Sylvia Clark Molloy (1914–2008), born Sylvia Clark Leyden, was a British Realist and

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

artist and teacher.

Biography

Molloy was born in 1914 in

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

, United Kingdom. A graduate of

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

, she lived abroad for much of her life. In 1940 she traveled to Maymyo, Burma, to marry Patrick R. H. Molloy of the Burma Civil Service. She was evacuated from Burma in 1942 after the Japanese Invasion in World War II. After time spent in Simla, India, Lahore, Pakistan and the United Kingdom, the Molloys settled in South Africa in 1947. In Johannesburg, Molloy ran an art school. She disregarded the country's apartheid laws by teaching black students at her studio. During the 1940s Molloy's reputation as a portrait painter grew. The Molloys returned to England in the mid-1960s. Her many paintings and sketches of the peoples of South Africa and Burma in particular, capture a broad cross section of society. Some can be viewed at the British Library (India Office Collections). In later life she taught at Stratton School, Biggleswade, before becoming Head of Art at St Francis College, Letchworth Garden City. Her work has been 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 ...

and the

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

. She wrote of her experiences in Burma in ''Burma Bride'' (Able 1996)

References

External links

images of Sylvia Molloy’s paintings
on artNET
British Library: India office Select Materials Review of ''Burma Bride''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Molloy, Sylvia Clark 1914 births 2008 deaths 20th-century English painters 21st-century English painters 20th-century English women artists 21st-century English women artists Alumni of Armstrong College, Durham English women painters People from South Shields 20th-century women painters 21st-century women painters