Hilda Margery Clarke (10 June 1926 - 13 February 2022 ) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

painter and art gallery curator who was a student of

L. S. Lowry Laurence Stephen Lowry ( ; 1 November 1887 – 23 February 1976) was an English artist. His drawings and paintings mainly depict Pendlebury, Lancashire (where he lived and worked for more than 40 years) as well as Salford and its vicinity ...

Biography

Born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

as the younger daughter of Frank Thompson, she met Lowry when she was aged 14. Her maternal grandfather, architect Arthur Mattinson, had encouraged her interest in

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

, which was further developed by lessons from Lowry, with whom she remained friends until his death. She had further private lessons in painting when she was posted to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

for her

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

. After her marriage to Geoffrey Clarke in 1954 she moved to his home town of

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

where she studied at Southampton College of Art. In 1975 she studied printing at the Ruskin School in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. Her paintings have been exhibited at Tibb Lane,

; Trends,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

; Wessex, Winchester; Hiscock Gallery,

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's s ...

; and John Martin, London. She has had one man shows at Hamwic,

; Westgate, Winchester, and

Southampton University , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

. A retrospective of her work was planned for

Southampton City Art Gallery The Southampton City Art Gallery is an art gallery in Southampton, southern England. It is located in the Civic Centre on Commercial Road. The gallery opened in 1939 with much of the initial funding from the gallery coming from two bequests, o ...

in June 2006. She has been artist-in-residence in Ramsgate. She signs her work "H. M. Clarke". In 1979 she founded the First Gallery with her husband in Southampton. Her work is represented in many private and public collections. Angus Neill, Director of Felder Old Master & Modern PaintingsFelder Old Master & Modern Paintings
and avid collector of Clarke's work, considers her "the finest British intuitive painter alive".

Works

*Hilda Margery Clarke, ''Lowry Himself'', (Southampton: The First Gallery, 1992). .

Bibliography

*''Who's Who in Art'', (Havant: Art Trade, 1980). .

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Hilda Margery 1926 births 2022 deaths Artists from Manchester Alumni of Solent University English women painters 21st-century British women artists 21st-century English women 21st-century English people