CHRISTIAN MAXWELL (BRITISH 1909-1980)
View across the valley
signed and dated 56 (lower left)
oil on board
38 x 57 cm

Christian Maxwell, sister of Gavin Maxwell, author of the world renowned 'Ring of Bright Water' and subsequently 'The House of Elrig'. Gavin and his siblings, Aymer, Eustace and Christian, grandchildren of the Duke of Nothumberland, were brought up at Elrig on the Galloway moors. Though strictly raised, they were surrounded by the beauty and isolation of country life, that led to Maxwell's absorbing interest in nature and the natural world.
Christian Maxwell a lifelong communist who was very active in solidarity work for refugees from Franco's Spain and she also played a key role in helping Jewish people and other refugees to get out of Austria following the "Anschluss" in 1934 and Czechoslovakia following the Nazi invasion in 1938.