Lillian Gertrude Browse (21 April 1906 – 2 December 2005) was a British art dealer and art historian. She was a partner in two London galleries, first Roland, Browse and Delbanco and then Browse & Darby. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

she organised exhibitions at the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

, whose collections had been removed to the country for safety. She wrote a number of monographs on twentieth-century artists, including important works on Walter Sickert and

Sir William Nicholson Sir William Newzam Prior Nicholson (5 February 1872 – 16 May 1949) was a British painter of still-life, landscape and portraits. He also worked as a printmaker in techniques including woodcut, wood-engraving and lithography, as an illustrato ...

. She was nicknamed "The Duchess of Cork Street", and used that name as the title of her autobiography.

Life

Lillian Browse was born Lily Gertie Browse at 2 Carlton Mansions, West End Lane, in West Hampstead, London, on 21 April 1906; she subsequently changed her names to Lillian Gertrude. She was the younger child of Michael Browse and his wife Gladys Amy ''née'' Meredith. In 1909 the family moved to South Africa, where her father had set up as a racehorse trainer, and she was educated at Barnato Park High School, in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

in the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

. In 1928 she returned to Britain and trained as a dancer under Margaret Craske at the Cecchetti Ballet School. Instead of becoming a ballet-dancer as she had planned and trained to do, she began in 1931 to work, at first without pay, for Harold Leger of the well-known Leger Galleries in

Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the l ...

. During the Second World War Browse organised a number of exhibitions at the National Gallery, which was empty as the collections had been removed to

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 ...

for safety. The first of these was ''British Painting since Whistler'' in 1940; a retrospective ''Exhibition of Paintings by Sir William Nicholson and Jack B. Yeats'' was held in 1942. In 1945 Browse formed a partnership with Gustav Delbanco (1903–1997) and

Henry Roland Henry Roland, also known as D.D. Roland, was an American daredevil and "human fly" who became famous for free climbing buildings around the country in the 1920s and 1930s. He began his high flying antics in 1924 to public acclaim. Roland identif ...

(1907–1993) and opened Roland, Browse and Delbanco in Cork Street, which at that time was, in Browse's words, a "haunt for prostitutes"; there was then only one other gallery in the street, the Redfern. In 1977 the lease of the 19 Cork Street premises fell in and the partnership dissolved. The dealer William Darby took over the lease and with Browse opened a new gallery, Browse & Darby, at the same address. Browse retired in 1981. In 1983 almost all of her personal art collection was exhibited at the

Courtauld Gallery The Courtauld Gallery () is an art museum in Somerset House, on the Strand in central London. It houses the collection of the Courtauld Institute of Art, a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the hist ...

, which at that time was in

Woburn Square Woburn Square is the smallest of the Bloomsbury squares and owned by the University of London. Designed by Thomas Cubitt and built between 1829 and 1847, it is named after Woburn Abbey, the main country seat of the Dukes of Bedford, who develope ...

. She donated more than 30 works to the

Courtauld Institute The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...

in 1982, and bequeathed a further eight. Lillian Browse was married twice, first to Ivan Joseph in 1934, and then in 1964 to Sidney Lines. In the

1998 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth countries. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in suppleme ...

she was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for "services to the visual arts". She died in London on 2 December 2005. In 1955 Roland Browse and Delbanco purchased at auction in Cologne a painting by Jan Giffier, ''View of Hampton Court Palace'', which later was discovered to have been looted by Nazis from Jews.

Published works

Her published works include: * ''Augustus John: Drawings'', with 'A Note on Drawing' by Augustus John. London: Faber & Faber, 1941. * ''Sickert'', with an essay by Reginald Howard Wilenski. London: Faber & Faber, 1943. * ''Camden Town Group CEMA 1944'', introduction by Lillian Browse. ondon Arts Council,

944 Year 944 ( CMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Arab–Byzantine War: Byzantine forces are defeated by Sayf al-Dawla. He captures ...

* ''Constantin Guys: Flushing 1805 – Paris 1892'', introduction by Clifford Hall. ondon Faber & Faber, 1945. * ''James Dickson Innes'', introduction by John Fothergill. London: for the Shenval Press, Faber & Faber, 1946. * ''Barbara Hepworth, Sculptress'', introduction by William Gibson. London: Faber & Faber, 1946. * ''Degas dancers''. London: Faber & Faber, 1949. * ''Leslie Hurry: settings and costumes for Sadler's Wells Ballets''. London: Faber and Faber, 1946. * ''William Nicholson'', with catalogue raisonné of the oil paintings. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1956. * ''Edgar Degas: Ballet Dancers'', introduction by Lillian Browse. London: Folio Society, 1960. * ''Sickert''. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1960. * ''James Dickson Innes: Llanelly 1887 – Swanley 1914''. ondon Faber and Faber, 1966. * ''Forain, the painter, 1852-1931''. London: Elek, 1978. * ''The Duchess of Cork Street: the autobiography of an art dealer''. London: Giles de la Mare, 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Browse, Lillian Art dealers from London British art historians Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 1906 births 2005 deaths Women art historians Alumni of Barnato Park High School British women historians People from West Hampstead 20th-century English businesspeople Women art dealers