Mary Smirke (22 June 1779 – 14 September 1853) was an English artist and translator.

Biography

Smirke was one of the eight children born to the painter and illustrator Robert Smirke and his wife Elizabeth, who died in 1825. Their other children included the architects Sir Robert Smirke and

Sydney Smirke Sydney Smirke (20 December 1797 – 8 December 1877) was a British architect. Smirke who was born in London, England as the fifth son of painter Robert Smirke and his wife, Elizabeth Russell. He was the younger brother of Sir Robert Smirke ...

, the draughtsman Richard Smirke and the lawyer and archaeologist Sir

Edward Smirke Sir Edward Smirke (1795 – 4 March 1875) was an English lawyer and antiquary. Life The third son of Robert Smirke, and brother of Sir Robert Smirke, and of Sydney Smirke, he was born at Marylebone. He was educated privately and at St. John's ...

Portrait of Robert Smirke by Mary Smirke

Mary Smirke attended school in

Rickmansworth Rickmansworth () is a town in south-west Hertfordshire, England, located approximately north-west of central London, south-west of Watford and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal ( ...

and received her artistic training from her father. She was employed as a painter and copyist by

Nathaniel Dance-Holland Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland, 1st Baronet (8 May 1735 – 15 October 1811) was an English painter and politician. Early life The third son of architect George Dance the Elder, Dance (he added the 'Holland' suffix later in life) studied art ...

and Sir

Thomas Lawrence Sir Thomas Lawrence (13 April 1769 – 7 January 1830) was an English people, English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was a ...

and in due course became a well-regarded landscape painter. Between 1809 and 1814 she exhibited six paintings 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 ...

in London. These paintings included ''View of Arundel Castle'' and ''Cottege near Blackheath''. Smirke was also a translator and in 1818 her English translation of ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

'', with illustrations by her father, was published. She published two volumes of poetry, in 1843 and 1853, as ''Illustrated Translations from the German'' which she also illustrated with pen and ink drawings. Smirke's portrait of her father is held by the Royal Academy in London. The portrait was copied and engraved by John Jackson and Charles Picart and examples of that engraving are held by the

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 ...

while both 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 ...

and the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

hold examples of her drawings. The

Yale Center for British Art The Yale Center for British Art at Yale University in central New Haven, Connecticut, houses the largest and most comprehensive collection of British art outside the United Kingdom. The collection of paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, rare ...

holds a 1823 painting by Smirke.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smirke, Mary 1779 births 1853 deaths 19th-century English painters English illustrators English translators 19th-century English women painters