Happy Birthday Drawing: Love Barbara Nessim and Gloria Steinem

In the late 1960s, Barbara Nessim and Gloria Steinem were roommates. This stylised and colorful illustration appears to be a highly personalized birthday card to their friend Mary Ann and showcases the togetherness of four friends.
We are not sure who is who in the illustration, but the work is divided into a grid of a double portrait on the top half of the composition and a double portrait that occupies the bottom half. The subject in the lower left quadrant with green hair tilts her head up towards the top pair as if to connect. At the same time, the top right female is depicted in profile and looks directly at the subject to her left, who looks at the viewer. The artist creates a tight circular dynamic that is contained within that rectangular border. The border bonds all four members and symbolizes that they exist harmoniously in the same metaphoric space. Nessim's signature style defined by free flowing thin black lines and pastel palette breaks with the conventions of illustration at the time.
Inscriptons at the bottom acknowlege the subject, the feeling and the occasion.
Signed lower right.
Overall good condition. light toning commensurate with age. slight undulations are organic to the painting process using watercolor on paper. Frame is period and has wear. Framed under glass 12.75 x 9.25