Kathleen Fox (12 September 1880 – 17 August 1963) was an Irish painter, enamellist, and stained-glass artist.

Life

Kathleen Fox was born in

Glenageary Glenageary ( ga, Gleann na gCaorach , meaning "Glen of the Sheep") is an area in the suburbs of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. While there is no officially defined boundary, it is surrounded by the areas of Dalkey, Dún Laoghaire, Glasthule ...

, County Dublin, on 12 September 1880. Her father was Captain Henry Charles Fox of the

King's Dragoon Guards The 1st King's Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army. The regiment was raised by Sir John Lanier in 1685 as the 2nd Queen's Regiment of Horse, named in honour of Queen Mary, consort of King James II. It was renamed the 2nd Ki ...

and her mother was Mary Rebecca Colclough. Fox attended the

Dublin Metropolitan School of Art The National College of Art and Design (NCAD) is Ireland's oldest art institution, offering the largest range of art and design degrees at undergraduate and postgraduate level in the country. Originating as a drawing school in 1746, many of th ...

, studying under

William Orpen Major Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, (27 November 1878 – 29 September 1931) was an Irish artist who worked mainly in London. Orpen was a fine draughtsman and a popular, commercially successful painter of portraits for the well-to-do in ...

. Owing to her talent, she also worked as Orpen's assistant. Whilst in London, Fox met British army Lieutenant Cyril Pym, marrying him in 1917. Pym was killed in action in 1918, and Fox gave birth to their daughter later that year. She inherited the family home, Brookfield, Richmond Avenue South, Milltown, County Dublin moving there in 1947, dying there on 17 August 1963.

Early artistic work

Fox studied enamelling under Oswald Reeves. She created an enamelled cup entitled ''Going to the feast'' for which she won a gold medal in a 1908 British competition. The cup was later exhibited with the other prizewinners 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 ...

, and at the 1924 Tailteann Games exhibition in Dublin. In 1909, Fox was awarded a national prize for ''Music'', an enamelled copper plaque. Whilst working under Alfred E. Child she worked in stained glass. Her 1909 window depicting St. Tobias is part of a family memorial in St. Joseph's church, Glenageary. Fox was working during a period of the

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 ...

, which had a distinct emphasis on craft-work and drew inspiration from medieval and Celtic design. Child also exposed her to the arts and crafts movement, and some of her pieces such as ''Shaving mirror with pendant on stand'' (1910) shows a familiarity with the

art nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

style. Fox spent some time in London and Paris before the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. During the events of the 1916

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

, she traveled to Dublin to paint the events there. This earned her the nickname "little rebel" by the students of the Dublin Metropolitan School while she worked as an assistant to Orpen. One of her best known pieces of this period was the surrender of

Constance Markievicz Constance Georgine Markievicz ( pl, Markiewicz ; ' Gore-Booth; 4 February 1868 – 15 July 1927), also known as Countess Markievicz and Madame Markievicz, was an Irish politician, revolutionary, nationalist, suffragist, socialist, and the fir ...

, ''The arrest 1916, the Royal College of Surgeons'', which is now in The Niland Collection in The Model, Sligo. At this time Fox painted a portrait of her friend

Grace Gifford Grace Evelyn Gifford Plunkett (4 March 1888 – 13 December 1955) was an Irish artist and cartoonist who was active in the Republican movement, who married her fiancé Joseph Plunkett in Kilmainham Gaol only a few hours before he was executed f ...

. From 1911 to 1923 and 1944 to 1957, Fox exhibited 81 with the

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the RIA, the academy retained the word "Royal" after most of Ireland became in ...

(RHA). One submission in 1911 was ''Science and Power'' and depicted her friend, sculptor Albert Power, working on ''Science'' for the new College of Science, Merrion St. She later donated a version of this piece to the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin.

Later artistic work

Fox focused on oil painting in the 1920s, establishing herself as a portrait painter. Her portrait of Lady Rosamund Gallwey-Robertson from 1921 was received very favourably when it was shown alongside works of Orpen and

John Lavery Sir John Lavery (20 March 1856 – 10 January 1941) was a Northern Irish painter best known for his portraits and wartime depictions. Life and career John Lavery was born in inner North Belfast, baptised at St Patrick's Church, Belfast a ...

at the National Portrait Society exhibition in London. Fox exhibited a portrait of Archbishop Mannix in the same year at the Royal Academy. Her work was shown in London at the

New English Art Club The New English Art Club (NEAC) was founded in London in 1885 as an alternative venue to the Royal Academy. It continues to hold an annual exhibition of paintings and drawings at the Mall Galleries in London, exhibiting works by both members and a ...

, 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 ...

, and the

Royal Society of Portrait Painters The Royal Society of Portrait Painters is a charity based at Carlton House Terrace, SW1, London that promotes the practice and appreciation of portraiture. Its Annual Exhibition of portraiture is held at Mall Galleries, and it runs a commissio ...

. Pieces were occasionally exhibited at 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 ...

and 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 ...

, Liverpool. One of Fox's enamel plaques was featured in an exhibition of Irish art in Brussels in 1930. Some of her paintings were also exhibited at Oireachtas exhibitions in Dublin. Fox became known for her paintings of interiors and flowers in the 1940s and 1950s, examples of which were exhibited at the Dawson gallery in 1946. In the early 1950s she created the stations of the Cross for the Jesuit House of Studies, Milltown Park, Dublin in oils. Her work was included in the exhibition of contemporary Irish art at

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...

, Wales in 1953. Fox worked in numerous materials over the course of her career including painted china, wood carving, silver working, and costume design.

References

External links

The Arrest of Countess Markievicz 1916
- ABC Radio National program about the painting by John Clarke. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Kathleen 1880 births 1963 deaths 20th-century Irish painters 20th-century Irish women artists Artists from Dublin (city) Irish women painters Irish portrait painters Alumni of the National College of Art and Design Irish stained glass artists and manufacturers Botanical illustrators People from Glenageary