Flavia Irwin, Lady de Grey (15 December 1916 – 1 August 2009) was a British painter and Royal Academician. She was born on 15 December 1916 in London to Lieutenant-Colonel Clinton de la Cherois Irwin, M.C., of the

Manchester Regiment The Manchester Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1958. The regiment was created during the 1881 Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot and the 96th ...

, and his wife Everilda, daughter of Hatt Cook, of Hartford Hall, Cheshire. Irwin studied at

Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art The Ruskin School of Art, known as the Ruskin, is an art school at the University of Oxford, England. It is part of Oxford's Humanities Division. History The Ruskin grew out the Oxford School of Art, which was founded in 1865 and later became ...

, and

Chelsea College of Art and Design Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London based in London, United Kingdom, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation. It offers further and higher educat ...

, where her teachers included

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...

Graham Sutherland Graham Vivian Sutherland (24 August 1903 – 17 February 1980) was a prolific English artist. Notable for his paintings of abstract landscapes and for his portraits of public figures, Sutherland also worked in other media, including printmaking ...

and Robert Medley. Irwin taught general design at Medway College of Art and the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

, and ultimately became the head of decorative arts at City and Guilds Art School. She was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts 1996 and was also an Honorary Member of the

Royal West of England Academy The Royal West of England Academy (RWA) is Bristol's oldest art gallery, located in Clifton, Bristol, near the junction of Queens Road and Whiteladies Road. Situated in a Grade 2* listed building, it hosts five galleries and an exhibition program ...

. Her work is included in a number of private collections in both the UK and the US, including the

Government Art Collection The Government Art Collection (GAC) is the collection of artworks owned by the UK government and administered by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The GAC's artworks are used to decorate major government buildings in t ...

and the

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History of the Gallery The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...

. She was regularly shown at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition. She married Sir Roger de Grey in 1942 and was also known by her title of Lady De Grey. They had three children, including the architect Spencer de Grey. Irwin died on 1 August 2009.

References

External links

* British painters Royal Academicians 1916 births 2009 deaths {{UK-painter-20thC-stub