Stanisława de Karłowska (8 May 1876; Wszeliwy, Russian occupied Poland – 9 December 1952;

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) was a Polish-born artist who was a founder member of the

London Group The London Group is a society based in London, England, created to offer additional exhibiting opportunities to artists besides the Royal Academy of Arts. Formed in 1913, it is one of the oldest artist-led organisations in the world. It was form ...

. Her work combined a modernist style with elements of Polish folk art.

Life and work

Stanisława de Karłowska was the daughter of Aleksander de Karłowski and Paulina, née Tuchołka. Both parents were descended from the Polish nobility (

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

) and her father had substantial estates centred on the village of Wszeliwy, near

Sochaczew Sochaczew () is a town in central Poland, with 33,456 inhabitants (as of 2023). In the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), formerly in Skierniewice Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the capital of Sochaczew County and is located approximately west ...

, in the

Masovian Voivodeship Masovian Voivodeship or Mazowieckie Province (, ) and any variation thereof, is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) in east-central Poland, containing Poland's capital Warsaw. Masovian Voivodeship has an area of and had a 2019 po ...

, Poland. The family had a long history of patriotic activism, her father having fought with

Lajos Kossuth Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (; ; ; ; 19 September 1802 – 20 March 1894) was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, politician, statesman and governor-president of the Kingdom of Hungary during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, r ...

and

Józef Bem Józef Zachariasz Bem (, ; 14 March 1794 – 10 December 1850) was a Polish engineer and general, an Ottoman pasha and a national hero of Poland and Hungary, and a figure intertwined with other European patriotic movements. Like Tadeusz Kościus ...

in the late 1840s. He also saw much of his estate sequestered by the Russian authorities after his participation in the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

of 1863. Stanisława trained as an artist on the Women's course run by Wiesołowski in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and exhibited at the Zachęta National Gallery of Art 1895-97, prior to enrolling at the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, in 1896. The following summer she went to

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

for the wedding of a fellow Polish art student, Janina Flamm and Eric Forbes-Robertson. It was there that she met the English artist, Robert Bevan. At the end of the year she and Bevan were married in

. They settled in

Swiss Cottage Swiss Cottage is an area in the London Borough of Camden, England. It is centred on the junction of Avenue Road and Finchley Road and includes Swiss Cottage tube station. Swiss Cottage lies north-northwest of Charing Cross. The area was ...

, London. She exhibited with the

Women's International Art Club The Women's International Art Club, briefly known as the Paris International Art Club, was founded in Paris in 1900. The club was intended to "promote contacts between women artists of all nations and to arrange exhibitions of their work", and ...

and

New English Art Club The New English Art Club (NEAC) is a society for contemporary artists that was founded in London, England, in 1886 as an alternative venue to the Royal Academy. The NEAC holds an annual exhibition of paintings and drawings at the Mall Galleries ...

and both exhibited at the Allied Artists' Association in 1908. However, being a woman, she was ineligible for membership of either the Fitzroy Street Group or the later

Camden Town Group The Camden Town Group was a group of English Post-Impressionist artists founded in 1911 and active until 1913. They gathered frequently at the studio of painter Walter Sickert in the Camden Town area of London. History In 1908, critic Frank ...

, of which her husband was a member. De Karłowska was a founder member of the

and exhibited with them throughout her life. Her work combined a modernist style with elements of Polish folk art. In March 1910, Huntly Carter said of it..."what S. de Karlowska has to say she tells us lucidly in pure and harmonious colour." Stanisława had two children, Edith Halina (Mrs Charles Baty) and Robert Alexander Bevan. Remaining in London after her husband's death in 1925, she spent the war years in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

. She travelled to Poland until the late 1930s and would holiday with her daughter's family at Pléneuf-Val-André in Northern Brittany and at St Nicolas-du-Pelem, further south. Many of her London and Breton paintings are in public collections. Stanisława de Karłowska died in London in 1952 and is buried in the Bevan family tomb in

Cuckfield Cuckfield ( ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Mid Sussex District, Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, on the southern slopes of the Weald. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northea ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. In common with her husband, de Karlowska sold few of her works during her lifetime. Her estate, including several hundred of Robert Bevan's paintings, drawings and lithographs were left equally to her two children. Many works were presented to public collections over the following twenty years. She had one solo exhibition during her lifetime at the ''Adams Gallery'' in London, in 1935. Her memorial exhibition was also held there in 1954, and in 1968 a joint Bevan - de Karłowska show was held at the ''Anglo-Polish Society'', London. Stanisława de Karłowska was the great-grandmother of the historian of

architectural paint Architectural coatings or paints are paints and other coatings used to paint the exteriors and interiors of buildings, often called or external masonry coatings. Clear varnishes and lacquers are generally excluded. Such products are usually desig ...

and colour, Patrick Baty. A second cousin was Blessed

Maria Karłowska Maria Karłowska (4 September 1865 – 24 March 1935) – in religious Maria of Jesus Crucified – was a Polish Roman Catholic professed religious and the founder of the Sisters of the Divine Shepherd of Divine Providence. Karłowska worked wit ...

Works in public collections

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

: Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum,

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

Gallery of works by the artist

File:Stanislawa de karlowska, friggitoria di pesce, 1907 ca.jpg, Fried Fish Shop (ca. 1907), Tate Britain, London. File:Stanislawa de Karlowska Swiss Cottage ca.1914.jpg, ''Swiss Cottage'' (ca. 1914), by Stanislawa de Karlowska. File:Stanislawa de Karlowska Berkeley Square ca.1935.jpg, ''Berkeley Square'' (ca. 1935), by Stanislawa de Karlowska, Tate Britain, London. File:Stanislawa de Karlowska Church of the Holy Cross, Cracow 1926.jpg, ''Church of the Holy Cross'', Cracow (1936), by Stanislawa de Karlowska, The Hepworth Wakefield, United Kingdom. File:ABDAG002267 - Stanislawa de Karlowska - St James's Square.jpeg, ABDAG002267 - Stanislawa de Karlowska - St James's Square

Portraits and photos of the artist

File:Stanislawa Bevan (née de Karlowska) by Robert Polhill Bevan.jpg, Stanislawa de Karlowska, by Robert Bevan, National Portrait Gallery, London. File:Stainslawa.jpg, Stanislawa de Karlowska (Bevan) ca. 1900, from the family photo collection.

References

* Bevan, R.A., ''Robert Bevan 1865-1925''. A memoir by his son. Studio Vista, London. 1965. * Chamot, Mary, Dennis Farr and

Martin Butlin Martin Richard Fletcher Butlin, CBE, FBA (born 7 June 1929) is a British art historian. His main field of study is British art history and his published works reflect, in particular, a study of art of the 18th and 19th centuries. He is an auth ...

, ''The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture''. Oldbourne Press, London. 1964. * Foster, Alicia. ''Tate Women Artists''. Tate Publishing, London. 2004. * ''

The New Age ''The New Age'' was a British weekly magazine (1894–1938),credited as a major influence on literature and the arts during its heyday from 1907 to 1922, when it was edited by Alfred Richard Orage. It published work by many of the chief politi ...

'', Vol 6, No. 19, p. 452. * Stenlake, Frances. ''Robert Bevan from Gauguin to Camden Town''. Unicorn Press. 2008 * Yeates, John. NW1. ''The Camden Town Artists. A social history''. Somerset, Heale Gallery. 2007.

External links