Helen Paxton Brown (1876 - 1956) also known as "Nell", was an artist associated with the Glasgow Girls. Born in Hillhead, Glasgow to a Scottish father and English mother and she spent most of her life in Glasgow. Best known for her painting and embroidering she also worked in a range of mediums such as leather, book binding and also painted china.

Education and career

Brown studied at

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; gd, Sgoil-ealain Ghlaschu) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and ...

(GSA) from 1894 to 1901 under directorship of the progressive Fra. H Newbery. She was a student of

Ann Macbeth Ann Macbeth (25 September 1875 – 23 March 1948 ) was a British embroiderer, designer, teacher and author, a member of the Glasgow Movement and an associate of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. She was also an active suffragette and designed ba ...

at GSA and then went on to teach art embroidery to teachers at GSA from 1904 to 1907 (embroidery being an important part of GSA craft at that time) and then book binding from 1911 to 1913. It was whilst studying at GSA that she met her good friend

Jessie M. King Jessie Marion King (20 March 1875 – 3 August 1949) was a Scottish illustrator known for her illustrated children's books. She also designed bookplates, jewellery and fabric, and painted pottery. King was one of the artists known as the Glas ...

who she shared a studio flat with at 101 St Vincent Street, Glasgow from around 1898 until 1907 when King got married. The women's friendship was longlasting and strong despite the different trajectories of their careers. King attracted international acclaim but despite some early notice Brown had less success. The two women often modelled for each other and were inseparable companions during the years they lived together. After GSA Brown went to Paris to attend sketching classes and was an admirer of the free style of French Impressionists and would continue to visit Paris throughout her career. Her work mainly captures people out enjoying life, capturing atmosphere and café scenes (reflecting her interest in fashion and clothes), but she also painted landscapes and flowers too. She is quoted as saying that she chose embroidery because she enjoyed "playing with colour" but also because it would sell as "art for art's sake is the road to starvation nowadays". She was reportedly vivacious and noted for her witty wisecracks In the 1900s Patrick Geddes and Fra Newberry led a number of Scottish masques and pageants relating to Pan-Celtic events involving a range of

Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

designers from Edinburgh and Glasgow. Helen Paxton Brown was involved in the "historical" pageant production at the University of Glasgow.

Exhibitions and commissions

Glasgow School of Art, a building remarkably in advance of its time, 1898-1899

Brown joined "The Glasgow Society of Artists" (started by physician Alexander Frew, husband of painter

Bessie MacNicol Elizabeth "Bessie" MacNicol (1869–1904) was a Scottish painter and member of the Glasgow Girls group of artists affiliated with the Glasgow School of artists. Early life and education MacNicol was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on 5 July 1869, ...

) which women could join unlike the all-male

Glasgow Art Club Glasgow Art Club is a club for artists and lay members with an interest in the arts, that has become over the generations "a meeting place for artists, business leaders and academics". She was also a member of the

Glasgow Society of Lady Artists The Glasgow Society of Lady Artists was founded in 1882 by eight female students of the Glasgow School of Art with the aim of affording due recognition to women in the field of art. It has been described by Jude Burkhauser as "the first residenti ...

from 1905 and became an honorary member in 1948 where her work could often be found as well as at the Glasgow Art Institute. From 1920s Brown started using more bright colours and bolder designs in both her painting and embroidery. This development was shown in a joint exhibition with Jessie M. King at the Glasgow Society of Lady Artists’ exhibition in April 1931 called "Spring in Three Room" which not only showed their paintings but saw them taking over three rooms which were decorated in bright yellows and creams showing different home decoration, in stark contrast to the then contemporary style of dark furniture. Jessie M. King and Paxton Brown exhibited their work on several occasions together. In 1925 she received a commission from Mount Blow, Dalmuir to paint 12 mural panels of nursery rhymes, through the Glasgow Corporation Welfare Scheme. Examples of her work can now be seen in the

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. It reopened in 2006 after a three-year refurbishment and since then has been one of Scotland's most popular visitor attractions. The museum has 22 galleries, h ...

in Glasgow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Helen Paxton 1876 births 1956 deaths Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art Artists from Glasgow Scottish women artists Scottish women painters People from Hillhead Embroiderers