Janetta Susan Gillespie (1876–1956) was a Scottish artist. Her still-life paintings were exhibited in Scotland and at the Walker gallery in Liverpool.

Biography

Gillespie was born in Bonnybridge in Stirlingshire into a family of artists. Both her brother, Alexander Gillespie and her younger sister Floris were also artists and the three would sometimes exhibit together. Gillespie attended the

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 ...

in 1913 and then again from 1915 to 1917. She taught for a time at Bonnybridge School and lived in the town throughout her life. She mostly painted flowers and still life pieces in an often bold and dashing style with a highly accomplished use of

chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...

. A still life, ''Moon Pennies'', received good reviews when shown at the

Royal Scottish Watercolour Society The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolours (RSW) is a Scottish organisation of painters. The first preliminary meeting of the society took place in Glasgow on 21 December 1877 as a reaction to a lack of interest in watercolour art by ...

in 1952. Gillespie exhibited with, and joined, the

Glasgow Society of Women Artists Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, winning their Lauder Award in 1934. She also exhibited with the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country’s national academy of art. It promotes contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the ...

, the

, the Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, at 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 ...

in Liverpool and with the Aberdeen Artists Society.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillespie, Floris Mary 1876 births 1956 deaths 20th-century Scottish painters 20th-century Scottish women artists Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art People from Stirling (council area) Scottish women painters Sibling artists