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Lady Louisa Tenison (c. 1820 - 27 Aug 1882) was an English artist, traveler and author.
She and her husband traveled through Egypt, Palestine and Syria in 1843, which led her to create a series of drawings of sites such as Karnak, Petra and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, later published in her book ''Sketches in the East''. Several years later, she documented their tour of Spain in her work ''Castile and Andalucia'', which she wrote and also co-illustrated along with painter
Biography
Lady Louisa Mary Anne Anson (later Tenison) was the daughter ofThomas Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield
Thomas William Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield PC (20 October 1795 – 18 March 1854), previously known as The Viscount Anson from 1818 to 1831, was a British Whig politician from the Anson family. He served under Lord Grey and Lord Melbourne a ...
and his wife Louisa Catherine Philips, the eldest of their 8 children.
She married Lt. Col Edward King-Tenison on 26 Nov 1838. They had two daughters, Louisa Frances Mary and Florence Margaret Christina. Her husband was an MP and in the 1840s became intensely interested in the emerging practice of photography.
She and her husband traveled through Egypt, Palestine and Syria in 1843, which led her to create a series of drawings of sites such as Karnak, Petra and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, later published in her book ''Sketches in the East''. Several years later, she documented their tour of Spain in her work ''Castile and Andalucia'', which she wrote and also co-illustrated along with painter Egron Lundgren
Egron Sellif Lundgren (18 December 1815, Stockholm – 16 December 1875, Stockholm) was a Swedish painter and author who specialized in watercolors.
Biography
His father, Erik Lundgren, was a manufacturer. After 1829, he studied at the Teknolo ...
. She also assisted James Uwins (nephew of Thomas Uwins RA) with his drawings of the city of Granada, which were the source for paintings by Robert Burford exhibited at the Leicester Square Panorama in 1853.
She lived with her husband at Kilronan Castle
Kilronan Castle, previously known as Castle Tenison, is a large country house standing in of parkland on the shore of Lough Meelagh in County Roscommon, Republic of Ireland, from the village of Ballyfarnon.
The house, originally constructed ...
, Co Roscommon - a family estate which she and her husband significantly enlarged in the 1870s. She took an active role in the building works, notably dismissing the builder Sir Thomas Newenham Deane
Sir Thomas Newenham Deane (1828 – 8 November 1899) was an Irish architect, the son of Sir Thomas Deane and Eliza Newenham, and the father of Sir Thomas Manly Deane. His father and son were also architects.
Works attributed to Thomas New ...
after a disagreement over cost overruns. She died in Trieste
Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into pr ...
on 27 Aug 1882.
In art and literature
Her portrait byJohn Phillip
John Phillip (19 April 1817–1867) was a Victorian era Scottish painter best known for his portrayals of Spanish life. He started painting these studies after a trip to Spain in 1851. He was nicknamed John 'Spanish' Phillip.
Life
Born ...
is part of the collection of the Royal Scottish Academy of Art & Architecture.
A book entitled '' The Book of Fenagh or of St. Caillin'' was dedicated to her, recognising her commitment both to "the land of her adoption" as well as her knowledge of the Celtic language. She and her husband supported the translation of the book and also supplied early photographs of Fenagh.
One of her watercolour paintings featured in ''Sketches in the East'', depicting the House of the British consul in Damascus, resides in the UK government art collection. In the book, she describes this room as being "one of the most splendid in Damascus."
References
Sources
* * * * * *{{cite book , last1=Tenison , first1=Louisa , title=Sketches in the East by Lady Louisa Tenison. Drawn on Stone by Dickinson & Son. omprising Views in Egypt, Arabia, Petra & Syria , date=1846 , location=London , url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/557239530 , language=en 1882 deaths 19th-century English painters English women painters Daughters of British earls 19th-century British women artists 19th-century English women