MARGUERITE FREY-SURBEK (1886–1981) Six lithographs of Russian soldiers

lithographs on paper, two heightened with watercolour signed with initials ‘M.F.’ 30 x 22 cm (each) Marguerite Frey-Surbek was a Swiss painter who studied at the School of Arts and Crafts and was a private pupil of Paul Klee from 1904 to 1906. On his advice she continued her studies in Paris at the Académie Ranson (1906–1911) under Lucien Simon, Félix Vallotton, Maurice Denis and Édouard Vuillard. In her early years she painted mainly portraits and nudes, as well as landscapes and still lifes. In Paris she met the painter Victor Surbek, whom she married in 1914; together they founded a private painting school in Bern, which they ran until 1931.