Mrs Byam Shaw is also an artist

Here we are again, and I have the feeling that this year is going to be filled with artistic wives who don't normally get a look in, but I'm fine with that, I'm always up for a challenge.  A definite case in point is today's subject.  Honestly, I absolutely adore the art of John Byam Liston Shaw (whose names I always get in the wrong order, like John Stanhope Spencer Stanhope) (possibly another Spencer on the end), more commonly known as Byam Shaw, who is responsible for stuff like this...

The Boer War (1901) Byam Shaw

...not to mention any number of gorgeous book illustrations and all sorts of cracking works of art. What I didn't know, much to my embarrassment was that Mrs Byam Shaw was also an artist, sadly now lost to the mists of time.  Say hello to Evelyn Pyke-Nott...

Bydown House, Swimbridge, Devon

She was actually born Caroline Evelyn Eunice Pyke-Nott and just to make things super confusing, before 1863, her family name was Nott-Pyke, which is my worst nightmare as I kept getting it wrong while searching. Evelyn came from a comfortable amount of money, as her father inherited his uncle's name and what-have-you in 1863, switching the bits of his surname round to fit his inheritance.  That all seems a bit much to me but then I'm not posh, so what do I know? Her parents were John and Caroline (hence the fact that little Caroline was henceforth known as Evelyn), who married in 1867 and went on to have six children, four boys and two daughters (I'll come back to the second daughter in a minute because she is really famous and I never knew she was Byam Shaw's sister in law! I'll get to that in a minute...) Not that these things are really important to the story, but I was pleased to see that all but one of the Pyke-Nott children lived to a ripe old age, with only the baby Adrian not even making a year old, which is tragic.  The rest of them made very decent innings, which makes a change for something I've researched. To give some context to the family situation, their country house was the extremely modest Bydown House (above) with a small residence in London in Belsize Square (which is now flats and will set you back around a million if you fancy one).  So, she obviously had a very humble upbringing indeed...

Her brothers, James and Edward, became horse dealers and eldest brother John became a land agent, but her sister Isabel Codrington Pyke Nott shared her sister's love of art, enrolling in the Royal Academy in 1889, aged 15.  I have very great hopes that Isabel Codrington (she dropped her surname, hence being surprised when I saw her in the family tree) will have a renaissance very soon as she is a brilliant artist, but I tend to associate her with Mid-Twentieth Century stuff, so I was surprised she was a Victorian...

Morning (1934) Isabel Codrington

Evelyn went to art school at St John's Wood, before graduating to the Royal Academy with her sister. Interestingly, in the 1891 census, brother James also claims to be working as an artist and sculptor, while his sisters are off at the RA.  James did keep some artistic interest as he is responsible for at least one story in The Yellow Book in 1896, but I'm guessing horse dealing pays better. I digress.   It was whilst at the St John's Art School, that Evelyn Pyke Nott met John Byam Liston Shaw...

Byam Shaw (1894) Frederick Hollyer

Evelyn was in the class with a number of well-known artists who were the couple's friends, including Gerald Fenwick Metcalfe (who would go on and paint Evelyn in 1900 and exhibit it at the RA) and Rex Vicat Cole.  In 1891, Evelyn won a silver medal for her drawing, winning two more in 1894 for painting a head and a draped figure.  She exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1895 with At the Door, in 1896 with Portrait of a Lady and 1897 with a portrait of her sister Isabel. 

Byam Shaw and Evelyn got engaged in 1894 but didn't marry for five years.  For their marriage, Alexander Fisher designed this clasp...

It shows Love singing in the tree above the happy couple.  Interestingly, I've read that Evelyn and Byam Shaw did not marry earlier because 'they were not rich enough' - Well, seeing that he was selling paintings earlier than that and had a piece written about how hot he was in The Studio in 1897, I have questions about the 'poverty' of Mr Byam Shaw.  Also, Evelyn's family owned Devon. In 1881, The Shaws were lived in Kensington in London (only £3million to live there now, on Holland Road), having returned from India the previous decade.  Byam Shaw's father had been a solicitor, and he died in 1887 but didn't leave the family badly off, leaving £5000 (around half a million in today's money) to his widow.  Unless Daddy had a massive gambling habit (I doubt it) I wonder if Byam Shaw took responsibility for the household, being the only son, so his marriage was delayed.  His sister Margaret remained at home before marrying at 43 in 1913, a month before her mother died. 

The Queen of Hearts (1896) Byam Shaw

In the meantime, Byam Shaw painted this picture of his future wife - that's Evelyn in the middle as the queen.  It is an unbelievably exquisite piece, which apparently also contains a portrait of another art school friend of the couple, Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale...

I think EFB is the one in purple, and for context, here is EFB hanging out in the Byam Shaw garden...

It is one of my favourite photos of artists as they just look like such jolly chums.  Byam Shaw also painted Evelyn in this portrait which I am desperate to see a colour version of...

I bet that is absolutely glorious in real life. Above her head is a frieze  including Bydown House and her past times of riding and croquet, together with her painting.  She is also sporting a whopper of a ring, just in case you missed they were engaged. It is also stated that she appears in this painting...

The Blessed Damozel (1895) Byam Shaw

This is an illustration of the Rossetti poem about a dead beloved up in heaven watching her lovely chap down below, although this Blessed Damozel just seems to be hanging out with her gal-pals and enjoying a manless afterlife.  I think the actual Blessed Damozel looks a bit old to be Evelyn, but the lass behind in red looks promising. I think it might be interesting to look at his paintings from this period especially to see if you can spot Evelyn and Eleanor in more of his pictures, and I wonder if he also used his male friends too.  Why haven't we had a Byam Shaw retrospective?  I digress. Just as an aside, one of my favourite things I've learned this week is that, as Byam Shaw was also a theatrical costume designer, he designed a page-boy outfit for Isabel Codrington's wedding. The description was of a tabard of white velvet with silver embroidery.  Now, little James Pyke Nott, the page boy was under 10 years old. I wonder how long that all stayed white...?

The Byam Shaws moved to Kensington after their marriage (not that I doubt their poverty) and in the 1901 census, they live at Addison Road, with their baby son, George.  George was quickly followed by Barbara (1901), John James (1903), Glencairn (better known as Glen, 1904) and David (1906).  While Byam Shaw brought in increasingly handsome amounts of money, their army of servants ensured that Evelyn maintained her own artistic career and she also provided help to Byam Shaw in his work. According to his biographers, he was both proud of her work and respected her as an artist, however in the family portrait he chose a more traditional representation...

My Wife, My Bairns and My Wee Dog John (1903) Byam Shaw

Much is made of the fact that he doesn't paint Evelyn as an artist, but then, not wishing to overly defend what more than likely was a patriarchal decision, when my husband takes pictures of me, I'm not always carrying a large stack of research books or holding a pen.  It's also mentioned that he doesn't list the servant's name either (their nurse in 1901 is called Caroline Something-Illegible, sadly she isn't there in 1911 when a younger woman who would have been too young in 1901 to be their nurse has taken over) but I don't think it's necessary to get outraged by this because at least the servant is shown.  They obviously had more servants, but the point of the picture is his family and his children.  In the 1911 census they list their five children but (as you have to on the 1911 census) one deceased child is recorded.  I wonder, therefore, if this is a celebration of the life of his children, the preciousness of  George, Barbara and baby John. There isn't much in the way of gaps between the births of the children so I wonder if one of the children was a twin, one of whom died?  Also, is it just me who thinks that it's weird that the baby and the dog have the same name? Rich people are odd.

At some point, Evelyn began to specialise in miniatures.  Her talent was recognised in 1910 when Byam Shaw and friend Rex Vicat Cole set up an art school (it was absorbed into St Martin's College in 2003) and Evelyn was employed to teach miniature painting.  Her class was 3 afternoons a week to a small class so that she could give individual attention.  By 1911, Evelyn was 40 and Byam Shaw 38, both listed in the census as artists and living with their children, a cook, a parlour maid and a nurse in Kensington. Byam Shaw was a member of the Artist's Rifles, but became a Special Constable, one of the first. Heading into the First World War, it is a relief to report that no-one was old enough, or seemingly eligible to head off to war so that makes a change (although, no spoilers, but pace yourself).  Two of the few images we have of Evelyn's work actually come from miniatures she painted of young officers...

Temporary Lt Augustus James Jessopp (1916) Evelyn Byam Shaw

Augustus Jessopp was born in 1893 in Bedford.  His father was a solicitor and his brother, Walter, born in 1896, also followed him when they signed up for military action in 1914. Walter had qualified to be a civil engineer, but signed up in 1916 to the Machine Gun Corp.  Augustus had passed his exams to become a solicitor like his father and joined the Royal Flying Corp.  I think we all know what's coming...

Temporary Lt Walter Leverton Jessopp (1916) Evelyn Byam Shaw

The household the Jessop family kept in 1911 reflects the Byam Shaws, with their large house on Park Avenue in Bedford.  How proud parents Walter and Emily Jessopp must have been of their boys, so proud as to commission two perfect miniatures of them in uniform - I wonder if they were done as they brothers signed up, like some families had the photograph taken? Augustus died in the May of 1917, Walter in the July. That's exceptionally bleak, so let's see one that's not horrifically tragic...

Melisande (c.1915) Evelyn Byam Shaw

That's better. It seems that, although not much of it (if anything) appears to be in public ownership, Evelyn continued to produce her exquisite miniatures.  In 1916, she showed her miniature of actress Gladys Cooper at the Royal Academy.  As her husband was so involved in costume design and the couple were friends with people such as the Beerbohm Trees, I wonder if that is partly why their son Glen became an actor and director? Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself.  All Byam Shaws got through the Great War intact, however in his duties as a special constable, he caught a chill.  After a fortnight of fighting it off, he took to his bed and died.  He was 46.  He was diagnosed with encephalitis lethargica, or sleeping sickness, an epidemic of which swept through the country from 1917 to 1928, coincidentally at the same time as the 'Spanish flu' and in some biography, it is assumed that he died as part of the 1919 pandemic.  There are some very interesting papers on the possible causal links between the two if you fancy terrifying yourself stupid like I did. Honestly, I'm going out in a haz-mat suit from now on.

So, Evelyn found herself a widow in her late 40s with young adult children, however she continued to paint. I have to laugh as in 1902, the Echo newspaper wrote, very patronisingly of her 'Mrs Byam Shaw is also an artist, but she has not exhibited at the Academy since she ceased to be Miss Pyke Nott.' It seems to be that she never stopped exhibiting, with entries in the exhibition catalogue, such as 1921's Barbara and Elizabeth Ann (Barbara was the name of her daughter, so possibly her portrait?).  In 1930 she exhibited portraits of her grandchildren, Nicholas and Ann and in 1937, she showed a miniature of Alan, actor Emlyn William's son.

John James Byam Shaw (1929) Photo by Lafayette

John James Byam Shaw became an art historian and a museum curator, working for Colnaghi's for many years.  Known as Jim, he was instrumental in building the drawing collections of the British Museum and the Ashmolean.  What a smashing chap.

Barbara married Tony Follett Pugsley, who has his own Wikipedia page and they lived to a ripe old age, which is a relief.

Glen Byam Shaw as Laertes (1934-5) Glyn Philpot

Glen became one of the most respected and innovative theatre directors in the country, friends with John Guilgud (to give you some sort of context of company). Initially a lover of Siegfried Sassoon, he married an actress, Angela Baddeley (best remembered now as Mrs Bridges in Upstairs, Downstairs) in 1929 and they lived happily ever after.  He died in the 1980s, which is impressive indeed.

George, the eldest, joined the Royal Scots regiment in 1922, after a life in the army. He became a major but died in Belgium in May 1940 during a week of the heaviest casualties of officers in the war to that date.  He is buried at Bruyelle War Cemetery.

David, the youngest, was awarded an OBE for his service to the Royal Navy in 1940. Just before Christmas in 1941, while on HMS Stanley, an ex-American destroyer, protecting a convoy, his ship was struck by missiles, sinking rapidly.  Only 25 of the ship's company survived and David was not one of them.

So, what of Evelyn?  In the 1939 census, she is living at Hollybush Corner in Richmond (which might be Hollybush House now? It looks very lovely indeed) and she is listed as an artist.  Hurrah! I am cheered because so many independently wealthy women artists are often listed as things like 'domestic work' or 'Living on Own Means' which disguises whether or not they are still working.  Eventually, she retired to the Thames Bank Nursing Home in Goring on Thames and died in 1960 at the very respectable age of 89, over twice the amount of years her husband managed. 

What I would very much like is to know firstly where that gorgeous portrait of Evelyn resides and who has the pleasure of owning her miniatures.  Surely a Byam Shaw/Pyke Nott/Codrington exhibition could be organised, celebrating the talent and diversity of such a fascinating family? Yet again we are left calling for a bit of parity in our reporting of wives who are 'also an artist'. It's about time.