Mary Margaret Cameron (9 March 1865 – 15 February 1921) was a Scottish artist, renowned for her depictions of everyday Spanish life. She exhibited 54 works at the
Royal Scottish Academy between 1886 and 1919.
Early life and education
Mary Margaret Cameron
was born on 9 March 1865 in
Portobello
Portobello, Porto Bello, Porto Belo, Portabello, or Portabella may refer to:
Places Brazil
* Porto Belo
Ireland
* Portobello, Dublin
* Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin formerly ''Portobello Barracks''
New Zealand
* Portobello, New Zealand, on Ot ...
in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
, the third of six children of Mary Brown Small and
Duncan Cameron.
Her father was associated with the Edinburgh printing and stationery firm of
Macniven and Cameron and the inventor of the "Waverley" pen-nib.
Her father also owned ''
The Oban Times
''The Oban Times'' is a local, weekly newspaper, published in Oban, Argyll and Bute on a Thursday. It covers the West Highlands and Islands of Scotland, reporting on issues from the Mull of Kintyre to Kyle of Lochalsh on the mainland, to the Inne ...
'' newspaper. Her mother was a member of the Smalls of
Dirnanean
Dirnanean House is part of a private, traditional Highland estate located near Enochdhu in Moulin parish, Blairgowrie and Rattray, Blairgowrie, Perth and Kinross, Scotland, 10 miles ENE of Pitlochry. The Dirnanean estate is situated adjacent to ...
of Perthshire. Cameron was the younger sister of
Flora Macaulay – widow of the Rev Robert Blair – who was editor of ''The Oban Times'' newspaper until her death in 1958, aged 99.
Cameron first began her art education at the age of 16 through the
Trustees Drawing Academy of Edinburgh, winning prizes from the age of 17.
She took classes at the
Edinburgh Veterinary College to perfect her understanding of animal anatomy,
and developed a particular skill for depicting horses. This reflected her early interest in unusual subject matter, and was helped by her ability to use her own horse as a model.
Spain
In 1900, Cameron travelled to
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
in Spain to study the work of 17th-century Spanish painter,
Diego Velázquez. She fell in love with the country, its people and culture. She painted many Spanish scenes, violent and masculine topics such as battlefields, horse racing
and particularly bullfights,
and lived for a time in Madrid and
Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
. She generated controversy in her native Scotland over her realistic portrayal of the sometimes brutal
bullfighting scenes.
Career
Cameron was a founding member of the
Edinburgh Ladies' Art Club and the first exhibition of the
Society of Scottish Artists, she was later involved with the
Royal Scottish Academy,
(RSA) but in 1901, when women could exhibit at RSA but not become members, her application was nominated with
Pheobe Anna Traquair and
Christina Paterson Ross, but no women were elected until 1938,
Josephine Haswell Miller. Cameron had three other failed attempts.
She exhibited 56 works at the RSA between 1886 and 1919.
Her painting, ''Portrait de Mme. Blair et ses borzois'' received a "Mention Honorable" at the
Paris Salon in 1904.
The winning portrait depicted her sister Flora with her two Russian
Borzoi
The Borzoi or Russian Hunting Sighthound is a Russian breed of hunting dog of sighthound type. It was formerly used for wolf hunting, and until 1936 was known as the Russian Wolfhound.
Etymology
The system by which Russians over the ages n ...
dogs at either side.
The painting, along with one of Cameron's Spanish paintings, was published in the book ''
Women Painters of the World
''Women Painters of the World, from the time of Caterina Vigri, 1413–1463, to Rosa Bonheur and the present day'', assembled and edited by Walter Shaw Sparrow, lists an overview of prominent women painters up to 1905, the year of publication.
Th ...
'' (1905).
Cameron held four solo exhibitions between 1908 and 1913 in Edinburgh, London and Paris,
with a critic praising her "power, ease and fearlessness".
In addition to being a talented artist, Cameron was also a capable
linguist
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
, and spoke French and Spanish fluently.
She also had a good knowledge of German and Italian, and knew enough Russian to read and translate it.
On 30 June 1905 Cameron married Alexis Millar, a horse dealer and jobmaster from Edinburgh, at
St Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...
in London.
Mary Cameron died at
Turnhouse
Turnhouse is a suburb in the west of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, near Maybury, Gogar, Cammo and West Craigs.
The area is south east of Edinburgh International Airport, and Turnhouse is also the name for the former Royal Air Force ...
, a hamlet to the west of the Edinburgh, on 15 February 1921,
and is buried in
Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh. The grave lies in the obscured southern terrace, towards the east end.
Legacy
Cameron has a small number of paintings in the British national collections. A portrait of Cameron at work in her studio, by
John Brown Abercromby, is held by the
National Gallery of Scotland
The Scottish National Gallery (formerly the National Gallery of Scotland) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by W ...
.
She has been described as a 'trailblazer" for women artists and gender equality.
References
External links
Portrait of Mary Cameron in her studioby
John Brown Abercromby
*
After The Storm, IonaAuction Results for Mary CameronMary Cameron at ArtfactMary Cameron at Artnet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Mary
1865 births
1921 deaths
19th-century Scottish painters
19th-century Scottish women artists
20th-century Scottish painters
20th-century Scottish women artists
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Artists from Edinburgh
Burials at the Dean Cemetery
People from Portobello, Edinburgh
Scottish expatriates in Spain
Scottish women painters