Esther Margaret Grainger (1912–1990) was a Welsh artist and teacher.
Biography
Grainger was born in
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
and attended the
Cardiff School of Art
Cardiff School of Art & Design (CSAD) is one of the five schools that comprise Cardiff Metropolitan University. It originated as the Cardiff School of Art in 1865.
History
Cardiff School of Art & Design opened in 1865 as the Cardiff School of S ...
from 1928 to 1934.
As a student she gave craft lessons to women in the local mining communities and, from 1934 to 1946, worked as a tutor for the National Council for Social Services and organised painting classes and exhibitions at the Pontypridd Settlement in south Wales.
There Grainger met
Cedric Morris and, in 1942, she spent some time at his
East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing
The East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing was an art learning environment established by Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett-Haines in East Anglia in 1937. It was run on very idiosyncratic lines based upon the ''"free rein"'' approach that was the ...
.
A series of teaching posts followed for Grainger. From 1946 to 1950 she taught at Caerphilly Girls Grammar School, then with the Cardiff Education Authority until 1960 and then, from 1960 to 1975 at Cardiff College of Education.
Throughout her teaching career, Grainger was an active artist who regularly exhibited works in Welsh venues. As well as paintings and drawings of the Welsh landscape and buildings she also produced works of embroidery and calligraphy.
She was the co-organiser of the art exhibition at the 1950
National Eisteddfod of Wales
The National Eisteddfod of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Eur ...
and also exhibited at the annual Eisteddfod throughout the 1950s.
Works by Grainger featured in several touring group exhibitions organised by the
Arts Council of Wales
The Arts Council of Wales (ACW; cy, Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru) is a Welsh Government-sponsored body, responsible for funding and developing the arts in Wales.
Established within the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1946, as the Welsh Arts ...
.
She was a member of, and regular exhibitor with, the South Wales Group and the Watercolour Society of Wales.
Numerous solo shows included exhibitions at the
Newport Museum and Art Gallery
Newport Museum and Art Gallery ( cy, Amgueddfa ac Oriel Gelf Casnewydd) (known locally as the City Museum ( cy, Amgueddfa Dinas)) is a museum, library and art gallery in the city of Newport, South Wales. It is located in Newport city centre on ...
in 1954, at the Canaletto Gallery in 1968, a retrospective at the
Minories
Minories ( ) is the name of a small former administrative unit, and also of a street in central London. Both the street and the former administrative area take their name from the Abbey of the Minoresses of St. Clare without Aldgate.
Both are ...
in
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
in 1973, at the
National Library of Wales
The National Library of Wales ( cy, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million boo ...
in 1975, the Oriel Gallery Cardiff during 1976 and at Manor House Fine Arts, also in Cardiff in 1990.
As well as the Arts Council of Wales, the
National Museum Cardiff and the
University of South Wales hold examples of Grainger's artworks.
References
Further reading
* ''Obituary: Esther Grainger'',
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
, 3 January 1991.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grainger, Esther
1912 births
1990 deaths
20th-century Welsh painters
20th-century Welsh women artists
Alumni of Cardiff School of Art and Design
Artists from Cardiff
Welsh women painters
British embroiderers