HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Elinor Bellingham-Smith (28 December 1906 – 4 November 1988) was a British painter of landscapes and still life. Her paintings are in the collections of
Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...
, Museums Sheffield, the
Government Art Collection The Government Art Collection (GAC) is the collection of artworks owned by the UK government and administered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The GAC's artworks are used to decorate major government buildings in the UK and ...
, Arts Council Collection and other museums and galleries.


Early life

Elinor Bellingham-Smith was born in London on 28 December 1906 to Guy and Ellen (Nell) Buxton Bellingham-Smith, who were married in 1901. Her father collected drawings and prints and published a catalog of his collection of
Old Master In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...
drawings and those of Evelyn L. Englehearts and Thomas R. Berney. was a registrar, surgeon and obstetrician at
Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital founded by philanthropist Thomas Guy in 1721, located in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the Kin ...
. The painter Hugh Bellingham-Smith was her uncle. She had an older brother and sister. Bellingham-Smith was a proficient ballet dancer and pianist. She gave up dancing, though, following an injury. Bellingham-Smith studied at 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 ...
beginning in 1928. In 1931 she finished her studies at the Slade and married the English painter Rodrigo Moynihan.


Career

Works by Bellingham-Smith were exhibited in 1931 at 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 ...
. In 1948 she had a solo exhibition at
Leicester Galleries Leicester Galleries was an art gallery located in London from 1902 to 1977 that held exhibitions of modern British, French and international artists' works. Its name was acquired in 1984 by Peter Nahum, who operates "Peter Nahum at the Leiceste ...
and began exhibiting at the Royal Academy of Art. She painted primarily landscapes and still life. She worked for both ''
Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...
'' and
Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...
as an illustrator. She illustrated the children's book ''Candlelight Tales'' by
Alison Uttley Alison Jane Uttley ( Taylor; 17 December 1884 – 7 May 1976) was an English writer of over 100 books. She is best known for a children's series about Little Grey Rabbit and Sam Pig. She is also remembered for a pioneering time slip novel for ch ...
(Faber & Faber, 1936). For the 1951
Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Labour Party cabinet member Herbert Morrison was the prime mover; in 1947 he started with the ...
the
Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...
commissioned 60 painters to make large paintings, or more, to be displayed at the festival. There were also 12 commissioned sculptors. Ultimately the works were given to new hospitals, libraries, schools, and health centres that emerged after the war. There were five cash prizes awarded and Bellingham-Smith took one of the prizes with ''The Island.'' M. H. Middleton reviewed the Leicester Galleries exhibition of Bellingham-Smith's paintings in November 1952: Later in life,
The Fens The Fens or Fenlands in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a system o ...
and
East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...
were featured in many of Bellingham-Smith's landscapes. During her career she exhibited at the Women's International Art Club.


Personal life

Bellingham-Smith and Moynihan had a son, John, who was born in 1932. The family had a governess for John and a cleaning lady for the upkeep of their home on Old Church Street. Bellingham-Smith and her husband had a busy social life. Their home became a salon to writers and other artists. In 1946, Princess Elizabeth was accompanied by her mother to the house six times to sit for Moynihan, who had been commissioned to make her portrait. Their evenings were often spent smoking and drinking in restaurants, bars, clubs or at parties. When he turned 20, John went along with them on their evenings out. John wrote the book ''The Restless Lives: The Bohemian World of Rodrigo and Elinor Moynihan.'' Their social life and Moynihan's affairs took a toll on the marriage. They separated in 1957 and divorced in 1960. From about 1958, she lived in
Boxford, Suffolk Boxford is a village and civil parish in the Babergh District, Babergh district of Suffolk, England. Located around six miles east of Sudbury, Suffolk, Sudbury straddling the River Box and skirted by the Holbrook. The parish includes the hamle ...
and died on 4 November 1988 in
Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...
.


Works

* ''A London Garden,'' Derbyshire & Derby School Library Service * ''Brambles,''
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, officially known as Tullie since July 2024, is a museum in Carlisle, England. Opened by the Carlisle Corporation in 1893, the original building is a converted Jacobean mansion, with extensions added when it ...
* ''Bullrushes,'' Museums Sheffield * ''Burning Stubble,'' Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery * ''Dragon-Flies,'' 1947–48,
Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...
* ''Essex Field in Summer,'' oil on canvas, about 1950. Sold at Christie's in 2002. * ''Fields above Boxford,''
Government Art Collection The Government Art Collection (GAC) is the collection of artworks owned by the UK government and administered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The GAC's artworks are used to decorate major government buildings in the UK and ...
* ''Girls by the River,'' Newport Museum and Art Gallery * ''Hedgerow,'' Government Art Collection * ''Low Tide, Putney,'' Wolverhampton Arts and Heritage * ''River Scene with Figures,''
Aberdeen Art Gallery Aberdeen Art Gallery is the main visual arts exhibition space in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1884 in a building designed by Alexander Marshall Mackenzie, with a sculpture court added in 1905. In 1900, it received the art ...
& Museums * ''Sunset,'' Arts Council Collection * ''The Bonfire,'' Government Art Collection * ''The Fenn, Boxford,'' Arts Council Collection * ''The Island,'' Arts Council Collection * ''The Log,'' oil on canvas. Sold at Christie's in 2006. * ''The Sky over Wattisham,'' Arts Council Collection * ''The Tabby Cat,'' oil on canvas, by 1949. Sold at Christie's in 1997. * ''The Willow Tree,'' Harris Museum & Art Gallery * ''Winter Afternoon,'' Arts Council Collection


Notes


References


Further reading

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellingham-Smith, Elinor 1906 births 1988 deaths 20th-century English painters 20th-century English women artists Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art English women painters Painters from London 20th-century British women painters British women children's book illustrators