Edith Mary Lawrence (22 March 1890 – 2 October 1973) was a British artist known for her landscape and portrait paintings, her colour linocuts and her textile designs.

Biography

Lawrence was born in Walton-on-Thames in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and was the youngest daughter of George Adams Lawrence the owner of a grocery store in central London. She attended

Queen's College, London Queen's College is an independent school for girls aged 11–18 with an adjoining prep school for girls aged 4–11 located in the City of Westminster, London. Founded in 1848 by theologian and social reformer Frederick Denison Maurice along wit ...

until 1908 and then studied at the

Slade School of 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 ...

in London between 1910 and 1914. At the Slade, Lawrence was a prize winning student, gaining first-class certificates for both painting and drawing. In 1917 she first exhibited paintings at both the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

and with the New English Art Club. Also in 1917 Lawrence began teaching art at Runston Hill School. In 1922 Lawrence met the painter and linocut artist

Claude Flight Walter Claude Flight (born London 16 February 1881 - died Donhead St Andrew 10 October 1955) also known as Claude Flight or W. Claude Flight was a British artist who pioneered and popularised the linoleum cut technique. He also painted, illustrated ...

and the two became lifelong companions. After living at his studio in St John's Wood for a time, the couple set up a new studio in 1927 off

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid out the street in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detec ...

from where they run an interior decoration business and produced murals, textiles and decorative household objects. Lawrence also exhibited on a regular basis throughout the 1930s at both the Ward and Redfern galleries. During her career Lawrence also exhibited with the Society of Women Artists, the National Portrait Society and with the

Royal Institute of Painters in Water-colours The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI), initially called the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, is one of the societies in the Federation of British Artists, based in the Mall Galleries in London. History In 1831 the so ...

. A joint exhibition of Lawrence and Flight's work was held at the Embroiderer's Guild in 1937 and they wrote and illustrated three books for children together. In June Lawrence and Flight moved to a village in Wiltshire but retained their London studio which was subsequently destroyed in the Blitz. Lawrence nursed Flight from 1947, when he suffered a stroke, until his death in 1955. By then Lawrence's eye-sight was failing but a cataract operation allowed her to continue painting. A career retrospective of Lawrence's work was held at the University of Hull in the summer of 1973 and a memorial exhibition in her honour was held at the Parkin Gallery in London later that year, following her death at a nursing home in Salisbury.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Edith 1890 births 1973 deaths 20th-century British printmakers 20th-century English women artists Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art British lithographers People educated at Queen's College, London People from Walton-on-Thames Women lithographers 20th-century lithographers