Helen Allingham RWS | Victorian era painter

Helen Allingham RWS (née Helen Mary Elizabeth Paterson; 26 September 1848 - 28 September 1926) was an British* watercolour painter and illustrator of the Victorian era.

Biography

Helen Mary Elizabeth Paterson was born at Swadlincote in Derbyshire, the daughter of Alexander Henry Paterson, a medical doctor, and Mary Herford Paterson.

Helen Paterson was the eldest of seven children. The family moved to Altrincham in Cheshire when she was one year old.

In 1862 her father and her 3-year-old sister Isabel died of diphtheria during an epidemic.

The family then moved to Birmingham, where some of Alexander Paterson's family lived.

Paterson showed a talent for art from an early age, drawing some of her inspiration from her maternal grandmother Sarah Smith Herford and aunt Laura Herford, both accomplished artists of their day.

Her younger sister Caroline Paterson also became a noted artist.

She initially studied art for three years at the Birmingham School of Design (founded 1843).

From 1867 she attended the National Art Training School in London, which had a separate division for women; her aunt Laura Herford had previously studied there.

The School is presently the Royal College of Art.

While studying at the National Art Training School, Paterson worked as an illustrator, eventually deciding to give up her studies in favour of a full-time career in art.

She painted for children's and adult books, as well as for periodicals, including The Graphic newspaper.

One highlight was her commission to provide twelve illustrations for the 1874 serialisation of Thomas Hardy's novel Far from the Madding Crowd in Cornhill Magazine.

Her illustrations from this era were signed "H. Paterson".

She became a lifelong friend of Kate Greenaway whom she met at evening art classes at the Slade School of Fine Art.

While Vincent Van Gogh* was developing as an artist by studying English illustrated journals he was struck by Patterson's work in The Graphic.

Career

On 22 August 1874 she married William Allingham, Irish poet and editor of Fraser's Magazine, who was almost twice her age.

After her marriage she gave up her career as an illustrator and turned to watercolour painting.

In 1881 the family moved from Chelsea to Witley in Surrey.

Helen started to paint the beautiful countryside around her and particularly the picturesque farmhouses and cottages of Surrey and Sussex for which she became famous.

To her critics, however, despite elements of protest in 'The Condemned Cottage' for example, hers was an overly sentimental, conservative vision of the area.

She went on to paint rural scenes in other parts of the country - Middlesex, Kent, the Isle of Wight and the West Country - and abroad in Venice, Italy.

As well as landscapes, she completed several portraits, including one of Thomas Carlyle.

In 1890, she became the first woman to be admitted as a full member of the Royal Watercolour Society.

Helen Allingham, nata Paterson (1848-1926), è stata una pittrice ed illustratrice Britannica dell'età vittoriana, famosa per i suoi acquerelli con immagini di cottage e paesaggi di campagna.

Helen Mary Elizabeth Paterson nacque il 26 settembre 1848 a Swadlincote nel Derbyshire, figlia di Alexander Henry Paterson, medico, e Mary Chance Herford, il cui padre era un commerciante di vini di Manchester.

Helen era la maggiore di sette figli.

L'anno dopo la sua nascita la famiglia si trasferì ad Altrincham nel Cheshire.

Nel 1862 il padre e la sorella Isabel, di tre anni, morirono di difterite durante un'epidemia.

Helen e i rimanenti membri della famiglia si stabilirono a Birmingham, dove vivevano la nonna paterna e le zie.

Mostrò un talento per l'arte sin dalla tenera età, traendo parte della sua ispirazione dalla nonna materna Sarah Smith Herford e dalla zia Laura Herford, entrambe abili artiste.

La zia fu la prima donna ad ottenere l'ammissione alla Royal Academy Schools nel 1860.

Anche sua sorella minore Caroline Paterson divenne una nota artista.

Helen studiò arte per tre anni alla Birmingham School of Design, trascorse un anno alla Royal Female School of Art di Londra, e poi seguì la zia Laura Herford alla National Art Training School.

Nel 1867 si iscrisse alla Royal Academy School, che sarebbe poi diventata il Royal College of Art.

Qui venne a contatto con artisti che avrebbero influenzato notevolmente la sua pittura, come Federick Walker, da cui imparò la tecnica ad acquarello, Frederick Leighton, e John Everett Millais, co-fondatore del movimento Preraffaellita.