Walter Sickert(1860-1942): Little Sally Waters - The American Sailor Hat(1907)

Sally Waters sat for Sickert on numerous occasions between 1907 and 1911 and features in several drawings and paintings wearing a large straw hat (eg. 'L'Américaine' in the Tate Gallery). The model is presumed to be a coster-girl (costers sold food in the street from a barrow). Sickert shocked his contemporaries by choosing to depict everyday people and subjects. In this lithograph the girl is caught off-guard and in her own thoughts - there is no attempt at flattery,anecdote or any sense that the situation is posed. Sickert produced over 200 etchings but only a handful lithographs.

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