Cecil Collins (1908-1989) worked both as a painter and designer. He studied at the Plymouth School of art between 1923 and 1927 and the Royal College of Art, London from 1927-1931. In the early 1930s the artist became exposed to the work of artists Picasso (1881-1973) and Klee (1879-1940). In 1936 he participated in the International Surrealist Exhibition, London, before moving away from the movement. The artist returned to his native Devon to teach at Dartington Hall from 1939 to 1943. He believed in art being created through visionary experience and spiritual quest and his works from the 1940s echo the mystical feel of the artists Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) and Odilon Redon (1840-1916).
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This watercolour shows two crowned figures standing and facing out at the audience. They are framed by a tree on the right of the composition, the branch of which curves over their heads. On the left a white unicorn turns its head up and back to look at the couple. Collins has used a limited palette of deep red and green against the cream of the paper to bring depth to the black outline of the work. The combination of colour with black outlines and marks convey the fall of light on the different surfaces represented, from the rough tree trunk to the floating fabric worn by the female figure on the right.
