Ethel Sands (6 July 1873 – 19 March 1962) was an American-born

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

and hostess who lived in England from childhood. She studied art in Paris, where she met her life partner

Anna Hope Hudson Anna Hope Hudson (1869–1957) was an American-born artist who lived and worked in France and England. She was a founding member of the London Group, and the life partner of likewise artist Ethel Sands. Early life Hudson was born 10 September 1 ...

. Her works were generally still lifes and interiors, often of Château d'Auppegard that she shared with Hudson. Sands was a

Fitzroy Street Group The Fitzroy Street Group was an organisation created to promote and support artists. It was established in 1907 by Walter Sickert and merged in 1913 with the Camden Town Group to form the London Group. Overview In 1907 Walter Sickert formed the F ...

and

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 ...

member. Her works are in London's

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

and other public collections. In 1916, she became a naturalised British citizen. Although a major art patron and an artist, she is most remembered as a hostess for the cultural elite, including

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

Roger Fry Roger Eliot Fry (14 December 1866 – 9 September 1934) was an English painter and art critic, critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Establishing his reputation as a scholar of the Old Masters, he became an advocate of more recent ...

and

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...

Early life

Ethel Sands was born on 6 July 1873 in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

, the first child of Mary Morton (Hartpence) and Mahlon Day Sands, who married in 1872. Mahlon Sands was secretary of the American Free Trade League, who in 1870 advocated for civil service reform and free trade. He was partner of his deceased father's pharmaceutical importing firm, A.B. Sands and Company. Ethel had two younger brothers, Mahlon Alan and Morton Harcourt Sands, who were, respectively, 5 and 11 years younger. In 1874, the family left the United States for England, intending to only visit the country. However, Mahlon Sands and his family stayed in England and travelled among European countries. They also visited the United States annually"Mahlon Sand's Death: A Fatal Accident in London, While Starting for a Ride."
''New York Times''. 9 May 1888. Retrieved 12 March 2014. and were there for an extended visit from 1877 to 1879. They kept their house in

throughout this time. The wealthy Sands circulated among London society, including writer and statesman

John Morley John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, (24 December 1838 – 23 September 1923), was a British Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor. Initially a journalist in the North of England and then editor of the newly Liberal-leani ...

, politician

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

, writer

, artist

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 15, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era, Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil ...

, the

Rothschild family The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish noble banking family originally from Frankfurt. The family's documented history starts in 16th-century Frankfurt; its name is derived from the family house, Rothschild, ...

, and

Henry Graham White Henry Graham White (26 August 1880 – 19 February 1965), known as Graham White, was a radical British Liberal Party politician. Background He was the son of John Arnold White and Annie Sinclair Graham of Birkenhead. He was educated at Birkenhe ...

. Mahlon's sister, Katherine, was married to journalist and newspaper editor

Edwin Lawrence Godkin Edwin Lawrence Godkin (2 October 183121 May 1902) was an American journalist and newspaper editor. He founded ''The Nation'' and was the editor-in-chief of the ''New York Evening Post'' from 1883 to 1899.Eric Fettman, "Godkin, E.L." in Stephen ...

. They were part of

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

, then

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

', social circle.

painted the portrait of her mother, who was considered "a famous society beauty of her day." Mary Sands was "much admired" by writer

, who called her "that gracious lady" and based his heroic character "Madame de Mauves" on her. Ethel Sands was raised in a respectable upper-class household in which her parents were "happily married". While her father was considered handsome and her mother beautiful, Anthony Powell states that some people wrote in their diaries and letters that she was plain. In her later years, Powell met her and said that "so great was her elegance, charm, capacity to be amusing in a no-nonsense manner, that I could well believed her to be good-looking in her youth.Anthony Powell.
Under Review: Further Writings on Writers, 1946–1990
''. University of Chicago Press; 1 July 1994. . pp. 134–135. Her father had ridden horseback through Hyde Park, was thrown from the horse and died an accidental death in 1888.Robert L. Gale
''A Henry James Encyclopedia.''
New York: Greenwood Press, 1989, 586–587. His widow, Mary Sands, raised Ethel and her brothers until her death on 28 July 1896.Ethel Sands.
Tate. Retrieved 17 January 2014.

Art

Ethel Sands - Tea with Sickert - 1911-1912

Ethel Sands - Still Life with a View over a Cemetery - by 1923 when sold

Education

Encouraged by artist

, Sands studied painting in Paris at the Académie Carrière under

Eugène Carrière Eugène Anatole Carrière (; 16 January 1849 – 27 March 1906) was a French Symbolist artist of the fin-de-siècle period. Carrière's paintings are best known for their near-monochrome brown palette and their ethereal, dreamlike quality. ...

for several years, beginning in 1894. There she met fellow student Nan Hudson, born Anna Hope Hudson in the United States, who became her life partner.

Ian Chilvers Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, which is derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponds to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. This name is a popu ...

. (1999
''A Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art.''
Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 545-546.Nan (Anna Hope) Hudson.
Tate. Retrieved 17 January 2014. During this time, Sands became the guardian of her two younger brothers following her mother's death in 1896.

Painting

Sands painted still lifes and interior settings.

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 ...

suggests that was inspired by

Édouard Vuillard Jean-Édouard Vuillard (; 11 November 186821 June 1940) was a French painter, decorative artist, and printmaker. From 1891 through 1900, Vuillard was a member of the avant garde artistic group Les Nabis, creating paintings that assembled areas ...

's dry brush technique, colour palette and depiction of "intimate" scenes. Her first exhibition was at Salon d'Automne in Paris in 1904. In 1907, at

Walter Sickert Walter Richard Sickert (31 May 1860 – 22 January 1942) was a German-born British painter and printmaker who was a member of the Camden Town Group of Post-Impressionist artists in early 20th-century London. He was an important influence on d ...

's invitation, she became a member and exhibited paintings she made at the

. She also purchased the works of other artists. She was one of the artists that founded the

. According to author Kate Deepwell, her works, and those of

Vanessa Bell Vanessa Bell (née Stephen; 30 May 1879 – 7 April 1961) was an English painter and interior designer, a member of the Bloomsbury Group and the sister of Virginia Woolf (née Stephen). Early life and education Vanessa Stephen was the eld ...

and other women, were evaluated differently at that time from those made by men: The best critique of woman's work at the time would be that they had individuality, but they would not have been considered innovative, modern works like those made by men. In Paris in 1911 she had her first show dedicated to her works. Hudson and Sands had a show at Carfax Gallery in 1912. The next year she was part of the "English Post-Impressionists, Cubists and Others" show in Brighton. Her works were exhibited at

Goupil Gallery Goupil & Cie is an international auction house and merchant of contemporary art and collectibles. Jean-Baptiste Adophe Goupil founded Goupil & Cie in 1850. Goupil & Cie became a leading art dealership in 19th-century France, with its headquart ...

, and in 1922 she had her initial solo show. She also exhibited often at 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 the

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 ...

. Hudson purchased Château d'Auppegard near Dieppe, France in 1920, which was the subject of several of Sand's paintings. Some of the interior paintings are ''A Spare Room, Château d'Auppegard'' and ''Double Doors, Château d'Auppegard.'' Other examples are the landscape ''Auppegard Church from Château, France'' and one of her partner, ''Nan Hudson Playing Patience at Auppegard.'' Her works are in the collections of

museum Government Art Collection, and

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...

Socialite and patron

Like Lady Sibyl Colefax and

Lady Ottoline Morrell Lady Ottoline Violet Anne Morrell (née Cavendish-Bentinck; 16 June 1873 – 21 April 1938) was an English Aristocracy (class), aristocrat and society hostess. Her patronage was influential in artistic and intellectual circles, where she befri ...

, Sands entertained artists and writers with the intention to nurture and discuss ideas relevant to their careers.

"took over" Sand's Chelsea house for entertainment after she had to give up her London house at Bedford Square. Affiliated with the

Bloomsbury Group The Bloomsbury Group was a group of associated British writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the early 20th century. Among the people involved in the group were Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster, Vanessa Bell, a ...

, she was best-known as "one of the leading artist hostesses of her time", her lavish affairs were financially possible due to the significant wealth she inherited from her parents. She was mainly at the Oxford, Newington house until 1920, but when in England she also entertained at her London Lowndes Street house, and between 1913 and 1937 at 15 Vale, Chelsea, London house, where she lived near her mother's friend,

. Notable artists

and

Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist, who wrote prolifically. Between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaborati ...

were among the writers of the "cultural elite" who visited her. Her friends included artist

Jacques-Émile Blanche Jacques-Émile Blanche (; 1 January 1861 – 30 September 1942) was a French artist, largely self-taught, who became a successful portrait painter, working in London and Paris. Early life Blanche, an only child, was born in Paris in the 16em ...

, writer

Edith Wharton Edith Newbold Wharton (; ; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American writer and designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray, realistically, the lives and morals of the Gil ...

, poet

William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th century in literature, 20th-century literature. He was ...

, essayist and critic

Logan Pearsall Smith Logan Pearsall Smith (18 October 1865 – 2 March 1946) was an American-born British essayist and critic. Harvard and Oxford educated, he was known for his aphorisms and epigrams, and was an expert on 17th century divines. His ''Words and Idio ...

and novelist Howard Overing Sturgis.

Lytton Strachey Giles Lytton Strachey (; 1 March 1880 – 21 January 1932) was an English writer and critic. A founding member of the Bloomsbury Group and author of ''Eminent Victorians'', he established a new form of biography in which psychology, psychologic ...

(a founder of the

) met at Sands' house and her uncle,

wrote of his upcoming visit to Sands' house in Oxfordshire, "There one fortnight, and then back to "holy wars", patriotism, and

buncombe Buncombe may refer to: * Buncombe County, North Carolina * Buncombe, Illinois * An alternative spelling of Buncom, Oregon * Edward Buncombe Edward Buncombe (1742–1778) was a plantation owner from the Province of North Carolina who served as a co ...

..." File:Edwin Godkin.jpg,

, her uncle, a journalist and editor File:Henry James.jpg,

, writer, neighbour and close friend of the family File:Walter Sickert photo by George Charles Beresford 1911 (1).jpg,

, artist and mentor She was a patron and collector of works by other contemporary artists. For instance, she commissioned

Boris Anrep Boris Vasilyevich Anrep (; – 7 June 1969) was a Russian artist, active in Britain, who devoted himself to the art of mosaic. In Britain, he is known for his monumental mosaics at the National Gallery, London, Westminster Cathedral and the ...

, a Russian immigrant, to create mosaics and murals in her Vale, Chelsea house. Sands continued to entertain into the 1950s with her friends, including

Duncan Grant Duncan James Corrowr Grant (21 January 1885 – 8 May 1978) was a Scottish painter and designer of textiles, pottery, theatre sets, and costumes. He was a member of the Bloomsbury Group. His father was Bartle Grant, a "poverty-stricken" major ...

and

Desmond MacCarthy Sir Charles Otto Desmond MacCarthy (20 May 1877 – 7 June 1952) was a British writer and literary and dramatic critic. He was a member of the Cambridge Apostles, the intellectual secret society, from 1896. Early life and education The son ...

, until he died in 1952. She was described as a "plain woman of immense charm, cultivation and perception, and a painter of considerable talent" in the ''Dictionary of Real People and Places in Fiction.'' It was suggested there that Henry James modelled the character Nanda in ''

The Awkward Age ''The Awkward Age'' is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in ''Harper's Weekly'' in 1898–1899 and then as a book later in 1899. Originally conceived as a brief, light story about the complications created in her family's socia ...

'' after Sands.

World wars

Sands tended to soldiers who had been injured in France during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, having established a hospital for soldiers near

Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...

with Hudson. It was forced to close down, and they continued their nursing efforts in both France and England. Sands was then in Britain working as a forewoman in a factory that made overalls. In 1916 she became a British citizenship. During World War II, Sands served as a nurse. The house in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an area in West London, England, due south-west of Kilometre zero#Great Britain, Charing Cross by approximately . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the SW postcode area, south-western p ...

was destroyed during

The Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...

by a

parachute mine A parachute mine is a naval mine dropped from an aircraft by parachute. They were mostly used in the Second World War by the Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. ...

, and the house in France was broken into and its contents were stolen or destroyed. The two war-time events resulted in the loss of most of Sands' and Hudson's works.

Personal life

Sands and Hudson divided their time between England and France to accommodate their lifestyle preferences. Hudson enjoyed living a relatively quiet life in France and Sands liked the London and Oxford social life. Sands entertained people within and outside of the cultural elite throughout her life. When Hudson's health began to fail, Sands nursed her until she died in 1957. Sand continued to entertain after Hudson's death. Her date of death was 19 March 1962. Friend

wrote a sketch based upon her called "The Lady in the Looking Glass", subtitled "A Reflection", about a time that she saw her come "in from the garden and not reading her letters." The mirror symbolised the way in which art is used to take a snapshot in time, but can also cut. Wendy Baron, an author and art historian, wrote a biography about Sands, partly based upon the letters that Sands exchanged with Hudson and others. Tate Archives now holds the correspondence.

Works

Among the works that survived World War II plunders and bombings are: * ''A Dressing Room,'' oil on millboard, 46 x 38 cm, The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology. Before it came to The Ashmolean, it was owned by

. The museum commented on the similarity of this work to paintings made by

. * ''A Spare Room, Château d'Auppegard,'' c. 1925, oil on board, 44.5 x 53.5 cm,

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 ...

''A Spare Room, Château d'Auppegard.''
Your Paintings: Ethel Sands. BBC. Retrieved 18 January 2014. It was exhibited at British Council, Cairo & Algiers, 1944. * ''Auppegard Church from the Château, France,'' oil on canvas, 60 x 48 cm, City of London Corporation''Auppegard Church from the Château, France.''
Your Paintings: Ethel Sands. BBC. Retrieved 18 January 2014. * ''Bedroom Interior, Auppegard, France,'' oil on canvas, 60 x 48 cm, City of London Corporation * ''Double Doors, Auppegard, France,'' oil on canvas, 53 x 45 cm, City of London Corporation''Double Doors, Auppegard, France.''
Your Paintings: Ethel Sands. BBC. Retrieved 18 January 2014. * ''Figure Seated by an Open Window,'' oil on canvas, 60 x 48 cm, City of London Corporation * ''Flowers in a Jug,'' 1920s, oil on canvas, Tate * ''Girl Reading on a Sofa, Auppegard, France,'' oil on canvas, 53 x 46 cm, City of London Corporation * ''Girl Sewing, Auppegard, France,'' oil on canvas, 49 x 60 cm, City of London Corporation * ''Interior at Portland Place, London,'' oil on canvas, 43 x 58 cm, City of London Corporation * ''Interior with Mirror and Fireplace,'' oil on canvas, 65 x 53 cm, City of London Corporation * ''Interior with Still Life and the Statuette of the Madonna,'' oil on canvas, 67.3 x 58.5 cm, Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales * ''(Lloyd)

,'' 1932, oil on canvas, 61.4 x 49.8 cm, National Portrait Gallery, London * ''Nan Hudson Playing Patience at Auppegard, France,'' oil on canvas, 64 x 52 cm, City of London Corporation''Nan Hudson Playing Patience at Auppegard, France.''
Your Paintings: Ethel Sands. BBC. Retrieved 18 January 2014. * ''Still Life with a View over a Cemetery,'' oil on board, 45 x 37.5 cm, The Fitzwilliam Museum * ''Still Life with Books and Flowers,'' oil on canvas, 36 x 44 cm, City of London Corporation * ''Tea with Sickert,'' c. 1911–12, oil on canvas, 61 x 51 cm, Tate * ''The Bedroom at Auppegard, France, Girl Reading,'' oil on canvas, 51 x 61 cm, City of London Corporation * ''The Chintz Couch,'' c. 1911–12, oil on board, 46.5 x 38.5 cm, Tate * ''The Open Door, Auppegard, France,'' oil on canvas, 54 x 45 cm, City of London Corporation''The Open Door, Auppegard, France.''
Your Paintings: Ethel Sands. BBC. Retrieved 18 January 2014.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sands, Ethel 1873 births 1962 deaths Artists from Newport, Rhode Island British women artists British socialites 20th-century British painters 20th-century American women artists 19th-century American women artists American lesbian artists American socialites Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom