some hallmarks of his style at the time: his predilection for repeated gesture (the arms that draw attention to the pictures stacked by the wall), and the use of detailed pattern within a concise, fluid outline.

Lent by a private collector