Catherine Elizabeth Macready Perugini (''née'' Dickens; 29 October 1839 – 9 May 1929) was an English painter of the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edward ...

and the daughter of Catherine Dickens and

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

Biography

Born Catherine Dickens and nicknamed Kate or Katey, she was Charles Dickens's youngest surviving daughter, and according to her siblings her father's favourite child. Dickens reportedly named her after his friend, the actor William Macready. As a girl, she also bore the nickname "Lucifer Box" for her hot temper. She travelled widely with her family as a child, and performed in her father's elaborate amateur theatrical productions – including the 1857 performance of Wilkie Collins's '' The Frozen Deep'' before

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

. In 1858, her parents separated and the children remained with their father. The reason for the separation remains unclear, though rumours have focused on the close relationship between Charles Dickens and Ellen Ternan, an actress many years his junior, and/or

Georgina Hogarth Georgina Hogarth (22 January 1827 – 19 April 1917) was the sister-in-law, housekeeper, and adviser of English novelist Charles Dickens and the editor of three volumes of his collected letters after his death. Biography 'Georgy' Hogarth was ...

. Her first husband was the artist and author Charles Allston Collins, younger brother of Wilkie Collins; they were married on 17 July 1860. Perugini reportedly had an affair with Valentine Prinsep during her marriage to Collins. After his death from cancer in 1873, Kate married another artist, Charles Edward Perugini. The couple married in secret in 1873, then had an official ceremony in 1874. She and Perugini had one child, Leonard Ralph Dickens Perugini. He died on 24 July 1876, at the age of seven months. The Peruginis were active in artistic society and maintained friendships with J. M. Barrie and

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

amongst other celebrities of their era. Like her first husband, she pursued literary endeavours along with her painting. Kate was the primary source of information used by biographer Gladys Storey for her book ''Dickens and Daughter'', which revealed Dickens's affair with the actress Ellen Ternan. Supporters of Charles Dickens attacked the book as being unreliable, especially the passages about Ellen Ternan and the birth of a child. However, George Bernard Shaw wrote to ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'' to say that Kate had told him everything in the book forty years before. Charles Perugini died in 1918 and was buried alongside his baby son. Kate survived her husband by ten years, dying at the age of 89. One of the causes of death listed on her death certificate was "exhaustion."

Career

At the age of 12, Kate Dickens began studying art at Bedford College, the first institution of higher learning for women in Britain. She became a successful painter of portraits and genre paintings, sometimes collaborating with her husband Charles Perugini. Kate sought to distinguish herself from her father, refusing to be associated only with his fame. In 1880 Sir

John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest s ...

painted her in one of his "most striking portraits." It was exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery Summer Exhibition in 1881. This painting depicts Perugini standing with her back to the painter but profiling her distinctive features. The portrait of Perugini, who had also exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery was a wedding gift by Millais, presented on her marriage to Charles Perugini. It is an example of Millais' later style of portraiture that is looser, more luscious and sketch-like than the naturalism of the

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, Jam ...

. In showing the picture at the Grosvenor, "Perugini advertised herself as part of a cultured, educated and artistic family" Denney, Colleen (2000). At the Temple of Art: The Grosvenor Gallery, 1877–1890. Issue 1165. ''Portrait of Mrs. Kate Perugini'', page 153 Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. . Millais had previously used her as a model for his painting '' The Black Brunswicker'' (1860). A portrait painter, she started exhibiting her works at the

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

shows in 1877. She also regularly exhibited her work at the Society of Watercolour Painters and the Society of Lady Artists. Perugini sent three works to the Grosvenor Gallery between 1880 and 1882. One entitled ''Civettina'' (1880) is an Italian

genre painting Genre painting (or petit genre), a form of genre art, depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity can be attache ...

depicting a half-length portrait of a girl in profile, with her back to the viewer as in her own portrait by Millais. Perugini exhibited her work at the Palace of Fine Arts and The Woman's Building at the 1893

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, h ...

in Chicago, Illinois. Perugini is particularly known for her portraits of children, that include: ''A Little Woman'' (1879), ''Feeding Rabbits (1884)''
Dorothy de Michele
(1892), and ''A Flower Merchant''.

Bibliography

* Gladys Storey, (1939) Dickens and Daughter, Frederick Muller, reprinted New York, Haskell House, 1971 – memoir by a close friend * Lucinda Hawkins, (2006) Katey: The Life and Loves of Dickens's Artist Daughter, Doubleday, London, England. * Lucinda Hawkins, (2013) Charles Dickens' Favorite Daughter: The Life, Loves, and Art of Katey Dickens Perugini, Globe Pequot Press, USA * Lucinda Hawkins, (2018) Dickens's Artistic Daughter Katey: Her Life, Loves & Impact, Pen & Sword History, London

Illustrations of works

File:Katechalk Perugini.jpg File:Agnes pheobe burra KatePerugini.jpg File:Kate Perugini.jpg File:Dora by Kate Perugini.jpg

References

External links