Kitty Wilmer O'Brien (7 August 1910 – 1982) was an Irish oil and watercolour landscape artist.

Life

Kitty Wilmer was born in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

on 7 August 1910 to Major Harold Gordon Wilmer and Alice Violet McEntire. Her father was killed at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

when she was four. She had a younger brother, Harold, who followed in the family military tradition and was killed in 1942. She learned her skills in the

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

schools in Dublin, starting in 1926, where she won a number of awards for her art. She was trained by

Lilian Davidson Lilian Davidson ARHA (26 January 1879 – 29 March 1954) was an Irish landscape and portrait artist, teacher and writer. Early life and education Lilian Lucy Davidson was born at Castle Terrace, Bray, County Wicklow, on 26 January 1879. She w ...

who was working out of her studio in Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin. She won the Taylor Scholarship in 1933 which sent her to the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

in London. In 1936 she married Dr Brendan O’Brien, a Dublin surgeon and son of

Dermod O'Brien William Dermod O'Brien PRHA DL Hon RA (10 June 1865 – 3 October 1945), commonly known as Dermod O'Brien, was an Irish painter, chiefly of landscapes and portraits. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the ...

. She and her husband settled in Dublin after working abroad for a few years. They had two sons; Dermod and Anthony, who is also an artist. Another artistic relative was Geraldine O'Brien. In the period from the 1940s and 1950s O’Brien exhibited with

Brigid Ganly Brigid Ganly Royal Hibernian Academy, HRHA (29 January 1909 – 25 March 2002), was an Irish painter and sculptor Early life and education Brigid Ganly was born Rosaleen Brigid O'Brien on the 29 January 1909 in Dublin to Dermod O'Brien and his ...

, RHA, Kitty O'Brien's sister-in-law in Dublin as well as submitting works to the Society of Dublin Painters, the Royal Hibernian Academy and the

Water Colour Society of Ireland Water Colour Society of Ireland (WCSI) is a watercolour society in Ireland, founded in 1870. The Society held its first exhibition in the Courthouse, Lismore, County Waterford, Lismore, County Waterford in May 1871. History The ''Water Colour So ...

. She exhibited annually in the Irish Living Art Exhibition and the Oireachtas Art Exhibition. O'Brien was elected a member of Royal Hibernian Academy in 1976. She was president of the Watercolour Society from 1962 to 1981.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, Kitty Wilmer 1982 deaths 1910 births 20th-century Irish painters Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art 20th-century Irish women painters