Flavia Ria Joan Blois, later Baroness Burntwood, (28 December 191428 March 1980) was a British landscape artist.

Biography

Blois was born at

Cockfield Hall Cockfield Hall in Yoxford in Suffolk, England is a Grade I listed private house standing in of historic parkland, partly dating from the 16th century. Cockfield Hall takes its name from the Cokefeud Family, established there at the beginning of ...

Yoxford Yoxford is a village in East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk, England, close to the Heritage Coast, Minsmere Reserve (RSPB), Aldeburgh and Southwold. It is known for its antique shops and (as "Loxford") for providing the setting for a Benjamin ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

into the

Blois family The Blois family (formerly spelled, and usually pronounced, Bloyse) have been substantial landowners in Suffolk for several centuries. Until recently the family home was at Cockfield Hall in Yoxford, Suffolk, a Grade 1 listed private house standin ...

. Her father was Sir Ralph Barrett MacNaghten Blois, a baronet, and her mother was Winifred Grace Blois née Kennard. Flavia Blois studied art in London, first at the

Chelsea School of Art Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art and design university in London, England. It offers further and higher education courses in fine art, graphic design, interior design, produ ...

and then at the

Euston Road School The Euston Road School is a term applied to a group of English painters, active either as staff or students at the School of Drawing and Painting in London between 1937 and 1939. The School opened in October 1937 at premises in Fitzroy Street, Lo ...

. She studied in Paris during 1939 and 1940 after which she turned away from portrait painting to depicting landscapes and street scenes. Blois painted many landscapes in the

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, ...

countryside, usually working in oils in her studio from ink notes made outdoors. She exhibited at the

Royal Academy 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 ...

on a regular basis and with both 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 ...

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 ...

. During her career she had three solo gallery shows. In 1948 Blois married Julian Snow who, in 1970, became a

Life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as Baron Burntwood, having previously been the Labour Party MP for

Lichfield and Tamworth Lichfield and Tamworth was a parliamentary constituency centred on the towns of Lichfield and Tamworth in Staffordshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the ...

. Blois died in 1980 at

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

in central London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blois, Flavia 1914 births 1980 deaths 20th-century English painters Alumni of Chelsea College of Arts

Burntwood Burntwood is a former mining town and civil parish in the Lichfield District of Staffordshire, England. It is approximately west of Lichfield and north east of Brownhills, with a population of 26,049 and forming part of Lichfield district. T ...

Daughters of baronets Artists from Suffolk Spouses of life peers 20th-century English women painters