Friday 26 May 2017

Helen Allingham - part 1

Self-Portrait 1885

Helen Allingham  (née Helen Mary Elizabeth Paterson 1848 – 1926) was an English watercolour painter and illustrator of the Victorian era.

Helen Mary Elizabeth Paterson was born in 1848, at Swadlincote, Derbyshire, the daughter of Alexander Henry Paterson, a medical doctor, and Mary Herford Paterson. Helen Paterson was the eldest of seven children. The family moved to Altrincham in Cheshire when she was one year old. In 1862 her father and her 3-year-old sister Isabel died of diphtheria during an epidemic. The family then moved to Birmingham where some of Alexander Paterson's family lived.

Helen Mary Elizabeth Paterson was born in 1848, at Swadlincote, Derbyshire, the daughter of Alexander Henry Paterson, a medical doctor, and Mary Herford Paterson. Helen Paterson was the eldest of seven children. The family moved to Altrincham in Cheshire when she was one year old. In 1862 her father and her 3-year-old sister Isabel died of diphtheria during an epidemic. The family then moved to Birmingham where some of Alexander Paterson's family lived.

Helen Allingham blue plaque, 16 Market Street, Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England
photo Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Paterson showed a talent for art from an early age, drawing some of her inspiration from her maternal grandmother Sarah Smith Herford and aunt Laura Herford, both accomplished artists of their day. Her younger sister Caroline Paterson also became a noted artist. She initially studied art for three years at the Birmingham School of Design. From 1867 she attended the National Art Training School in London, which had a separate division for women; her aunt Laura Herford had previously studied there. The School is presently the Royal College of Art.

While studying at the National Art Training School, Paterson worked as an illustrator, eventually deciding to give up her studies in favour of a full-time career in art. She painted for children's and adult books, as well as for periodicals, including “The Graphic” newspaper. One highlight was her commission to provide twelve illustrations for the 1874 serialisation of Thomas Hardy’s novel “Far From the Madding Crowd” in Cornhill Magazine. Her illustrations from this era were signed "H. Paterson". She became a lifelong friend of Kate Greenaway whom she met at evening art classes at the Slade School of Fine Art. 
While Vincent Van Gogh was developing as an artist by studying English illustrated journals he was apparently struck by Patterson's work in The Graphic.

In 1874 she married William Allingham, Irish poet and editor of Fraser’s Magazine, who was almost twice her age. After her marriage she gave up her career as an illustrator and turned to watercolour painting. In 1881 the family moved from Chelsea to Witley in Surrey. 

Allingham's Surrey home

Helen started to paint the countryside and picturesque farmhouses and cottages of Surrey and Sussex, for which she became famous. To her critics, however, despite elements of protest in “The Condemned Cottage” for example, hers was an overly sentimental, conservative vision of the area. She went on to paint rural scenes in other parts of the country, as well as Venice, Italy. She completed several portraits, including one of Thomas Crlyle. In 1890, she became the first woman to be admitted as a full member of the Royal Watercolour Society.

This is part 1 of a 5-part post on the works of Helen Allingham:

1874 The Last House in Lynmouth
watercolour, gouache and gum arabic on wove paper laid down on board 19.1 x 26.4 cm
Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, CT

1876 William Allingham
watercolour 29.2 x 23.5 cm
© National Portrait Gallery, London

1880 A Bershire Cottage
watercolour 36 x 26 cm
Private Collection

1880 The Lady of the Manor
watercolour with bodycolour 36 x 48 cm

1887 The Basket Woman
watercolour 37 x 55 cm

1889c Gathering Flowers
watercolour 27.5 x 24 cm
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

1900c A Buckinghamshire house at Penstreet
watercolour 36 x 50.5 cm

1900c Kitty
watercolour 11.1 x 10 cm
© Manchester City Galleries, UK

1902 Off Marketing
watercolour 45.7 x 35.6 cm

1904 The Waller Oak, Coleshill
watercolour

1905 The Homes of Tennyson:
(Note: The reproduction quality of these images is rather poor)

1905 The homes of Tennyson
Painted by Helen Allingham and described by Arthur Paterson

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1905c A Cottage Near Crocken Hill
watercolour

1906 The Six Bells, Hollingbourne, Kent:


1906 The Six Bells, Hollingbourne, Kent
watercolour

The Six Bells, Hollingbourne, Kent
watercolour

A photograph of The Six Bells, Hollingbourne, Kent from 1906

Note: From here on in this series of works is undated, and will appear in alphabetical order by title.


A Berkshire Cottage
watercolour

A Cart by a Village
watercolour

A Chat at the Garden Gate
watercolour 37 x 27 cm

A Child at the Doorway of a Thatched Cottage
watercolour

A Cottage at Farringford, Isle of Wight
watercolour

A Cottage at Farringford, Isle of Wight 
watercolour

A Cottage at Freshwater Gate
watercolour and bodycolour 29.9 x 38.7 cm
© Manchester City Galleries, UK

A Cottage at Freshwater, Isle of Wight
watercolour

A Cottage at Nunton, Wiltshire
watercolour 21.5 x 16.5 cm

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