Unframed grisaille portrait of a woman, signed lower left "Albert Sterner" (American, 1863-1946). Sterner was born in London, and attended King Edward's School, Birmingham, and studied drawing in Paris with Jean-Léon Gérôme and Gustave Boulanger. He moved to the United States in 1879. He opened a studio in New York in 1885 and began doing illustrations for magazines including Harper's Magazine, Scribner's Magazine, The Century Magazine, and Collier's. He also taught at the Art Students League in New York. His work has been exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Carnegie Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Sterner's awards include the Carnegie Prize at the National Academy of Design in 1941. His New York Times obituary stated that he was perhaps best known for his portraits, but "he was also noted for his nudes, religious subjects, landscapes, still-life work and, in his earlier days, his book and magazine illustrations." [36" H x 27 1/2" W].