Daisy Radcliffe Beresford

Today's subject/victim is another one I just stumbled into while looking at other things. She shares a name with my grandmother, so how could I resist? Meet Daisy...

The Royal Academy of Art School 1906

Okay, yes, she is in there somewhere - let's see - second row up, fourth in...

There she is! This is Daisy Radcliffe Clague, and she not only married a fellow artist but her daughter also went on to be an artist, so this is a triple bill of arty-goodness. Let's go back to the beginning...

Once upon a time in Tamworth, Staffordshire, in 1875, a school board inspector and the daughter of wholesale importer were married.  Not the most romantic of beginnings but William Lace Clague and Emma Elizabeth Clague were both from reasonably well-off backgrounds and so set up home first in Manchester, where their son Cyril Kingston Clague was born in 1876 and daughter Muriel Lace Clague was born in 1878. In 1879, the family settled in London in time for the arrival of Daisy Radcliffe Clague on 2nd November 1879. The family appear on the 1881 census at 83 Richmond Road, Hackney. The houses look like they have been split into flats, but you get the impression of some very grand town houses lining a nice wide road and the family had a general servant and a nurse for the children. According to friends and family, Daisy had a very alert, mathematical brain which made her a whizz at chess aged 5, but it was art that was her first love.

By 1891, all the children were at school. In the census of that year, Emma and daughters Muriel and Daisy are visiting Grandpa back in Warwickshire, but Dad and Cyril are still at the same address. Daisy went to the North London School of Art on a scholarship, receiving her Art Class Teacher's Certificate at aged 13, followed by her Art Class Mistress Certificate at 16. This was followed by a spell at Heatherley's (you simply have to go to Heatherley's!) then on to the RA from 1901 to 1906.

Deputy Charles Newell (1938)

By 1901, the Clague family had moved out of London to Hornsey, about 5 miles north west of Hackney and definitely a little less urban. The family lived in a house called Redwood in Crescent Road. Cyril had become a school teacher (he would become a school inspector like his father in due time) but neither Muriel or Daisy have any occupation against their name in the census. Daisy did well at the RA, winning the School Prize for a painting of a head from life and a silver medal for a model of a bust from life.  There was an infuriating comment in the Pall Mall Gazette on the prize giving - "clever as are the women students of our generation, the winning of the gold medal for historical painting seems beyond their power."

When I read that, I did say some unprofessional things. This is 1906 and within living memory of women not being allowed in art schools, certainly not able to paint from the life and certainly not taking them seriously. Plus, stuff your hierarchy of art genres as it favours men who inevitably (but not always) have the time, space and resources to do a big picture of sodding Napoleon. I do beg your pardon. Anyway, not only did Daisy leave school with some prizes, she also left with Frank Ernest Beresford, fellow student.

Frank was actually 2 years her junior, born in Belper in Derbyshire in 1881. He had gone to St John's Wood Art School before the RA, where he was taught by Alma Tadema, who would later become a neighbour to Frank and Daisy. Straight out of the RA, Frank won a scholarship that took him on an 18-month long tour of Asia, including attending the Meiji Emperor's annual tea party in Tokyo. He received an art award from the Japanese government in 1909 and returned to marry Daisy in 1910.

Mrs Jane Paxon Dore (1935)

In the meantime, Daisy had not just sat around waiting for Frank to return. She appeared at the May RA exhibition in 1907 with The Old Bridge at Fittleworth, following that the year later with a portrait of her father. Remarkably for such a young painter, she had the honour to appear in the RA illustrated booklet (hence the black and white below)...

William Lace Clague (1908)

The Queen magazine had a very jolly article about the female contingent of the 1908 RA:

 'It is not so very long since the young Englishwoman sat at home engaged in "elegant and genteel" occupations which she learned from such works as The Accomplished Female Instructor. Today her artistic instincts are no longer cribbed, cabined and confined.'

Daisy's portrait of her father was listed as being 'of merit' among a cavalcade of other young (and not so young) women who had work selected for the exhibition. In the summer exhibition at the Hampstead Art Society, she showed a portrait of composer Charles William Pearce and the Reverend Stewart Headlam.

Reverend Stewart Headlam (1907-8)

The Reverend has a Wikipedia page and he seems a lively fellow indeed. Both of her subjects have a religious background but I have no definitive information that Daisy was religious or had any relatives that were.  The only thing I can find is a small piece in the Halesworth Times  from 1908 where the 'Misses Clague' sang at the harvest festival with Miss Daisy Clague giving a spirited rendition of 'a dream of paradise'.  Clague is not a very popular name and it would be a coincidence that there would be two Daisy Clagues in England in 1908 (although obviously not impossible). 

1909 saw the portrait of Charles Pearce grace the Royal Academy and her portrait of her sister Muriel appeared in the Hampstead Art Society Summer show. 1910 brought a one-man show at Walker's Galleries in London, showing portraits and landscapes. The Morning Post gave it an interesting review, describing her 'great sincerity and admirable craftsmanship' : 'By-and-by, when Academic restraint has passed, she will infuse more spirit into her work, and her colour sense will develop with her feeling.' They were very hung up on how young she was, talking about how she had only recently left the RA school so I think Daisy got as good a review as she could. The London Evening Standard gave her show quite a long and detailed review, again harping on how young she was and what great promise it all showed. They use a really convoluted metaphor about eating a meal, that she had comfortably eaten her soup and joint and was working her way up to her peach melba, whereas many young artists these days go all in on their cake before having their bread and butter and end up with indigestion. They then added another, clearer metaphor, that some young artists arrive with a splash but cannot stay afloat, but not Daisy. Glad we cleared that up. I want some cake now.

At the RA, she showed a portrait of her father again, but I noticed in her one-man show, she had Muriel's portrait and one of her mother (or possibly her brother's wife as the piece is simply 'Mrs Clague' and Cyril had married in 1909). I thought that it was the same portrait, but the review of the one-man show said that the first portrait was there and the portrait in the RA was even better, so she obviously painted Dad twice. Mind you in 1910, Daisy was barely out of the RA before she was off down the aisle, and she and Frank Beresford married at Crouch End on the 7th June. Frank had returned from Japan in the autumn of 1909 and held his own one-man show to great acclaim. Daisy arrived at Christ Church in Crouch End at 2.15 to streaming sunshine, and wore a white silk dress and veil leant to her by her aunt. She wore a moonstone and amethyst necklace from Liberty, bought for her by Frank, and carried lily of the valley, roses, carnations and white heather, with daisies on the streamers (which I can only assume are the pieces that hang down from a bouquet.) The bridesmaids were Muriel, Frank's sister Lilian and Hilda and Eva Cooke, cousins of the bride. The best man was artist architect Charles Lovett Gill, who was Frank's friend at the RA school. They honeymooned in exotic Norfolk.  My favourite bit in the newspaper reports of weddings is seeing what gifts people got them and what they got each other - Frank gave Daisy the necklace, she gave him an easel. Otherwise Muriel got them a thermos tea basket, Mr Elmer commissioned four pictures (a very clever wedding gift as everyone is happy), Reverend J C Cox bought them a book either by or on William Morris and the Bishop of British Hondurous bought them a magnifying glass. Amazing.

The 1911 census saw the couple living at 6 The Mall in Hampstead and both are listed as artists (hurrah!). I have a suspicion that their home was part of Mall Studios in Hampstead, which was filled with fabulously famous 20th century artists, including Cecil Stephenson who lived there in 1919...

6 The Mall (1919) Cecil Stephenson

There is a brilliant page on the building here. Daisy was commissioned to paint Miss Isabel Cleghorn, the first female president of the Teacher's Association, and it was mentioned in the newspapers how fitting it was to get a female artist to do the portrait.  Daisy gave birth to the couple's first child Cedric in January 1913 but three weeks and two days later he died. The loss of Cedric must have been a terrible blow as Daisy stopped exhibiting for a year, and the only work she seems to have done is a painting for a wedding present when her cousin got married in 1914. Around the same time, in April 1914, Daisy and Frank also welcomed their first daughter Averil Kingston Beresford. Daisy also seems to have started painting again and the couple moved to 1 Elm Tree Road in St John's Wood, a neighbourhood that would remain dear to them both for the rest of their lives.

St Bartholomew -the-Great (1914)
The figure of the verger leading the choir is allegedly Frank

In 1914, a month after giving birth to Averil, Daisy returned to the RA with St Bartholomew-the-Great, followed in 1916 by second daughter Vivian Sinclair and in 1917 by portrait Miss Ursula Ebblewhite. I did notice that the RA catalogue had quite a large number of women artists (for obvious reasons) in 1917 and will have to go back and do some maths to see exactly what the proportion was before, during and after the war. I know how to have a good time. During this time, Frank served with the London Regiment as an instructor, rising to the rank of Sargeant Major.

Around 1918, the family moved to 28 Grove End Road, not far from the Alma Tadema family at 34. Daisy had The Entrance Hall, Fallowfield, Barnet Gate at the Royal Academy. Cryptically, the Referee magazine had a few lines: 'I went last Sunday to see some pictures that are intended for the Royal Academy. I only had time to visit one studio, that of Mr and Mrs Frank Beresford, of Grove End Road. And I went to see one picture. That was a portrait of - well, wait and see.' As Daisy had the interior painting and Frank didn't have anything in the RA in 1918, I have no idea what they are talking about.

In 1919, Daisy returned, again no portrait, but this time with the Staircase of Fallowfield. I can see that the house and its associated lodge were really nice but I can't find who lived there or what the relevance might have been, other than commissions. In 1920, Daisy painted the Hall in Park House, St John's Wood.  Frank had painted the Blue Room in Park House, so I wonder if it is the same house (which was owned by pop star Rihanna, apparently).  She also showed a portrait of Miss Anne Liversidge, I'm assuming a commission for either engagement or coming of age. Then in 1921, Daisy painted the piece that she would become best known for...

Interior of the Great Hall, Guildhall, London (1921)

It was shown at the summer exhibition at the Guildhall, and by the spring of 1922, the Kensington Fine Art Society were selling prints of it as it had been so popular. My favourite review of this was from the Alfreton Journal in their Belper News section - Belper being where Frank hailed from - and they were delighted that the wife of their local artist was doing so well. The print of her painting continued to make news and obviously sell well, but I notice that most of the reports manage to mention Frank in some way. I suppose it was to reassure the potential purchasers that they weren't buying some random woman's painting, she was another painter's wife, phew! Or maybe, somehow being married to another painter ensured the quality of her work? Hmmm...

In 1923, the New Society of Artists had an exhibition and both Frank and Daisy appeared - Daisy had a portrait of Mrs Levita and her children (her husband Lieutenant Colonel Cecil Levita CBE MVO was chairman of the LCC housing committee). What becomes irritating to an old feminist like me is that I have to search under Mrs Frank Beresford to find Daisy half the time, which is both time consuming and hacks me off. One reporter in 1929 exclaims that he was so pleased to find that Frank's wife was an artist too! Seriously, I almost feel compelled to chain myself to something.

In 1924, the Beresford family spent some time in Belper, where little Averil and Vivian were much admired. I see that Belper had a children's beauty competition (it was a different time) and in 1929, one of the winners seems to have been little Beres Pym, the daughter of Frank's cousin.  Yes, I have mentioned that for a reason. Moving on...

In 1925, Daisy's portrait of Averil was on display in Derby which got the Belper News all over-excited and meant they could mention Frank again. To be fair, I always appreciate the local newspaper's support of artists and the fact they supported Daisy by extention is touching.  They also said that Averil was 'an accomplished little lady, it is said, on the pianoforte.' Lawks.

1927 saw Frank and Daisy hold a small exhibition of work in their home before the Royal Academy. I think we've seen this before and is a practice that I find fascinating - are they seeing what their friends think before sending work in? Is it like test-screening? Anyway Frank had three he was sending in and as it turned out, only one was accepted. Daisy showed work that she had been commissioned to do - a portrait of Mr S David Coates DL JP which was presented to him at a dinner at the Savoy Hotel. Also she showed a portrait of the late principal of Isleworth Training College which would be hanging in their dining room. She also had a painting of Merchant Taylors Hall which was apparently sent to the RA but didn't appear and was a commission anyway. Again, Daisy appears as 'Mrs Frank Beresford' with no mention of her actual name anywhere. The two girls played piano and entertained while people looked at the paintings, and they were both mentioned by name.  However, not Daisy. Hmmm...

Not that I was worried, but Daisy returned to the RA in 1928 with a portrait of Wendy, daughter of C E Bartholomew - this is actually Dorothy Wendy Bartholomew (1916-1941) daughter of match magnate Clarence Edward Bartholomew (1879-1946). They also had a son, Gilbert, who was a couple of years older than Vivian Beresford and I bet he really liked the piano. Hold that thought.

Window the the Memory of Henry Hudson (1929)

In 1929, the couple had their now annual 'at home' just before the RA.  Daisy showed various portraits of children, and an interior of St Ethelburga Bishopsgate Street, with the memorial window to Henry Hudson. Drama occurred in 1930 when Daisy loaned a miniature of Averil to her husband's exhibition at Foyle's new art gallery in Manette Street, London, where it was stolen. Averil was interviewed and she said she had been looking forward to having it for her 21st birthday in 1935 and she very much hoped someone would return it - which they did, 3 days later.

I am used to mentions of artists slowing as they get older and possibly rely on commissions rather than having to razzle-dazzle at the RA every year and it certainly feels like Daisy and Frank's annual paintings and piano party is seen as both old-fashioned and very much enjoyed. Both she and Frank were in their 50s, so not exactly old, and goodness knows the Belper press loved the couple, but I find it unusual that their mentions drop so heavily - excuse me, her mentions drop or at least become very firmly tied to him.

Ann's Tune (1932)

In 1932, artist and sculptor (and St John's Wood neighbour) William Reid Dick commissioned Daisy to paint his daughter Ann. She is playing the piano and on the lid is Dick's sculpture of The Sling Boy in bronze. I wonder if that is a portrait of his wife Catherine on the wall? 

The Princes' Vigil 12.15am, 28 January 1936 (1936) Frank Beresford

1936 brought one of Frank's best-known paintings, The Prince's Vigil.  The Princes involved are Edward VIII and the Dukes of York, Gloucester and Kent around the body of George V. I think until recent years, I would not have known what on earth is going on in this picture, but obviously we all saw the Princes and Princess Anne perform the Vigil for the late Queen. Apparently, when Frank went to see the body, he was so moved by the vigil, he asked permission to set up his easel and captured the image over 49 hours without sleep.  It was, as you can imagine, a hit at the RA that May. It was bought by the Queen.

Frank wasn't the only one who had a brush with royalty as Daisy's last entry at the RA was a miniature of the Queen, in 1938. Also in 1938, Daisy had various portraits at the United Society of Artists exhibition including Mr Sinclair White, Mrs Thornton in black velvet and fur, Miss Dorothea Crompton and a head study of the Countess du Bouzet, which had very fine hair indeed. 

Averil Kingston Beresford (1936)

Back to her daughters for a moment - Probably painted for her daughter's 21st but exhibited the year after, Daisy's painting of Averil is a dreamy, deb-of-the-week portrait. Averil trained to be a school teacher, following in Clague family footsteps and remained living at home until she married Gabriel John Spence in 1950.

Daisy, Frank and Vivian Beresford (1939)

Vivian followed her parents into art, attending the RA School and by 1939, preparing to send in work to the May exhibition. She also became engaged to Gilbert Bartholomew, the heir to the match business. She married in 1939, two months before her mother's sudden death. I was actually surprised by how extensive the coverage was, given that we were at war, but an awful lot of newspapers covered Daisy's death.  I think the popularity of Frank's picture of the princes' vigil helped as it got mentioned in a fair number of the shorter reports, but I especially liked Hampstead News' piece entitled 'A charming hostess and a clever artist. A loss to the world of art.' The couple had just returned from a holiday when she was suddenly taken ill and passed away aged only 60. She was buried at St Pancras beside her parents and baby son.

So, we know Vivian and Averil were married and seem to have had long and happy lives, which makes a lovely change, but what of Frank?

A Doodlebug in St John's Wood (1944) Frank Beresford

Frank became a war artist for both the British and American Air Forces and received the Exceptional Service Award from the American Air Force. He was apparently heartbroken when his beloved St John's Wood was bombed, missing The Hall Studio in Grove End Road, where Frank remained living.  In 1949, Frank remarried and I will endeavour to not be as sniffy as the newspaper reports were. When Frank became engaged in February of 1949, the Hampstead News wrote 'Mr Beresford is 67 years of age; his future wife is considerably young.' Oh yes, just how young? Well actually, we've already met her.  Frank married Beres Pym, aged 31. When I saw her name, I thought so she became Beres Beresford? That's unusual. But, as one newspaper reported, her name was not a coincidence, she was a distant relative. Beres was the daughter of Frank's cousin.

Frank and Beres in the Studio

Beres was a nurse and so not a bad companion for Frank's later years, and the couple were together until Frank died in 1967.

So, what to say about Daisy, excuse me, Mrs Frank Beresford? It is hard enough tracing a woman artist when they adopt their married name, but that just seemed to give the press free rein to call you by your husband's name.  I know it was commonplace in the past, but it just looks weird now and, if you are both artists, makes the husband suddenly the senior partner. Cedric's death made a very obvious stop to Daisy's output for a couple of years, and then she had to begin again. They were not poor by any stretch of the imagination, there was no notion that Daisy should give up painting because she was a wife and mother, but any woman who stops her career for her children appears to be punished by slipping off the ladder. Daisy suffered in two ways; by pausing her work because of a death and by losing her name to marriage. Neither of these change who she is or change the quality of her work, but both had the effect that women artists were less serious - hence the confident assertion that none of them would win the medal for history genre painting. 

Daisy is this week's lesson on how society backgrounds women in little ways which we should never stop noticing.