Katharine Cameron RWS RE (26 February 1874 – 1965) was a Scottish artist, watercolourist, and printmaker, best known for her paintings and etchings of flowers. She was associated with the group of artists known as the Glasgow Girls.

Early life and education

Born in

Hillhead Hillhead ( sco, Hullheid, gd, Ceann a' Chnuic) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland. Situated north of Kelvingrove Park and to the south of the River Kelvin, Hillhead is at the heart of Glasgow's fashionable West End, with Byres Road forming th ...

Glasgow 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 ...

, she was the daughter of the Rev. Robert Cameron and the sister of the artist

David Young Cameron Sir David Young Cameron (28 June 1865 – 16 September 1945) was a Scottish painter and, with greater success, etcher, mostly of townscapes and landscapes in both cases. He was a leading figure in the final decades of the Etching Reviv ...

. She studied at 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, an ...

, from 1889 to 1893 where she became associated with a small circle of female students who called themselves 'The Immortals'. The group included the sisters

Frances Frances is a French and English given name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'free one.' The male version of the name in English is Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "Frenchman", comes from the F ...

and Margaret Macdonald, Janet Aitken,

Agnes Raeburn Agnes Middleton Raeburn (1872-1955) was a Scottish member of the informal group of artists known as "The Immortals". Life Raeburn was born in Glasgow to corn merchant James Raeburn and wife Agnes in 1872. She was the youngest of six siblings, ...

, Jessie Keppie,

John Keppie John Keppie (4 August 1862 – 28 April 1945) was a Glasgow architect and artist. From an early age he was a close friend of Edward Atkinson Hornel and would often bring in New Year with him in Kirkcudbright. Within the architectural profess ...

, Herbet McNair, and

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Charles Rennie Mackintosh (7 June 1868 – 10 December 1928) was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macdo ...

. During her time at the Glasgow School of Art she contributed illustrations for

The Yellow Book ''The Yellow Book'' was a British quarterly literary periodical that was published in London from 1894 to 1897. It was published at The Bodley Head Publishing House by Elkin Mathews and John Lane, and later by John Lane alone, and edited by th ...

and the student publication The Magazine. Around 1902 she travelled to France and enrolled at the Atelier Colarossi, studying under

Gustave Courtois Gustave-Claude-Étienne Courtois, also known as Gustave Courtois (; 18 May 1852 in Pusey, Haute-Saône – 1923 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a French painter, a representative of the academic style of art. Life Courtois was born 18 May 1852 i ...

Book Illustrator

One of the Glasgow Girls, Cameron worked in the

Glasgow Style The Glasgow School was a circle of influential artists and designers that began to coalesce in Glasgow, Scotland in the 1870s, and flourished from the 1890s to around 1910. Representative groups included The Four (also known as the Spook School ...

, which blended Art Nouveau,

Celtic Revival The Celtic Revival (also referred to as the Celtic Twilight) is a variety of movements and trends in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries that see a renewed interest in aspects of Celtic culture. Artists and writers drew on the traditions of Gael ...

, Arts and Crafts movement, and

Japonisme ''Japonisme'' is a French term that refers to the popularity and influence of Japanese art and design among a number of Western European artists in the nineteenth century following the forced reopening of foreign trade with Japan in 1858. Japo ...

aesthetics. Her paintings, with their "bold outlines and vivid colors," lent themselves to the book illustration format, and she contracted with London publishers T. C. and E. C. Jack in 1904 to provide art for books of fairytales. Her interest in embroidered materials, fabrics, and costume comes through in her illustrations, as does the influence of Whistler in her use of symbolism. Cameron also designed the bindings for these works. She illustrated a series of three fairytale books for the Jacks (''In Fairyland'', ''The Enchanted Land'', and ''Celtic Tales''), which earned majority positive feedback from her artistic contemporaries. Her fourth title for the Jacks, 1909's ''Legends and Stories of Italy for Children'', was part of the publishers' Told to the Children series, for which fellow Scottish artists

Phoebe Anna Traquair Phoebe Anna Traquair (; 24 May 1852 – 4 August 1936) was an Irish-born artist, who achieved international recognition for her role in the Arts and Crafts movement in Scotland, as an illustrator, painter and embroiderer. Her works included lar ...

and Olive Allen Biller also produced illustrations. Starting in 1907, Cameron also illustrated several gift books for T. N. Foulis' Envelope Book series, which showcased her talent for "delicate romantic watercolor illustrations... reminiscent of early work by the Macdonald sisters and

." Her final book for the Jacks was published in 1916, titled ''Flowers I Love''. This title, showcasing unusual and exotic plants, signalled a shift in her artistic interest to her "real love," flower painting. Her last piece of book design was the cover for 1939's ''Treasure Trove in Art''.

Etching career

Cameron etched her first plate in 1898. In 1909 she took up the needle again and etched two further plates entitled 'April' and 'The Tryst', each of which depicted bees and

blackthorn ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and regionally in northwest Africa. It is locally naturalized in New Zealand, Tasmania, ...

blossom. Between 1898 and 1938 she etched around eighty eight plates. Influenced by themes such as Scottish

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

, and

, Cameron developed a signature style which was praised by art critics in international art journals such as ''The American Magazine of Art'' and ''

The Art Journal ''The Art Journal'' was the most important British 19th-century magazine on art. It was founded in 1839 by Hodgson & Graves, print publishers, 6 Pall Mall, with the title ''Art Union Monthly Journal'' (or ''The Art Union''), the first issue of 7 ...

'' for the "naturalistic and at the same time exceedingly decorative" treatment of her plates whilst having "the true race feeling of the Celt for love and legend."

Painter of Flowers & Landscapes

Cameron was a prolific watercolourist and this eventually became her predominant medium of choice throughout her career. At the early stages of her career she painted a broad range of subjects ranging from romantic figure studies,

Scottish folklore Scottish folklore (Scottish Gaelic: ''Beul-aithris na h-Alba'') encompasses the folklore of the Scottish people from their earliest records until today. Folklorists, both academic and amateur, have published a variety of works focused specifically ...

and ballads, as well as flower studies. She exhibited widely, and at the age of 22 she had already been elected to 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 a later interview with Tom Honeyman she was quoted as saying "there is nothing so inspiring as painting flowers." Cameron also produced landscapes and regularly exhibited these alongside her flower studies and still life pictures. Cameron and her husband Arthur Kay, made regular trips to the Scottish Highlands where she spent time sketching the landscape, particularly the area around

Connel Connel ( Gaelic: ''A' Choingheal'') is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is situated on the southern shore of Loch Etive. The Lusragan Burn flows through the village and into the loch. The most noticeable feature in the village is Conne ...

, Achnacree Moss,

Loch Etive Loch Etive (Scottish Gaelic, ''Loch Eite'') is a 30 km sea loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It reaches the sea at Connel, 5 km north of Oban. It measures 31.6 km (19 miles) long and from 1.2 km ( mile) to wide. Its ...

, and Benderloch. Her landscapes were lavish in colour and she particularly liked to capture the changing light. Her work received favourable reviews from art critics. In 1948, art critic R. H. Westwater stated "Miss Cameron gives us not only the delicious texture of flower and leaf, the sense of delicate growth and movement expressed with an impeccably sensitive draughtmanship. She also fills each painting with a pervasive light, a light other than that which actually illuminates her flowers." Her final one-woman exhibition in 1959 at T&R Annan & Sons, Glasgow consisted of 56 watercolours and drawings of the West Highlands and Islands, which had painted throughout her career.

Exhibiting History

Cameron exhibited widely. Her first was in 1891 at the

Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts (RGI) is an independent organisation in Glasgow, founded in 1861, which promotes contemporary art and artists in Scotland. The institute organizes the largest and most prestigious annual art exhibitio ...

, where she exhibited 'September Flowers'. A year later she was elected 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 ...

, and of the

Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour 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 1897. In 1920 she was elected an associate of the

Royal Society of Painter-Etchers The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE), known until 1991 as the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, is a leading art institution based in London, England. The Royal Society of Painter-Etchers, as it was originally styled, was ...

, becoming a fellow in 1964. In 1950 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She exhibited widely, including at the Royal Scottish Academy (Edinburgh), the

Society of Women Artists The Society of Women Artists (SWA) is a British art body dedicated to celebrating and promoting fine art created by women. It was founded as the Society of Female Artists (SFA) in about 1855, offering women artists the opportunity to exhibit and ...

, Aitken Dott (The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh), the Fine Art Society (London),

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 ...

(Liverpool), Annan (Glasgow), James Connell & Sons (Glasgow & London), and Goodspeed's (Boston).

Books Illustrated

Several were published by T. C. & E. C. Jack of London in its Told to the Children series, edited by Louey Chisholm. * ''

'' (1897), as one of multiple illustrators * Mary Macgregor – ''Stories of King Arthur's Knights'' (Jack, 1905) * Charles Kingsley - ''The Water Babies'', Told to the Children by Amy Steedman (Jack, 1905) * Louey Chisholm - ''The Storks and Other Stories for the Six Year Old'' (Jack, 1905) *Louey Chisholm – ''The Enchanted Land'' (Jack, 1906) *

Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué Friedrich Heinrich Karl de la Motte, Baron Fouqué (); (12 February 1777 – 23 January 1843) was a German writer of the Romantic style. Biography He was born at Brandenburg an der Havel, of a family of French Huguenot origin, as evidenced in ...

- ''Undine'', Told to the Children by Mary Macgregor (Jack) *Elizabeth Barrett Browning – ''Rhyme of the Duchess May'' ( T. N. Foulis, c. 1907) *''Aucassin and Nicolette'' (12th Century French Song Story) (1908) * Amy Steedman – ''Legends and Stories of Italy'' (Jack, 1909) *Louey Chisholm – ''In Fairyland: Tales Told Again'' (Jack, 1910) * Louey Chisholm – ''Celtic Tales'', Told to the Children (Jack, 1910) * James Richmond Aitken – ''In a City Garden'' (Foulis, 1913) *Edward Thomas – ''The Flowers of Love: An Anthology of Flower Poems'' A Series of 24 Drawings in Colour (Jack, 1916) * US edition, ''The Flowers I Love: A Series of Twenty-Four Drawings in Colour by Katharine Cameron, with an Anthology of Flower Poems, selected by Edward Thomas'' (Stokes, 1917),

Iolo Aneurin Williams Captain Iolo Aneurin Williams (18 June 1890 – 18 January 1962), was a British writer, journalist and Liberal Party politician. His son was the composer Edward Williams. Background Williams was born in Middlesbrough, the son of Aneurin Williams, ...

– ''Where the Bee Sucks: A Book of Flowers'' (Poems Chosen by I. A. Williams) (Medici Society, 1929) * Fiona Grierson – ''Haunting Edinburgh'' (John Lane, 1929) * Katherine Cameron – ''Iain the Happy Puppy: Being the Autobiography of a West Highland Terrier'' (Moray Press, 1934)

Later life

In 1928, at the age of 54 she married art collector Arthur Kay (1860–1939), whose interest in Jacobite and Scottish artifacts played a role in building the collection of the Scottish Modern Arts Association. They lived in Edinburgh together until Kay's death in 1939. After Kay's death, Cameron carried on painting and exhibiting but stuck predominantly to flowers as there was no one to drive her to the Highlands to paint the scenery. Cameron died in 1965 at the age of 91.

Collections

Cameron's work is represented in a number of public collections, including * National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh * Glasgow Museums, Glasgow * Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow * Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen * British Museum, London * Victoria & Albert Museum, London * Tate, London * The Fleming Collection, London * Washington Library of Congress, Washington D.C.

References

External links

polarbearstale.blogspot.com

artfact.comfindartinfo.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Katharine 1874 births 1965 deaths 19th-century Scottish women artists 20th-century Scottish women artists Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art Artists from Glasgow People from Hillhead