Original model sketches of rats by Edie Sedgwick, accomplished in graphite on an off-white 9.5 x 13.5 sheet of sketching paper that contains three drawings of the rodents, signed in the lower left, “Edith Sedgwick, ‘61.” Matted to an overall size of 10.5 x 14.75. In fine condition.
Sedgwick left the St. Timothy's School boarding school in 1959 and returned to her family’s La Laguna ranch in California, where she remained until she was sent to the private Silver Hill psychiatric hospital in New Canaan, Connecticut, in the fall of 1962. Her date notation of 1961 places her at the age of either 17 or 18 when this work was created. Sedgwick’s childhood on the ranch instilled in her a great love for animals of all sizes, with mice and rats being no exception.
Another similar rodent drawing by Sedgwick can be found on page 114 of Jean Stein’s book Edie: An American Biography. On page 112, Alice ‘Saucie’ Sedgwick mentions her younger sister’s artwork while at Silver Hill: ‘Edie made good use of the facilities, particularly the OT, occupational therapy. She made lots of objects—a cheeseboard over there on the table. The design’s faded, but there were five mice on it, very deftly drawn.’
From the Michael Post Collection.
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