Clare "Tony" Atwood (11 May 1866 – 2 August 1962) was a British painter of portraits, still life, landscapes, interiors and decorative flower subjects. Atwood lived in a

ménage à trois A () is a domestic arrangement and committed relationship with three people in polyamorous romantic or sexual relations with each other, and often dwelling together; typically a traditional marriage between a man and woman along with anothe ...

with the dramatist Christabel Marshall and the actress, theatre director, producer and costume designer Edith Craig from 1916 until Craig's death in 1947.Holroyd, Michael. ''A Strange Eventful History'', Chatto and Windus, 2008Review ''A Strange Eventful History: The Dramatic Lives of Ellen Terry, Henry Irving, and Their Remarkable Families''
by Michael Holroyd, ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', March 23, 2009''Charlotte Perkins Gilmore: Optimist Reformer''
Jill Rudd & Val Gough (editors) University of Iowa Press, p. 90 (1999)

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

Law, Cheryl
''Suffrage and Power: the Women's Movement, 1918-1928''
i B Tauris & Co pg 221 (1997)

Early life

Atwood was born in 1866 at

Richmond, London Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commis ...

, the only daughter of Frederick Atwood, an architect, and his wife, Clara Becker. Named Clara at birth, she later used the form Clare and was also known as Tony. Atwood studied at

Westminster School of Art The Westminster School of Art was an art school in Westminster, London. History The Westminster School of Art was located at 18 Tufton Street, Deans Yard, Westminster, and was part of the old Royal Architectural Museum. H. M. Bateman described ...

and the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

. Atwood first exhibited at the

New English Art Club The New English Art Club (NEAC) was founded in London in 1885 as an alternative venue to the Royal Academy. It continues to hold an annual exhibition of paintings and drawings at the Mall Galleries in London, exhibiting works by both members and a ...

in 1893, becoming a member in 1912. She held an exhibition of her work at the Carfax Gallery in 1912. In 1917, during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, she was commissioned to paint war scenes for the

Canadian Government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in ...

through the Canadian War Memorials Fund. The Fund arranged for Atwood to visit the military camp at Folkestone in Kent to gather ideas for the work. However, Atwood decided instead to paint a scene at one of London's main railway stations where troops were waiting for trains to take them to camps or to the front. During the war, Atwood was also commissioned by the Women's Work Sub-committee of the Imperial War Museum to produce several pieces depicting the activities of the

Women's Voluntary Service The Royal Voluntary Service (known as the Women's Voluntary Services (WVS) from 1938 to 1966; Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) from 1966 to 2004 and WRVS from 2004 to 2013) is a voluntary organisation concerned with helping people in need ...

. The most notable of these, ''Christmas Day at the London Bridge YMCA Canteen'', records the visit of the actress

Ellen Terry Dame Alice Ellen Terry, (27 February 184721 July 1928), was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and tour ...

and

Princess Helena Victoria Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein (Victoria Louise Sophia Augusta Amelia Helena; 3 May 1870 – 13 March 1948) was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. From 1917 her name was simply Princess Helena Victoria. Ear ...

to a

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

canteen. In 1920 she was commissioned for four more war paintings by the Imperial War Museum.Cockin, Katharine
"Atwood, Clare (1866–1962)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 12 March 2010

Personal life

Olympia in War Time - Royal Army Clothing Depot Art

A lesbian, in 1916 she joined the writer Christabel Marshall and the actress and stage director Edith Craig in a

Tenterden Tenterden is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. It stands on the edge of the remnant forest the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother. It was a member of the Cinque Ports Confederation. Its riverside today is not ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

until Craig's death in 1947, according to Michael Holroyd in his book ''A Strange Eventful History''. She, Edith Craig and Christabel Marshall were friends with many artists and writers including lesbian novelist

Radclyffe Hall Marguerite Antonia Radclyffe Hall (12 August 1880 – 7 October 1943) was an English poet and author, best known for the novel ''The Well of Loneliness'', a groundbreaking work in lesbian literature. In adulthood, Hall often went by the name Jo ...

. Atwood designed props for several of Edith Craig's productions with the Pioneer Players, including the 16 foot high crucifix for their production of

Paul Claudel Paul Claudel (; 6 August 1868 – 23 February 1955) was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholicism. Early lif ...

's ''The Hostage''. Atwood was a member of the Pioneer Players.Cockin, Katharine. ''Women and Theatre in the Age of Suffrage: The Pioneer Players'', Palgrave (2001) Atwood occasionally performed at the Barn Theatre at

Smallhythe Place Smallhythe Place in Small Hythe, near Tenterden in Kent, is a half-timbered house built in the late 15th or early 16th century and since 1947 cared for by the National Trust. The house was originally called 'Port House' and before the River ...

in Kent, which was founded by Craig to stage performances in memory of her late mother, the actress

. Atwood acted in the matinée at the

Palace Theatre, London The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. Its red-brick facade dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus behind a small plaza near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road. The Palace ...

on 23 April 1929, held to raise funds for the Ellen Terry Memorial. In July 1932, Atwood decorated the shoe for Craig's production of ''The Shoe'' in Tenterden. After Craig's death, Atwood wrote an essay about Craig.Atwood, Clare. "Edy's Ways", ''Edy: Recollections of Edith Craig'', edited by Eleanor Adlard (1949)

Death

Atwood suffered a fractured femur, senile myocarditis and heart failure, and died at Kench Hill Nursing Home, Tenterden, Kent, on 2 August 1962. Marshall and Atwood are buried alongside each other at St John the Baptist's Church,

Small Hythe Small Hythe (or Smallhythe) is a hamlet near Tenterden in Kent, England. The population is included in Tenterden. It stood on a branch of the Rother estuary and was a busy shipbuilding port in the 15th century, before the silting up and drainin ...

. Craig's ashes were supposed to be buried there as well, but at the time of Marshall and Atwood's deaths, the ashes got lost and a memorial was placed in the cemetery instead.

Collections

Atwood's paintings are held in collections

Tate Collection Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

, the V&A and Imperial War Museum in London, as well as in the

Victoria Art Gallery The Victoria Art Gallery is a public art museum in Bath, Somerset, England. It was opened in 1900 to commemorate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee. It is a Grade II* listed building and houses over 1,500 objects of art including a collection of ...

, Bath,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. She exhibited at the Royal Academy, and in 1940 one of her paintings was purchased by the

National Art Gallery of New Zealand National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. There is material relating to Atwood held in the

Collection at the V&A Department of Theatre & Performance Archive.

References

External links

*
''John Gielgud's Room'' by Atwood in the Tate CollectionAHRC Ellen Terry and Edith Craig Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atwood, Clare 1866 births 1962 deaths 19th-century English painters 20th-century English painters Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Alumni of the Westminster School of Art Artists commissioned by the Imperial War Museum Artists from London British war artists Canadian war artists LGBT painters Lesbian artists English LGBT artists World War I artists