Evelyn Cheston née Davy (8 September 1875 – 31 October 1929) was a British painter in oils and watercolours of landscapes and outdoor scenes.

Biography

Cheston was born in the

Ranmoor Ranmoor () is a suburb of the City of Sheffield, England. It is an affluent suburb in the Fulwood ward of the city. It mostly developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it features a number of large houses that were built for th ...

suburb of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

and attended the

Royal Female School of Art The Royal Female School of Art was a professional institution for the training of women in art and design. It was founded in 1842, as part of the Government School of Design, predecessor of the Royal College of Art. The Female School of Design wa ...

in London from 1882 to 1894. From 1894 to 1899, she 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 ...

, also in London, where, on one occasion, she shared a painting prize with

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...

. Her winning entry remains in the collection of

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

. Cheston spent some time at

Walter Westley Russell Sir Walter Westley Russell CVO RA (31 May 1867 – 16 April 1949) was a British painter and art teacher. He became a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1926 and served as Keeper of the Royal Academy Schools from 1927 to 1942. Life and ca ...

's landscape classes in Yorkshire and there she met her future husband. In 1904 she married the artist Charles Sidney Cheston and the couple lived in Dorset, Devon and London at different times. While living at

Studland Studland is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset, England. The village is located about north of the town of Swanage, over a steep chalk ridge, and south of the South East Dorset conurbation at Sandbanks, from which it is ...

in Dorset, the local coast, particularly Studland Bay became a regular subject of her paintings. Evelyn Cheston first exhibited with 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 1906 and became a member in 1909. She fell ill with

Bright's disease Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied b ...

which left her disabled but she continued to paint, often outdoors and usually in her signature vivid style. The impact the

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

works she had seen in Paris during 1912 and the influence of her Slade tutor,

Philip Wilson Steer Philip Wilson Steer (28 December 1860 – 18 March 1942) was a British painter of landscapes, seascapes plus portraits and figure studies. He was also an influential art teacher. His sea and landscape paintings made him a leading figure in ...

, were evident in her use of colour and light. Cheston died in 1929, at

Musbury Musbury is a village and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England. It lies approximately away from Colyton and away from Axminster, the nearest towns. Musbury is served by the A358 road and lies on the route of the East Devo ...

near

Axminster Axminster is a market town and civil parish on the eastern border of the county of Devon in England. It is from the county town of Exeter. The town is built on a hill overlooking the River Axe which heads towards the English Channel at Axmou ...

in Devon. Two years later her husband wrote ''Evelyn Cheston'', an account of her career and a memoir of their life together which also highlighted instances of discrimination she had faced as a woman artist. Memorial exhibitions to her were held at the

Royal Watercolour Society The Royal Watercolour Society is a British institution of painters working in watercolours. The Society is a centre of excellence for water-based media on paper, which allows for a diverse and interesting range of approaches to the medium of wa ...

galleries in 1929 and at the

Mappin Art Gallery Weston Park Museum is a museum in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It is one mile west of Sheffield city centre within Weston Park. It is Sheffield's largest museum and is housed in a Grade II* listed building and managed by Museums Sheffie ...

in Sheffield in 1931. Her 1917 painting ''Betchworth Lane, October'' was purchased by the

Tate 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 ...

in 1924 and remains in their collection.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheston, Evelyn 1875 births 1929 deaths 20th-century English painters 20th-century English women artists Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Artists from Sheffield English women painters