Nationality British Other names H. Paterson | Name Helen Allingham Role Illustrator | |
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Full Name Helen Mary Elizabeth Paterson Occupation illustrator and watercolour artist Website Helen Allingham society Artwork Irish Cottage, Valewood Farm Similar People William Allingham, Thomas Hardy, Jennifer Bassett, Juliana Horatia Ewing, Cyril Aldred | ||
Happy england helen allingham
Helen Allingham (née Helen Mary Elizabeth Paterson; 26 September 1848 – 28 September 1926) was an English watercolourist and illustrator of the Victorian era.
Contents
- Happy england helen allingham
- Helen allingham 1848 1926 english painter victorian era francis goya scarborough fair
- Biography
- Career
- Legacy
- References
Helen allingham 1848 1926 english painter victorian era francis goya scarborough fair
Biography
Helen Mary Elizabeth Paterson was born on 26 September 1848, at Swadlincote in 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.
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 (founded 1843). 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.
Career
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 struck by Patterson's work in The Graphic.
On 22 August 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. Helen started to paint the beautiful countryside around her and particularly the 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 – Middlesex, Kent, the Isle of Wight and the West Country – and abroad in Venice, Italy. As well as landscapes, she completed several portraits, including one of Thomas Carlyle. In 1890, she became the first woman to be admitted as a full member of the Royal Watercolour Society.
Legacy
There is a Helen Allingham Society, founded in 2000. Her time in Altrincham is commemorated by blue plaques at 16 Market Street, Altrincham and at Levenhurst, St. John's Road, Bowdon.
Burgh House, Hampstead, has the world's largest archive and collection of her work.