Judith Ackland (1892–1971) was an English artist, a landscape painter and creator of

diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle mode ...

Biography

Judith Agnes Maud Ackland was born at Stowford House on Bideford Strand in 1892, the daughter of Charles Kingsley Ackland, a well-known doctor from

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...

, Devon. She studied art at the

Bideford Art School Bideford Art School was an art school in Bideford in Devon from 1896 until the 1970s. Located on The Quay, today the building is used as Bideford Arts Centre and has been a Grade II listed building on the Register of Historic England since 2001.

and then moved to The Regent Street Polytechnic (now part of the

University of Westminster , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...

) where she met fellow student

Mary Stella Edwards Mary Stella Edwards (1893-1989) was an English painter, creator of dioramas and poet. Biography Mary Stella Edwards was born in Hampstead in 1893, the daughter of Robert Cromwell Edwards, an architect. She grew up at 12 Fairfield Avenue, in St ...

(1893–1989). They became life partners and used a tiny cabin, a former fisherman’s store, dating from the mid-19th century, at

Bucks Mills Bucks Mills is a small English village within the parish of Woolfardisworthy on the north coast of Devon. It was anciently the mill of the manor of Bucks, anciently ''Bokish'', Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1 ...

as their studio from 1924 until Ackland's death in 1971. The cabin had initially been rented by Ackland's mother in 1913; Ackland replaced her mother as tenant in 1938 and bought the cabin in 1948 for £625 (£ in sterling). Ackland painted watercolours, mostly of the surrounding coast and countryside of Bideford, but they also travelled and worked widely. Together with Edwards, she produced dioramas, Ackland made all the models (she invented a method called "Jackanda" to make the models), and Edwards painted their backdrops. The town of Windsor commissioned these dioramas to celebrate important moments in its history, including a large-scale piece showing scenes of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

in 1809 with figures of the royal family whose portraits are based on paintings in the Royal Collection. The dioramas are now at the

Windsor's Community Museum Windsor Community Museum is a historical museum located in Windsor, Ontario, Canada which displays artifacts from Windsor. It is located at François Baby House, built in 1812 by François Baby, a prominent French-Canadian (which is now designat ...

Legacy

Mary Stella Edwards donated a collection of her own and Ackland's work to Burton Art Gallery and Museum in Bideford, dating between 1913 and 1965. Works by Ackland and Edwards can be found at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, the

Museum of London The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall, London, Gui ...

Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales, branded as simply Amgueddfa Cymru (formerly the National Museums and Galleries of Wales and legally National Museum of Wales), is a Welsh Government sponsored body that comprises seven museums in Wales: * N ...

and

Abbot Hall Art Gallery Abbot Hall Art Gallery is a museum and gallery in Kendal, England. Abbot Hall was built in 1759 by Colonel George Wilson, the second son of Daniel Wilson of Dallam Tower, a large house and country estate nearby. It was built on the site of the o ...

in Kendal, Westmorland. Bucks Mills Cabin, originally managed by the Ackland-Edwards Charitable Trust, passed to The National Trust in 2004. It is a Grade II listed building under the Planning Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest, a time box of life at Bucks Mills in the middle of the 20th century. As agreed with the Ackland-Edwards Charitable Trust, it is currently artist–in–residence summer home and occasionally open to public. Listed in 2017, the Cabin is one of the England's landmarks to be given listed status as part of a "queer histories" project.

Exhibitions

* The Boston Marriage of Judith Ackland and Mary Stella Edwards: watercolourists and diorama makers, 20th Annual Lesbian Lives Conference, 15–16 February 2013, Brighton

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ackland, Judith 1892 births 1971 deaths 20th-century British painters 20th-century English women artists 20th-century English LGBT people Alumni of the University of Westminster English LGBT painters People from Torridge District