Sonia Lawson RA, RWS, RWA (b.1934) Tending the rabbits Signed, mixed media, 14cm by 22cm (unframed) Artist's Resale Rights/Droit de Suite may apply to this lot, please refer to our Terms of Business See illustration Sonia Lawson was daughter of artists Fred Lawson and Muriel Metcalfe, who both lived and painted in the small village of Castle Bolton, Wensleydale, North Yorkshire. Lawson's mother suffered from Graves' Disease and was unable to care for the infant Sonia therefore she was brought up in Leyburn by her mother's sister, Marjorie Walker. Lawson studied at Doncaster School of Art in the 1950s and in 1955 gained a place at the Royal College of Art London. Graduating with First class honours she won a travelling scholarship to France and on her return was one of four young artists selected for John Schlesinger's BBC TV documentary ''Private View'' part of the Monitor series. In 1982 Sonia was elected a Royal Academician. An institute she also taught at for over 15 years as a visiting tutor. In October 1962 Lawson was one of those chosen for Six Young Painters: Cheltenham Art Gallery. The other contributors were Peter Blake, William Crozier , John Hoyland, Dorothy Mead and Euan Uglow. Lawson taught at Harrow School of Art from 1960- 1965. Other tutors at the time included Peter Blake and Ken Howard. In 1965 Freddie Gore appointed her visiting lecturer at Central St. Martin's Art School for a year, following which she taught at West Surrey College of Art in Farnham until 1968. Sonia Lawson was elected to the Royal Academy in May 1982, however in April 1982 she and her husband were badly burnt in a large house fire which destroyed many of her paintings and left her hospitalised for weeks, permanently scarring her hands. Following this episode, she explored her relationship with her mother, who had suffered Graves' disease and depression, and the drawing ''Gallant Child'' depicts this theme. When well enough she accepted a commission by the Imperial War Museum to record the British Armies of the Rhine Exercise ''Operation Lionheart'' Wesphalia. Germany. A permanent collection of her work is now at the Imperial War Museum. In 1989 Lawson was commissioned by the Archbishop of Canterbury to produce a painting for the Pope in celebration of the ecumenical accord. The picture is now held in the Vatican. The same year saw Lawson begin to work as a visiting tutor at the Royal Academy Schools, a role she continued for a further 15 years. In 1990 Lawson's mother Muriel, suffered a debilitating stroke and Sonia became the full-time carer for her until Muriel's death in 1995. Lawson's work developed a new structure after this major loss. She painted ''Herd'', 1996 using what Lawson calls ''runes'' and searching for a ''plump rigorous minimalism''.