The Lovely Nonsense of Kate Olver

Excuse my ignorance, but I had no idea that there was such a publication as The Women's Who's Who...

Image taken from Abebooks

In this such illustrious publication I can find 'an annual record of the careers and activities of leading women of the day,' which is quite something and Queen Mary likes it, so who am I to refuse? Anyway, the subject of today's post is mentioned, and it quickly became obvious that it was not the feminist safe-space I was hoping for...

Thank goodness they took the time to tell me who her father and husband were! Phew! Anyway, yes, today's subject is Mrs Charles Higgins, or as she was known to people who bought her paintings, Kate Olver.

Kate was born on 26th May 1881 to Henry Uren (or Wren, both are recorded) Olver and Alice Mary Williams, who had married in 1878. Henry was the son of a perfumier and Alice, the daughter of a stationer, which seem two very lovely professions.  Henry became a Harley Street dentist and manufacturer of 'toilet articles' which I am guessing are either perfumed things or possibly toothpaste related items. Kate was their second child, after Julian Henry (1879-1967). The family lived at 118 Harley Street - I thought it was just medical people who lived in Harley Street, but I see their neighbours were a bit of a mix, including solicitors and other professionals. The houses look very grand and had integral business rooms so you could hold your appointments within your residence. It wasn't all smooth sailing though - in 1892, Henry was declared bankrupt, which is how I also know he was trading out of Oxford Street as well as their home.  This mercifully does not seem to have impacted the family as badly as I would have thought and in 1901, the family is still in Harley Street with Julian working as a dentist with his father.  By this time however, Kate had started art school...

Kate started her art education at Queen's College on Harley Street (very convenient too).  Established in 1848, it was the first British school to give qualifications to women (according to its very lovely website) and Kate went from there to the Royal Academy schools, until her graduation in 1906. She had won the silver medal and prize for her Cartoon of a draped figure in 1905 and I wonder if that drawing was Grief  which the Weekly Times and Echo were selling as prints, calling it 'a suitable Christmas present' in 1907. They refer to her silver medal and call the picture 'universally admired' (which is a bold claim) but Kate's artistic career had begun.

In a Nursery (Kathleen) (1913)

In 1910 her work appeared in a show at Walker's gallery in Bond Street. The review in the St James Budget had this slightly odd remark - 'The work is pleasantly varied and as the ladies are less anxious than most to conceal their sex in it some of the pieces are personal and distinguished.' I think what they mean is that (by the newspaper's interpretation) some of the works were of very 'feminine' subjects, although surely by 1910 we had stopped trying to pretend we are chaps in order to sell paintings? I don't doubt that meant that people would only pay so much for a work by (the horror) a woman. Kate had a good showing at the exhibition, with large oil paintings Mrs R Hughes, Lilies of Death and  Charles Rathbones Esq as well as 11am which was 'a study of a slug-a-bed well inside the room and the frame.' 1910 also saw Kate's debut at the Royal Academy with Dream Days for which I can't find an illustration or any description, unfortunately. That's going to happen a lot...

Illustration from The Baby and the Fire God in Votes for Women 1913

Kate didn't appear in the 1911 RA, but she was at the Paris Salon instead with two portraits, described as showing 'charm and delicacy' by the Pall Mall Gazette. Her next big appearance was at the RA in 1913 with Kathleen, but what made the newspapers was her involvement with the Christmas edition of Votes for Women where she provided illustrations for a piece by Evelyn Sharp entitled 'The Baby and the Fire God'. She also illustrated another story in June the following year and designed a Christmas Card for the paper in 1914, so I'm guessing she was a suffragist, although I can't find much more about her activities beyond art on that front. She had two more paintings at the RA, The Thoughts of Youth and 'Lazy Sheep, Tell Me Why?' - I was particularly struck by the second, which is from a poem by Ann and Jane Taylor (of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' fame) about a child asking sheep why they do nothing.  The sheep answers that they are producing wool to keep the child warm all winter, while the sheep have to try and find food all winter in a chilly brown field. The least they should be allowed is to relax in a warm field after they have been shorn. 

Yvonne Stewart Barnard (1915)

In 1915, Kate was back with two more - Mary Prince in Tchaikowsky's Casse Noisette Suite "The Mystic Measure of Music, and Dance, and Shapes of Light" and Yvonne, daughter of F Stewart Barnard.   Whilst I can't tell you much about Mary Prince in the Nutcracker and her 'shapes of light' (very arty too), I'm pleased to tell you that Yvonne lived until she was 90.  She was 15 when this was painted and her family also lived at Portland Place in London, like the Olvers did at this time, so I wonder if that was how Frank Stewart Barnard contacted her.

Return From the Front, 1916 (1916)

Kate's support of the suffrage movement included her offering 'lightning portrait sketches' at the Christmas sales in 1916 in support of the cause. I always get a bit nervous during the First World War if our subject has a husband/brother of military age. Julian Olver was in his thirties, so up for a bit of marching into gunfire pointlessly, but he seems to have come through unscathed, married to Beatrice with a son Brian and a daughter Patricia and lived to a decent age. Kate was back at the RA in 1917 with 2 entries; Julie and a bronze statuette, The Young Peasant, neither of which made any waves in the papers. 

In 1918, she found a bit of fame, this time with her illustration of a book called Mary's Moving Pictures of Herself and the Others, which Kate 'profusely' illustrated, according to the adverts. The book was written by Hilda Hankey, sister of Donald Hankey, and involved retrospective portraits of childhood.  The official blurb that is attached to all mentions of the book includes this - 'the small figure of the future "Student in Arms" has an individual place" - Student in Arms was the title of Donald's writings about life at the front which seem to have had a fascinating and complicated history. Kate was also back at the RA with Grevile, and again in 1919 with Tanya, neither of which garnered much notice.

Jill (1928)

In 1920, Kate exhibited Rosamond Sylvia Anderton at the RA, a full length figure of a young girl against a background of Chinese drapery, which was greeted warmly as a happy and individual piece. The Gentlewoman liked it so much they included a black and white picture of it - I could only find a bad scan or else I would include it, but there is something a little bit Cooper Gotch about it (I might be entirely wrong in colour). Little Rosamond appears to have had an interesting life, ending up as Lady Barlow, then marrying a curate after her first husband died in a plane crash, before dying at the age of 95. Kate also appeared again at Walker's on Bond Street in a women-only exhibition which was successful and 'well worth visiting' according to the Hanwell Gazette and Brentford Observer.

Sketch for Mercia (1933)

1921's RA featured another portrait, this time of Mercia, daughter of Mr and Mrs Thomas Fordham. Mercia (1914-1975) was the daughter of a copper engraver from Wimbledon, so I'm not sure what the link was to Kate but maybe they were just a wealthy family who wanted a portrait of their daughter. The family must have remained in touch as Mercia was the subject of a portrait in 1933 (possibly for her 'coming out'), a sketch of which was given to the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery in 1961. In 1922, Kate had two works - Songs of Innocence and In a Looking-Glass. I wondered if the first was connected to Blake, but the Gentlewoman describes it as two children in a hammock in plein air effect, and the second was a self portrait. Interestingly, at the RA Winter exhibition, Kate brought out the statuette of the peasant again, which garnered a mention in the Vote newspaper (unlike the first time it appeared).

From A Child's Garden of Verse (1927)

In 1925, Kate exhibited Lovely Nonsense (which is what I put as my job title) which I'm afraid I can't tell you anything about as it got no press coverage at all. The 1920s were quieter from this point, but possibly because Kate was working on a reissue of Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verse which was published in 1927, bringing the illustrations up to date with little moppets with bobbed hair. As a side note, there have been so many versions of this book since its first publication in 1885, many of them illustrated by women, that you could probably write a book on that alone.

The Artist's Husband (undated)

In 1928, Kate exhibited Myths and Legends and Jill (possibly Jill Norris, who she also painted later in life) at the Royal Academy and in 1930 she showed Coup de Printemps, none of which got any coverage. Meanwhile, Kate had become Mrs Charles Samson Higgins, after marrying a fellow artist in June 1927.  Higgins was 12 years her junior, born in Buenos Aires to a Scottish Engineer and his wife, and was an author (writing as Ian Dall) as well as painting under the pseudonym 'Pic.' He had trained as an engineer, but also attended Slade School of Art, before joining the army for the Great War and was wounded during the Dardanelles campaign at Gallipoli. After the couple's marriage they moved to Barra in the Outer Hebrides. 

Barra (1930)

Obviously, Kate and Pic still kept a London address, Norfolk Road in St John's Wood, which was listed in the RA catalogues (where she still appeared as Miss K Olver).  In 1931 she was back with Willows in Spring followed by Baile a' Chaisteil, a Scottish coastal scene with a cattle market, the year after. Around this time she used a model called 'Carmen' in a few different paintings, including Casque d'Or (or Golden Helmet) referring to her golden cropped hair...

Carmen (undated)

Casque d'Or (c.1930)

There is another picture of Carmen but I can only find a bad picture of a print of it, but I always find it interesting when a painter returns to a model, especially in the case of Kate who was more of a portraitist. This is also true of her return to Mercia Forham in 1933, but that might have been financially motivated by her parents.  Kate's other painting from 1933 was to become one of her most talked about in her career. Eyes caused a stir for being impressionistic, what Kate referred to as a 'Painter's picture' and being the Daily News' picture of the RA that year. It fascinated the viewers as they looked at a painting of four Hebridean children with pale eyes staring back at them. It was called 'curious' and 'well handled' with the News Chronicle photographing her in front of it and calling it 'remarkable.' Of course we have no image of it. T'uh.

Portrait of a Girl (c.1930)

Whilst not at the RA in 1934, Kate did appear in the Society of Women Artists show with Strangers, reported to be in much the same vein as Eyes, featuring a group of children staring out at the viewer,  In 1935 she exhibited a portrait of Jane and Susan, the daughters of Douglas Lyall Grant and a painting called Perina. The portrait of the two little girls is interesting as in no reference to the painting in the press was it noted that Jane and Susan were her nieces, as Douglas was married to Jane Higgins, sister of Pic. Douglas had been a widowed merchant banker who married also widowed Jane (a war widow) in 1922 and Jane (1927-2010) and Susan (1930-2025) were their daughters who would be 8 and 5 years old at the time of their portrait.

Musicians (1936)

In 1936, Kate's painting of Musicians featured in the Royal Society of Portrait Painter's exhibition and was praised in the Daily News. Her portraits in the Royal Academy that year were Richard and Anthea, children of William Haigh Pyman and Jean and Angela, the daughters of Pre-Raphaelite collector Kerrison Preston. The year after, Musicians appeared at Hull's art gallery where it was praised - 'Out of this harmony character speaks - in a different voice for each of the two girls.' She also had two paintings at the RA - A Quiet Corner and a portrait of her husband under his writer's name, Ian Dall. She also had a portrait of Miss Eleanor Nicholas in the 1938 RA.  Interestingly, the newspapers in the 1930s noted the rise of women artists at the RA during this time, mostly without any connotation and to be honest it should not have been too much of a surprise given how many men died just over a decade before.  Also, looking through the RA catalogues of this period it is in no way a feminist white-wash of the old guard, so everyone needs to calm down.  I think the excellence of artists like Laura Knight and Dod Proctor just made women more visible to the critics.

Ian Dall Leis A' Phiob (Artist's husband with bagpipes) (1939)

In 1939, Kate revisted her nieces, this time adding older brother Gavin to a portrait of Jane and Susan Lyall Grant. Douglas Gavin Lyall Grant (1925-1999) was known as Gavin so avoid confusion with his father, and the children were pictured in a nursery. She also exhibited with the Society of Women Artists and again showed her portrait of her husband 'Ian Dall Leis A Phiob' (which a paper said 'whatever that means' - Good Lord, lazy journalists, the man is in a kilt, ask a bloody Scotsman.  It means 'with bagpipes'.) The following year she exhibited Scherzo and a portrait of the sculptor Ruth Swann's daughter Lola Gwendolen Ann Swann.  As war was upon us again, Kate also contributed to an exhibition in aid of the Spitfire fund. In the 1939 register, the couple had moved out to Buckinghamshire, and were living in Northall.  Irritatingly, in the register, Charles is listed as an author and Kate is 'unpaid domestic duties.' Sigh.

Woman in a Kimono with Camelias (undated)

There is a distinct slowing in Kate's output during the war, with 1941 being a bit of an annomely in terms of the RA, where she had two paintings - Siesta and a picture of their house Restharrow, Northall, nr Dunstable. I'm interested in her 1942 RA entry, To The North Pole, which could either be a throw back to the polar explorers of the previous generation or, less likely, something to do with the on-going Artic operations of the Second World War. Similarly, I have no notion what The End of the Story could relate to - possibly something as literal as someone finishing a book or something more metaphoric. Kate also did a presentation portrait of Charles Kilby for his services to agriculture in Leighton Buzzard in 1944, one of the her last appearances in the newspaper. 

For her final RA in 1946, she went out with three paintings; one of her husband, entitled Pic, one of Fisher Girls returning in the Outer Hebrides and one entitled Boulevard Magenta d'Avent Guerre (Boulevard de Magenta before the War), which might be a comment either on how beautiful it was when Kate last visited or how beautiful it was before the fighting. I think at this point, now in her 60s, Kate seems to have gone into semi-retirement, only producing occasional portraits and living quite happily with Pic in Buckinghamshire and Scotland.

Jill Norris (1951)

Kate died in 1960, in the hospital in Paddington, London and was cremated in London. Pic lived on for another 20 years, finally dying in 1980.  Of all the artists I've researched, I'm struck with how little information there is on Kate, despite her working constantly and appearing regularly at the Royal Academy.  Kate Olver shows there is no guarentee of fame or public appreciation, no matter how successful you are. However, here we are over sixty years after Kate's death; no matter how unappreciated she was in her lifetime, we are here talking about her, so maybe her time is yet to come.

The Many Flowers of Evelyn Grace Ince

Occasionally in my research meanderings, I come across an artist who is not only talented but also not afraid to get out there and show her stuff. A little known fact about me is that before I was a rambling Art Historian, I was a rambling Poet who published her first (and no doubt most awful) poems aged 18. At the time I imagined I was Sylvia Plath.  Reader, I was not. However, through getting published in a minor literary magazine I got the courage to write other stuff and so here we are.  This all leads me to today's subject, Evelyn Grace Ince...

Miss Ince was born in 1886 in Bengal, India.  Her father, the Reverend John Cook Ince was Irish and her mother Sarah had been born in Bengal but sent back to England for her education, before returning to marry (in much the same way as the Pattle sister did, but they went to France). Sarah's father had been a missionary and tutor to the Sultan of Johor, so I wonder if it was religion that brought them together.  Anyway, they married in the April of 1865 and four daughters followed over the next 20 years - Eliza Gertrude (1866-1945), Mabel Emily (1870-1941), Alice Caroline (1873-1947) and last but not least Evelyn Grace (1886-1941).  As Sarah was well into her 40s at that point, I can only imagine that little Evelyn was somewhat of a surprise, twelve years younger than her nearest sister. By 1891, the family had moved to England, to the Isle of Wight to be exact, where they were living at Gloucester House in Northwood, apart from Sarah.  Somewhen between the birth of her youngest daughter and 1891, Sarah had died, leaving John a widower.  This possibly precipitated the move to England, the vicar and his daughters aged between 5 and 24 years old.

Autumn Harmony (no date)

By 1901, the family were still all together, now aged between 15 and 34. Reverend Ince was the vicar at Gurnard on the Wight and in 1901 a newspaper piece recorded how the Ince girls decorated the church, Evelyn dressing the windows. Evelyn had decided her future lay in the arts, in writing to be exact at that point and on 7th March 1903, she became an Associate Member of the Gentlewoman's Children's Salon where she won the Associate Prize for literature under the category of 'loneliness.' I would be remiss if I didn't publish the poem in full, obviously...

LONELINESS

Upon the pond's green mossy bank

There stood a goose sedate,

Gazing into its murky depths,

And thinking on his fate.

He thought on when, in bygone days,

They all were goslings fair,

And frolicked in that self-same pond,

Without a thought or care.

But one by one they'd disappeared

And never more were seen,

And he alas! was left alone,

To nurse his sorrow keen.

Thus musing on his loneliness,

He does not heed the gay

Whistle of Farmer Jones who comes,

And carries him away.

Now, although on the face of it, it's about a sad goose (not one of nature's more poetic creatures), it's also about death - the death of loved one and your own and how short life is so don't waste it.  Is the inference that the Farmer ate all his siblings and has finally come for Sad Goose? Farmer Death seems awfully chipper but it's nice someone is happy in his work, plus he has goose for dinner again. Let's move on from goose-base existential dread...

Mary Mary (no date, 1930s)

It appears that the Gentlewoman magazine liked to nurture the young writers and became an outlet for Evelyn's writing. In June, she received an honourable mention for her amusing verse about a cat. Evelyn wrote another piece and submitted it for feedback which she received via 'Levana's Letter Box' in September 1903 - 'Evelyn Ince - Very fair; in fact the plot is quite good, only you have not worked it out very well.' In the November she received another honourable mention in the Autumn competition, but she also began submitting art work, receiving an honourable mention for her design for a calendar as well as for her verse on Michaelmas Day. In 1904 she won for both art and literature and received feedback for her essay which Levana assured her was not nonsense and was decidedly original and clever.

Dorothea Bay MacGlagan (no date)

Thanks to a very helpful biography here, we know that in 1911, Evelyn applied herself very seriously to art and attended the Byam Shaw and Vicat Cole School of Art.  I can only imagine that she stayed in London during the terms and returned to the Wight for holidays, where she was caught by the 1911 census, listing her (and her sister Mabel) as artists in black and white. All the sisters were still single (and would remain so) and living at home with their father.  Evelyn remained at the school until 1916 when she became a Land Girl.

Landscape (possibly Tares) (1917)

1917 saw Evelyn's first appearance at the Royal Academy with Tares, described by the Gentlewoman as a 'fine landscape' showing a mass of thistles on a hillside in the evening light, 'a picture full of truth and solemn beauty.' Her address for the catalogue was 71 Campden Street, Kensington, but by her next appearance in 1921, she had moved to Meadow Cottage in Petworth, Sussex, where she is listed as 'joint head' of the household.  Her sister Alice is staying with her, and Mabel is still living with their father, so I wonder if Eliza, who is visiting elsewhere and working as a temporary Government Clerk, is actually the person who Evelyn was living with. Anyway, in 1921's RA she showed Echo and Narcissus. She also took Tares to the South Wales Art Society, where it was warmly received: 'There lurks a true spirit of poetry in Miss Ince's conception of her subject...Altogether a very charming composition.'

Echo and Narcissus (1921)

1923 saw Landscape appear at the RA and the Westminster Gazette listed Evelyn's painting in their 'good work by less famous artists' list. The West Sussex Gazette called it 'suggestive yet flatly treated.' She took Amberley Ruins to the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour in November of the same year and Spring to the Royal Society of British Artists. She got another mention in the 1924 Royal Society of British Artists exhibition, although it isn't mentioned for what picture, but for the 1925 exhibition she showed Evening in the Cotswolds which gave the reviewer 'quiet pleasure.' Interestingly, in 1926 at the Royal Society, she showed Stow in the Wold so I wonder if she had moved temporarily to the Cotswolds (and who wouldn't, Waitrose-adjacent), but by the 1927 Royal Academy she was living at 6 Willow Road, Hampstead, which is absolutely gorgeous and close to the Heath. She exhibited two flower paintings, one in oil, one in watercolour, which, looking at what illustrations were available to me online, seems to be what she is better known for now.

1928 saw Evelyn show one of her flower pieces in an exhibition aboard the Cunard Ship 'Berengaria,' which also appeared in the newspapers, as well as at various other exhibitions but not the RA. She ended the decade at an exhibition at the Walker Gallery, where a reviewer said her work made it clear that loveliness had not ended.

Bank Holiday, Hampstead (1930)

The 1930s were arguably Evelyn's best, or at least most successful, decade. At the Royal Society of British Artists in 1930 she showed a view of a Brittany village, and at the Society of Women Artists she showed a flower piece which was prized for its appropriate femininity. At the RA, she showed two more flower pieces, one in tempera and a view of Bank Holiday, Hampstead. At the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour, she showed Mother and Child which I would love to see as I think her figurative work is beautiful.

Hitchin Church (1930)

1931 brought another Gloucestershire view, this time Painswick, displayed at the autumn exhibition of the Royal Society of British Artists. In 1932, it was a view of Hampstead at Whitsun (which I wonder was just the Bank Holiday picture from 1930 again) and yet more flowers. By 1933, she had moved to White Lodge, Meadow Way in Letchworth (very nice too, although most of the houses are white on that road, so I wondered if it was the first one along which seemed to be on its own) and at the RA she had three pictures - Harvest Field, Hitchen Church and a tempera flower piece.

Flower Piece (1934)

Now I'm going to get a bit cross. In 1934, Evelyn won the Chantry Prize, which means her picture, a tempera flower piece, was purchased for the nation and resides in the Tate. The above is the only image I can find online of it. This is arguably the most important work she did, or at least was deemed so, but the nation can't actually get digital access to it. Of the four works of art purchased by the Chantry Bequest, the other three are all available in colour on the Tate's website.  I wonder what the difference between those three male artists and Evelyn could possibly be? Hmmm...

Flowers in a Black Vase (1940)

Her tempera flowers continued to win hearts at the Royal Academy - the West Midlands Gazette declared them better than the oil paintings of the same year. In 1935, she also produced the dust jacket illustration for her sister Mabel's book The Preacher and Queen Mary bought one of her tempera flower studies. A piece in the Daily Mirror exclaimed 'Women beating men in the Academy, too!' as so many of the female artists, including Evelyn, had sold pieces of work from that year's exhibition. Her last few years were filled with tempera flowers, including a Stott Bequest winning piece, Flowers in a Black Vase in 1940. Her last piece, in 1941, was a tempera piece Dahlias which was exhibited at the Royal Academy the day before she died. Her sister Mabel died the week after on the 14th May. She left just over £2000 to Eliza, who died in 1945. Alice, as the last remaining sister, presented the painting of Hampstead at Bank Holiday to Hampstead Library before she also died in 1947.

First Garden City Gas Works (Letchworth) (no date)

So, why do we not remember Evelyn Grace Ince?  Well, for starters, flower painting is not valued at all. I was flippant about her Chantry not being photographed because she is a woman, but I bet if it had been something exciting and figurative, it would have stood a better chance.  Flower painting is predominantly a female field (no pun intended) and therefore is on a sticky-wicket to start with. Also, I don't think, as a society, we value flowers in the same way as our forebears did.  I bet my daughter doesn't even know who Costance Spry is and I've not passed down to her the basics of flower arranging (for shame!).  Maybe we need to embrace this lost art, and the love of the flower paintings would follow.  It's not like in Victorian times when each flower would have a meaning, it is just for the glorious aesthetic pleasure of the flowers, the shapes and colours. 

I'll fetch my oasis block...

A Little Ladybird and Shackleton's Dog

 Often in researching my victims, I am blessed in information about their lives once they are exhibiting or even at school winning prizes, but rarely do I get an account of their childhood unless their parents were famous or something deeply tragic happens.  Well, today this is a bit of a mix of that as I am very lucky to have an account from the artist herself. Meet Mariquita Jenny Moberly...

Self Portrait (1918)

There are a few reasons that I chose Mariquita as today's subject, some are to do with frankly weird pictures of dogs and at least one is to do with that self portrait, which is magnificent. Let's start at the beginning...

Portrait of a Dachshund (no date)

By the way, unusually there will be lots of pictures for Mariquita, which makes how obscure she is even more puzzling but we'll come back to that. To the origins!

Maud (1890)

Mariquita Jenny Phillips was born on the 2nd November 1855 to John and Jane Phillips, who lived in Deptford in Greater London.  I must admit when I saw her name, I was expecting her to be Spanish, or at least something more exotic than Deptford (no offence Deptford). Nor are John and Jane particularly international, however John was secretary and shareholder for a Spanish and Mexican mining company which is possibly why they decided to call their eldest daughter a name that translates from the Spanish as 'Ladybird' (with thanks to this site). Mariquita was followed by Bevan John (1857-1912), Lawrence Charles (1859-1929), Arthur Waller (1862-1936) and finally Walter Alison (1864-1950).  The family were well off, living at Ham Villa (a villa entirely constructed of ham!) in Lewisham, with several servants including a nurse for the children in 1861.  Mariquita remembered her father, a keen amateur artist teaching her to copy and draw.  She spoke of being 5 years old and sitting with him drawing objects on a table, a lamp and her mother's key basket, with his 'firm steady simple line drawings' on one side and her shaky copy beside it. The family moved into the very splendid Mounthill, which had sweeping views over Epsom.  Then, all of a sudden in 1868, John died leaving Jane with five small children.  Her mother did the only sensible thing and moved them all to Germany.

Shelling Peas (no date)

Mariquita studied at home for a couple of years, but then, aged 15, she went to art school in Weimer, studying almost at once from life.  She attended the studio of Professor Friedrich Martersteig (1814-1899), then spent two years with Bertha Froriep (1833-1920), who did this rather Pre-Raphaelite Sleeping Beauty...

Sleeping Beauty (1864) Bertha Froriep

Mariquita was the sole pupil of Froriep and felt that she learned a lot from her (when she recounted the story of her early life in 1890 to the Lady's Pictorial).  Just before she returned to London aged 20, she spent some time with Ferdinand Schauss (1832-1916) at the Grand-Ducal Saxon Art School. Then the family returned.

A Young Woman (1886)

When back in London, Mariquita did not pause.  She studied intensely at the British Museum, drawing from the Antique for 6 months, and taking classes at South Kensington.  Further to that she spent 3 months in Paris, studying under Carolus-Duran (1837-1917) before she was ready to exhibit.

In the 1881 census, the Phillips family were back in Epsom, this time in South Street (handy for the Assembly Rooms/Wetherspoons) with her mother and brothers. Marquita was listed as an artist, and her brothers had become architects and solicitors. Also visiting the family was Herbert Moberly, a merchant from St Petersburg in Russia. Before we get overexcited about him being all exotic and foreign, again it's a false alarm, as, although he was born in Russia, his father Charles appears to have been a travelling merchant and his Mum came from Leeds.  The Moberly family seem to have moved to Lewisham just before Charles died, so I wonder if that is where Mariquita and Herbert met. Anyway, in 1884 the couple married in Epsom.  However, more importantly, in 1881 Mariquita made her artistic debut at a watercolour exhibition at the Dudley Gallery. Not to get on my soap box, but I have a real thing about female academics/artists/writers etc using only their initials, and as part of my other job I make a point of ensuring full names are recorded or else it's a sad fact that things tend to get credited to men.  I therefore find it interesting that the Lady's Pictorial of March 1881 celebrated the fact that 100 of the female artists exhibiting used their christian names in the catalogue because, as they said, 'it speaks well for the future position of ladies in art.' Preach, Lady's Pictorial! Mariquita was there with Marigolds which got a mention.

The Artist in the Garden (no date)

In 1884, she exhibited a picture of roots at the Society of Lady Artists which was her last outing under her maiden name. Her first painting at the Royal Academy was in 1885, entitled 'Annie' showing a girl in a low-necked dress in pale pink and grey striped satin against a grey-white background. She also exhibited at the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours with The Flight of Little Nell and her Grandfather from the Old Curiosity Shop, showing an elder man being led by a child through their shop surrounded by bric-a-brac and armour.

The Missing Hen (no date)

1886 brought a large watercolour entitled A Maiden of the Primrose League.  Now, as we discussed in my last post, the Primrose League was a conservative group, but this child wrapped up in brown velvet and fur is in the middle of a wood with a basket of primroses, so possibly is a play on words. I think recent times has rather set our teeth on edge when it comes to anything this overtly right wing, but looking at it in the whole, arguably this is a case of the more benign conservatism that used to exist with lots of 'christian' values, love of queen-and-country type malarky which would be very mainstream in nineteenth century England. Without getting too political, if you had money and/or a title in 1883 (when it was founded) I don't think it is particularly deep or sinister to be in the Primrose League. I also wonder if the iconography of primroses at this time just denoted 'traditional values.' My apologies for so many speech marks, but I often find that people who tell you that they are a thing are unlikely to be it - so if you say you stand for traditional christian values I am very clear that you don't. If you have to tell me it, it is not likely to be self-evident. Like men who tell me they are feminists. Sorry, I digress.

The Lesson (no date)

The Primrose Maiden made its way around England, cropping up in Liverpool and Birmingham before pottering over to Melbourne for the Centenary Exhibition in 1889. Mariquita returned to the Royal Academy in 1888 with two literary-based works - Lorna Doone and Martha Hilton.  Lorna Doone got a fair amount of attention as the female figure was clothed in white satin against a backdrop of crimson velvet curtains, one of which she held.  Martha Hilton, a character from Longfellow's 'Lady Wentworth' was a happy, careless girl carrying a bucket of water.  This painting not only was at the RA, but also was seen in Liverpool and in Dresden the following year.

View from a Winter Window (no date)

1887 had Jealousy one of her first animal-based works, which proved popular for its subject which reminded me of the stuff by Briton Riviere and the ilk.  A little girl tries to work at her desk but is interrupted by her little dog, which all sounds very commercial and delightful. By this time, the Moberlys were settled into married life at 24 Abercorn Place, just round the corner from the Abbey Road Studios.  It's a beautiful, tall, white building and seems huge for the two of them and their servant.  Mariquita also had a studio, 1 Cheniston Gardens, pictured here...

I love the terrarium.  By the two paintings on the easels, I'm supposing that Mariquita wished to be known for her figure paintings, if not just her portraits, which I have read was the side of the business to get into as it guaranteed sales if you were good. In 1890, just such a portrait appeared at the RA - Ellen, daughter of Edwin Waterhouse Esq. Edwin Waterhouse was a wealthy accountant, one of the founders of Price Waterhouse and this would have been his daughter Ellen Penelope Mary Waterhouse (1880-1944) aged 10.  The year also saw the profile of her published in the Lady's Pictorial, calling her a 'clever artist' and frequent flyer at the RA. They also covered her painting Meadowsweet when it arrived at the Grosvenor Gallery in May.

1891 saw A Lesson in Patience at the Royal Academy, which I'm going to guess might have also been dog-related. The following year, at the Royal Institute of Water-Colours, she exhibited a painting of Ruskin's Study at Brantwood.  I thought 'Oh, I've seen this!' but actually everyone seems to have painted that room, so no, I hadn't seen Mariquita's rendition. To be honest, although all the pictures of the study are nice, I'm not sure it warranted that much attention, certainly not in 1882.

Once Upon a Time (1893)

In 1893, Mariquita was back at the RA with a watercolour entitled Nut Brown Hair.  She was also at the Institute of Oils with Little Ellie and Once Upon a Time which shows a little girl immersed in a book of fairy stories. At the Bradford Art Exhibition in April, she won a highly commended for her oil painting 'What Are You Laughing At?' In 1894 she was back at the RA with another Longfellow-inspired piece, 'Fair was she as she passed with her chaplet of beads and her missal.' With such a lengthy title and poetic subject, I expected the papers and the Lady's Pictorial did not let me down...

Please excuse the bad quality, but I was impressed to find an illustration. The Queen magazine also mentioned Mariquita in their review of the Dudley Gallery Art Society show, where she had the Anxious Mother, a painting of a little girl with her cat and its kittens. The Lady's Pictorial also had an image of The Miller's Daughter which was so dark that I don't include it here, but appears to be a girl stood by a mill stream, pensively, and I'm going to guess it is drawn from Tennyson. Also mentioned in a review of an exhibition in York was Hush! which shows a young girl nursing her pet dog.

In 1895, Mariquita brought us On the Threshold of the Unknown, with a bride pausing in a doorway, exhibited at the Dudley Gallery, which also might be the same painting mentioned by the Gentlewoman as exhibited in the Society of Lady Artists show, simply described as a lovely picture of a young woman in white satin. The same year, auctioneers Higgins and Son advertised an upcoming sale of the works of Mariquita and Miss H Franck at Miss Franck's studio in St John's Wood, including watercolours, oils and drawings.

Lady with a Quetzal (1896)

In 1896, Mariquita  seems to have exhibited Ruskin's Study again, as well as Hush!  and showing The King's Youngest Daughter at the Society of Lady Artists. There was a short piece in the Midland Counties Express about Mariquita's childhood and education, listing that to date she had exhibited 114 pictures and had many of them illustrated in journals - 'All of her works are marked with good taste.' It also revealed that her husband, Herbert, was a keen photographer and member of the Royal Photographic Society (although I can't find any of his photographs, unfortunately).

In 1897, she showed a piece inspired by Browning's 'The Flight of the Duchess' - For it was Life Her Eyes were Drinking at the Royal Hibernian Academy but that appears to be it. 1898 however she was back at the RA with two paintings, Thistledown and Springtime. The only thing I know about Thistledown is that it was donated to the Russell-Cotes in 1933 by Mariquita, but was disposed of sometime later when people didn't like Victorian art, which is a shame. Springtime seems to be a similar picture if the description is anything to go by as it shows children surrounded by blue and white hyacinths, this time in a wood. The same year Mariquita was still exhibiting the picture of Ruskin's study! Blimey, how exciting was that study?!

Best Friends (1897)

As we approach the turn of the century, Mariquita appeared once more at the Dudley with two paintings, A Breton Loom and the more intriguing Unsuspected Witnesses whish was described in The Queen as 'a rather amusing scene, in which two children are watching from a distance a young man saying pretty things to his sweetheart.' She also seems to have taken The King's Youngest Daughter up to the exhibition at York. I have noticed that Mariquita seems to exhibit a lot, and is not afraid of using the same painting over and over at different venues, which is completely fine, but I don't think I have ever noticed an artist do it quite so much. By 1899, I think there were otherwise undiscovered tribes in the Amazon who had seen her painting of Ruskin's study because it had got about so much.

June Roses (1900)

1900 arrived and with it an address change, as she gives Ravensbury Gardens in Mitcham as her address at the RA this year. Hanging near the entrance doorway to the First Gallery was Mariquita's November described in the newspapers as a 'sylvan landscape.' In the autumn at Derby, she exhibited Treasure Trove, a life-like picture of a young flower seller which seems to have been displayed in the same room as Waterhouse's La Belle Dame Sans Merci - I always find it interesting to see what pictures are near each other and in that way I loved the display of pictures chronologically at Tate Britain, however inconvenient it made seeing all the pictures by the Pre-Raphs. I wonder if that is the same picture as June Roses? Picture titles can be so elastic.

Young Woman Reading (undated)

1901 saw a solo exhibition at Walker's Art Gallery in Bond Street of paintings, drawings, studies and sketches and it was praised in The Queen as showing the diversity of her talents in the different subjects she approached. She also took Springtime to the Dudley Gallery for another airing. In 1902 at the Dudley, she exhibited a study of an Amaryllis and at the Society of Women Artists she showed Loves Idyll with lovers walking beneath chestnut trees with the lights dappling down in different colours.  She also took Treasure Trove off to the Royal Academy.

In 1903's Royal Academy, Mariquita had two canvases; firstly, a sweet picture of little girls in a meadow, A Fairy Tale which was illustrated in the newspapers but to be honest I am more intrigued by her other entry The Magic Brook: "Who drinks of me will become a white roe," which The Queen  described as being rather fanciful with people, animals and landscape all vying for attention.

I'm puzzled by the absolute silence around her in 1904 as even when she wasn't in the RA, Mariquita always had something going on but no, nothing. 1905 saw another solo exhibition at Walker's Gallery in Bond Street. She was also praised for her work at the Autumn exhibition at Brighton, where her study of children was placed in a prominent position and was felt worthy of it.

The Secret Path (1906)

Despite having The Secret Path in the 1906 Royal Academy, it went by without notice.  All attention for the year went to her painting The Rosary which was exhibited in November in the Modern Gallery. This was a three quarter length portrait of a beautiful young woman in a brilliant green gown, gazing away in thought. The mentions of her work begin to slow down as her entries into the RA slow. 1907 brought Trust, a painting of terriers displayed at the Cheltenham and County Fine Art Exhibition. We have to wait until 1910 for another Royal Academy, and that was with The Motor Veil.  Now, I don't know what I imagined that would be, possibly some grand sci-fi epic and the fact I couldn't find the painting just fired up my imagination, so I Googled 'Motor Veil' and was maybe a little disappointed to find it just meant one of these...

 

I definitely need my Motor Veil Problem (TM) solved immediately! Sadly, no sign of the painting.

The Duet (1912)

In 1911 Mariquita exhibited The Old Floor Cloth Factory at the Royal Water-Colour Society, followed  in 1912 by The Duet showing a little girl and dog playing the piano and Night in Venice at the Modern Gallery. 1913 saw Off to the Front which made me nervous but I think it is just a portrait of children at the seaside (I hope). She also had a vivid painting Kingfisher Blue which was much admired, together with an RA entry, On the Staircase.  Interestingly, she gave a talk to the English Goethe Society about the old Goethe House where her mother and siblings all lived when they went to Weimer after her father's death. She knew Goethe's daughter-in-law well, and Goethe's grandchildren gave her some of the writer's relics and she drew the interior of the house.

Mentions really slow down now. In 1914 she had West Looe, Cornwall at the Alpine Club's Spring Show. Her last RA outing was in 1920 with In the Workshop which had no mentions in the press. In 1922, she held an exhibition of her work at her Ravensbury Gardens Studio in October. In 1925, in Derby she had another dog painting, this time The Ragamuffin's Forty Winks showing, as the paper reported, the sort of dog 'who walks into your heart and stays there.'  Finally, at the Royal Institute in 1928, she showed some flower paintings. In 1921, Herbert and Mariquita were visiting people in Lyme Regis, both now in their 60s, Herbert a retired bank manager and Mariquita, an artist. Herbert died in 1931.  She followed him on 1st November 1937, the day before her 82nd birthday, leaving over £18K.

The Flight of Nicolette (no date)

The problem I have with Mariquita is that, other than the two paintings at the Russell-Cotes (now only one), it's hard to match pictures to the titles and descriptions in the newspapers.  I was grateful for the couple of occasions that the newspapers reproduced an illustration, however bad. We have a fair number of pictures available online, but most without dates.  A specific case of this is Shackleton's dog...

This was up for auction on a few sites, but without date that I could see.  Mariquita became known for her animal paintings and I'm going to guess this was from the 1910s, because it is possible that there were no better-known dog painters around then - Maud Earl went to New York in 1916 and Briton Riviere was very elderly by that point. This occurred possibly during the pause between expeditions, or maybe as a tribute to the dogs of the Endurance.  Possibly with hindsight, I find her picture of the dog almost too filled with pathos to look at comfortably.

Anyway, in conclusion, this was a tricky post as there is both a lot of information and a lack.  Mercifully, the Lady's Pictorial was backing her all the way and the little review of her career they did in 1890 was very helpful, but I would like to know and see more of her work and work out exactly where she fits into the nineteenth and twentieth century's story of art. I want to see the red curtains of Lorna Doone and I want to know when she painted The Flight of Nicolette and hopefully, with time, we will know more about the little ladybird and her wonderful career.