Ethel Alice Kirkpatrick (30 November 1869 – 28 December 1966) was a British painter, printmaker and jeweller. She was a marine and landscape painter, mainly working in oil and

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the ...

but also producing

woodcuts Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with Chisel#Gouge, gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts ...

Early life and training

Ethel Alice Kirkpatrick, was the second daughter of Mary Ann Rosa Kirkpatrick () and Thomas Sutton Kirkpatrick. She was born on 30 November 1869 in

Clerkenwell Clerkenwell ( ) is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an Civil Parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish from the medieval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The St James's C ...

, London. Her older sister was Ida Marion Kirkpatrick (1866– 1950), who introduced her to art. Their father was a professional soldier from a landed family at Coolmine,

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland. After leaving a position in the Indian Army, he worked in the British prison service, later as governor of Exeter,

Newgate Newgate was one of the historic seven gates of the London Wall around the City of London and one of the six which date back to Roman times. Newgate lay on the west side of the wall and the road issuing from it headed over the River Fleet to Mid ...

and then

Wormwood Scrubs Wormwood Scrubs, known locally as The Scrubs (or simply Scrubs), is an open space in Old Oak Common located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London. It is the largest open space in the borough ...

prisons. Kirkpatrick studied at the Royal Academy School and at the

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a art school, school of fine arts, fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School ...

, where she learned enamelling and woodcutting techniques. She continued studying at the Académie Julien in Paris.

Working life

Both Ethel and her older sister Ida travelled to artist’s colonies in St Ives, Cornwall and

Walberswick Walberswick is a village and civil parish on the Suffolk coast in England. It is at the mouth of the River Blyth on the south side of the river. The town of Southwold lies to the north of the river and is the nearest town to Walberswick, aroun ...

, Suffolk. They both appear in biographical lists of Suffolk artists and Cornwall artists. After their father died in 1895 or 1896, a large art studio was built for the sisters behind their family house at Grove Hill, Harrow-on-the Hill, London, which they named "The Gables." Kirkpatrick produced paintings and woodcut work in colour. She was a member of the Society of Graver Painters and of the Colour Woodcut Society. Colour woodcuts by her are in the collections of the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

and the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

. Both the

Hunterian Museum The Hunterian is a complex of museums located in and operated by the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest museum in Scotland. It covers the Hunterian Museum, the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Mackintosh House, the Zoology M ...

and the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

also hold examples of Kirkpatrick's prints in their collections. Kirkpatrick was considered influential by many of the British colour woodcut artists working after her in the 1910s and 1920s.

Exhibitions

From 1891, Kirkpatrick began exhibiting at several London galleries, such as the Alpine Club Gallery. She showed at the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

Summer Exhibitions twelve times between 1895-1941 and exhibited with the

Royal Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fi ...

. In 1901, she also exhibited at the Third Exhibition of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers in London. Examples of her and her sister Ida's work were included in ‘Print and Prejudice: Women Printmakers, 1700-1930’, an exhibition at the

in London, 2022-2

Selected works

* ''A Summer Haze'' * ''Becalmed'' * ''Day Dreams'' * ''Moonrise'' * ''Rooks Nesting'' * ''Phyllis''

Death

Kirkpatrick died on 28 December 1966 in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, England. Her sister Ida had died sixteen years previously.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkpatrick, Ethel 1869 births 1966 deaths People from Clerkenwell English people of Irish descent 19th-century British women artists 20th-century British women artists Sibling artists Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design Alumni of the Royal Academy Schools Académie Julian alumni