Paul Thomas — Half Length Portrait of John Frederick Macdonald, charcoal with pastel and chalk, dedicated, signed and dated 1899, 33.5cm x 24cm. Note: John Frederick Macdonald (1876-1915) was a Scottish born author who before the age of 21 wrote a series of articles on Paris for ‘The Saturday Review’, later published as ‘Paris of the Parisiens’ (Grant Richards, 1900) and ‘Two Towns One City: Paris-London’ (Grant Richards, 1917). He died of consumption at the age of 39 after volunteering at a French hospital during the First World War.