Nellie Marion Tenison Cuneo (26 August 186923 May 1953) was an illustrator and painter who trained in London and Paris. She was married to the American painter and illustrator

Cyrus Cuneo Cyrus Cincinato Cuneo (18 June 187923 July 1916), known as Ciro, was an American-born English visual artist, best known for painting. Early life He was born into an Italian American family of artists and musicians. His parents were Giovann ...

(18 June 187923 July 1916) and their youngest son was the English painter

Terence Cuneo Terence Tenison Cuneo RGI FGRA (1 November 1907 – 3 January 1996) was a prolific English painter noted for his scenes of railways, horses and military actions. He was also the official artist for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. ...

RGI

FGRA The Guild of Railway Artists (GRA) is a British-based art guild whose members are painters of railway subjects. Membership can be applied for by submitting examples of one's work. "Friends" of the Guild are supporters of the guild who are not n ...

(1 November 19073 January 1996), known for using a mouse as his signature.

Early life

Tenison was born in Hammersmith, London, on 25 August 1869. She was the second child of her parents, Irish doctor Edward Tenison Ryan Tenison (c. 183022 December 1904) and his second wife, Frances Sally Testelin (13 March 1842fourth quarter of 1912). Edward's first wife Fanny Hutton died between the birth of their third son Alfred on 25 October 1865 and his baptism on 1 February 1866, leaving three sons, Edward (c.1860), Arthur (born c.1861), Alfred (born c. 1866), who were half-brothers to Tenison. Her full brother Adolf Heron , studied at Cambridge, trained as a doctor and settled at

Hayle Hayle ( kw, Heyl, "estuary") is a port town and civil parish in west Cornwall, England. It is situated at the mouth of the Hayle River (which discharges into St Ives Bay) and is approximately seven miles (11 km) northeast of Penzance. ...

, Cornwall, in 1947.

Education and marriage

The 1881 census shows Tenison (age 11) as the only child at home with her parents, apparently under the care of Annie Florence Robinson (age 24), a governess. She studied at the

Chiswick School of Art The Chiswick School of Art, sometimes called the Chiswick School of Art and Science, was an art school in Bath Road, Bedford Park, London, from 1881 until 1899, which was then merged into the Acton and Chiswick Polytechnic. In 1928, it became the Ch ...

from 18841886 and then, without the support of her family, at Sir

Arthur Stockdale Cope Sir Arthur Stockdale Cope, (2 November 1857 – 5 July 1940) was a British portraitist. Biography Cope was born on 2 November 1857, in South Kensington, London. His father was Charles West Cope (1811–1890), a successful history and genr ...

's School of Art in South Kensington. By the time of the 1891 census, the Tenisons had moved to 215 Uxbridge Road, which was to remain the family both for Tenison's parents, and for Tenison's husband and children, Cyrus Cuneo's death in 1916. She then worked as a freelance illustrator, on publications like the ''Ludgate Magazine''. By 1899 she had saved up enough money to go to Paris to study art, and she enrolled in the Académie Colarossi to train under Whistler, where she met

. They returned to London to marry on in the last quarter of 1903. As Cuneo was an American citizen, Tenison ceased to be a British Subject on her marriage under the UK's 1870 Naturalisation Act. She did not automatically gain US citizenship by marriage, as this was subject to her being eligible to naturalization (as determined by emigration officials whenever she landed in the United States, certain races and immoral persons, etc. being excluded). Thus, British women who married aliens from 1870 to 1933, when the law changed could become stateless persons. Tenison may not have been aware of this as she recorded her nationality as English in the 1911 census. After the death of her husband, Tenison applied for naturalisation, and was re-admitted as a British subject on 27 July 1917. The couple had two sons: Desmond, (born on 12 February 1905) who became a mining engineer., and

Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a Roman African playwright during the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 166–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought ...

, (1 November 19073 January 1996) who became a noted English painter.

Work

Both Tenison and her husband worked as illustrators. She was devastated when Cyrus died unexpectedly from blood poisoning in 1916. Tenison left what had been the family home and moved first to 152 Holland Park in Kensington. She was there in 1918 for the Electoral Register and again in 1920. She moved to Dartmoor, then to Cornwall, living first at Halsetown and then in St. Ives, where she bought Down-along House, which she restored, and it became The Copper Kettle (cafe). Her son Terence was prosecuted for dangerous driving in St. Ives in June 1928, and they were already living at Down-along House. Tenison became a member of the St. Ives Society of Artists in 1928 and remained a member until c. 1945. By 1931 The electoral register shows her living with both her sons at 29 Flanders Road in Chiswick. By 1934 all three had moved to 2 Gainsborough Road, Chiswick, which was to remain Tenison's London residence until her death. Tenison continued to paint. She became a member of 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 ...

in 1918 and was a frequent exhibitor there. She also exhibited at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

Later life

Her son Desmond was living with her at 2 Gainsborough Road in 1949, as was Lucie Newmann. Tenison died on 23 May 1953. She was living at 2 Gainsborough Road,

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...

, London at the time. Her estate was valued at £10,776 8s. 1d. She did not nominate either of her sons as her executors.

Assessment

Peppin and Micklethwait said that ''She was a capable illustrator, often working in full colour or halftone in a style that had much in common with that of her husband.''

Illustration work

Magazine illustration

She continued to illustrate journals including *''

The Girl's Own Paper ''The Girl's Own Paper'' (''G.O.P.'') was a British story paper catering to girls and young women, published from 1880 until 1956. Publishing history The first weekly number of ''The Girl's Own Paper'' appeared on 3 January 1880. As with its m ...

'' *''

The Girl's Realm ''The Girl's Realm'' was a sixpenny monthly magazine, published by Hutchinson that ran for seventeen volumes from November 1898 to November 1915. Publishing history In August 1898 it was announced that Hutchinson was to launch a magazine for yo ...

'' *''

The Graphic ''The Graphic'' was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company Illustrated Newspapers Ltd. Thomas's brother Lewis Samuel Thomas was a co-founder. The premature death of the latt ...

'' *''

The Lady's Realm ''The Lady's Realm'' was a British women's magazine published from 1896 until 1914, possibly until 1915. It primarily targeted upper-class readers as well as an aspirational middle-class audience, featuring photographs, poems, fiction, and columns ...

'' *''

The Sphere ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' *''

The Ludgate Monthly ''The Ludgate Monthly'' was a London-based monthly magazine, which published short fiction and articles of general interest. There were 118 issues from May 1891 to February 1901; the magazine then merged with ''The Universal Magazine''. The maga ...

'' *''

Cassell's Magazine ''Cassell's Magazine'' is a British magazine that was published monthly from 1897 to 1912. It was the successor to ''Cassell's Illustrated Family Paper'', (1853–1867) becoming ''Cassell's Family Magazine'' in 1874, ''Cassell's Magazine'' in 1897 ...

'' *''

The Strand Magazine ''The Strand Magazine'' was a monthly British magazine founded by George Newnes, composed of short fiction and general interest articles. It was published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950, running to 711 issues, though the ...

'' *''Woman at Home'' *''

Black and White Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

Book illustration

Tenison also illustrated a number of children's books for authors including; * Deborah Alcock *

Angela Brazil Angela Brazil (pronounced "brazzle") (30 November 186813 March 1947) was one of the first British writers of "modern schoolgirls' stories", written from the characters' point of view and intended primarily as entertainment rather than moral ins ...

E. E. Cowper Edith Elise Cadogan Cowper (21 July 185918 November 1933) was a prolific author of adventure stories for girls. She married yachtsman Frank Cowper and had eight children by him before the marriage fell apart. Early life Cowper was born on 21 ...

* Brenda Girvin * A. Lucas * E. L. Haverfield * Bessie Marchant *

Emma Marshall Emma Marshall (1830–1899) was an English children's author who wrote more than 200 novels. Life She was the youngest daughter of Simon Martin, a partner in Gurney's Norwich bank, who was married, at St Michael-at-Plea, Norwich, in 1809, Han ...

* Geraldine Mockler * Sidney L. Morse * William Edward Norris * Anna Chapin Ray * Walter C. Rhoades *Mrs.

Herbert Strang Herbert Strang was the pseudonym of two English authors, George Herbert Ely (1866–1958) and Charles James L'Estrange (1867–1947). They specialized in writing adventure stories for boys, both historical and modern-day. Both men were ...

* J. M. Whitfeld * Grace I. Witliam * Walter Wood (writer)

Example of book illustration

The following illustrations by Tenison were prepared for ''The Girl Crusoes: A story of the South Seas'' by Mrs

(1912, Henry Froude, Hodder, and Stoughton, London). While it is certain the illustrations are by Tenison, it is only probably that the cover is. File:Illus by N Tension for The Girl Crusoes (1912) by Mrs Herbert Strang-cover.jpg, Front Cover File:Illus by N Tension for The Girl Crusoes (1912) by Mrs Herbert Strang-047.jpg, Page-74 File:Illus by N Tension for The Girl Crusoes (1912) by Mrs Herbert Strang-072.jpg, Page-72 File:Illus by N Tension for The Girl Crusoes (1912) by Mrs Herbert Strang-124.jpg, Page-124 File:Illus by N Tension for The Girl Crusoes (1912) by Mrs Herbert Strang-200.jpg, Page-200 File:Illus by N Tension for The Girl Crusoes (1912) by Mrs Herbert Strang-224.jpg, Page-224 File:Illus by N Tension for The Girl Crusoes (1912) by Mrs Herbert Strang-262.jpg, Page-262

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tenison Cuneo, Nellie Marion 1869 births 1953 deaths 19th-century English painters 20th-century English painters 19th-century English women artists 20th-century English women artists Académie Colarossi alumni Académie Julian alumni Alumni of the Westminster School of Art English illustrators English women painters Artists from Hammersmith