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Amy Maud Tindal Atkinson (26 November 1875 – 20 May 1954) was an English artist, active in the 20th century, who exhibited paintings 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 pur ...
. She had no children and it is unknown if she at any time was married.


Biography

Atkinson was born at
Shortlands Shortlands is a suburb of South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It has been part of Greater London since 1965, and was previously part of the historic county of Kent. It is located between Beckenham and Bromley, to t ...
, near Bromley in Kent, to Henry Tindal Atkinson, a county judge and his wife Marion Lewin. She had three sisters Ethel, Enid and Doris, and one brother
Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
, later Sir Edward, Hale Tindal Atkinson, who served as the Director of Public Prosecutions from 1930 to 1944. Atkinson exhibited fifteen paintings 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 pur ...
from 1906 to 1937. Atkinson studied at the Art Department of Kings College for Women, in Kensington, under
Byam Shaw John Byam Liston Shaw (13 November 1872 – 26 January 1919), commonly known as Byam Shaw, was a British painter, illustrator, designer and teacher. He is not to be confused with his sons, Glen Byam Shaw, actor and theatre director, and James B ...
. In 1906, Byam Shaw exhibited at the Royal Academy a full-length watercolour portrait of her, entitled "Maud, Daughter of His Honour Judge Tindal Atkinson." The painting is reproduced in Rex Vicat Cole's "Art and Life of Byam Shaw" (London: Seeley Service, 1932), with the following commentary: " his worka water-colour is life-size, of a beautiful sitter, one of his students; her portrait appears in many illustrations y Byam Shawof this and a later period, and in the picture entitled "The Caged Bird" and in the wistful face of the girl to the right of the picture "The New Voice". Her natural charm, added to a gift for understanding what was in the artist's mind, as well as an admiration for his work and sympathetic help, made her a valued friend and an ideal sitter."(p.142). "The New Voice", reproduced by Cole (p. 158) was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1909. In it, Atkinson appears naked to the waist: it is a strikingly eroticised portrayal unintentionally reminiscent of soft pornography of the Edwardian era, and indicates that she was by no means hidebound by Edwardian convention. This bizarre painting, somewhat similar to works of a decade earlier by the German painter Arnold Boecklin, represents 'a group of pagans' in the evening light (rather similar to those in early productions of Ravel's Diaghilev ballet 'Daphnis and Chloe', 1912) who suddenly notice the diminutive figure of St John the Baptist on a distant hillside, proclaiming the Christian message. Byam Shaw was a committed Anglican and doubtless painted the work as a sincere contribution to Christian art; yet its erotic elements outstrip its moralizing intentions, leaving a distinctly ambivalent impression on the viewer. Byam Shaw placed his signature in a cartouche in the shape of a scroll, giving rise to the nickname 'the Scroll School' for himself and his friends
Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale (25 January 1872 – 10 March 1945) was an English artist known for her paintings, book illustrations, and a number of works in stained glass. Life Fortescue-Brickdale was born at her parents' house, Birchamp Vil ...
and Frank Cadogan Cowper. Atkinson used a similar device to support her own signature on works in watercolour. In 1915 Atkinson painted 'Ariel', a character from Shakespeare's ''The Tempest''. It was at one time with the Maas Gallery in London and is now in the collection of Sam Elliott. The work has been reproduced commercially on several book jackets including "The Fairyland Companion" and "The Fairy Garden" by Beatrice Phillpotts. Atkinson was a member of The Royal Society of Miniaturists in London and illustrated several children's books, including E. H. Paine, 'The Land of Nice New Clothes. Pictured by Maud Tindal Atkinson', London: Blackie and Son, 1921; Catherine Henrietta Milnes Gaskell,'Lady Ann's Fairy Tales ... With twelve illustrations ... by Maud Tindal Atkinson', London: printed for the author, 1914; S. J. Looker, ed., 'My Favourite Nursery Rhymes' Illustrations ... by Maud Tindal Atkinson', London: Daniel O'Connor, 1922; May H Brahe and Madge Dickson'Spindrift : five songs', with illustrations by Maud Tindal Atkinson, London; New York: Enoch & Sons, 1921.


Works

Atkinson's work includes the following: * Pansy with the fairies * Portrait of Tommy 1916 * Portrait of George 1916 * The red shoes * A group of Landscape and figure subjects * The balcony * Rose still life * Sir Galahad * The pity of the woods * The flower girl * Building Sandcastles File:Atkinson Sir Galahad.jpg, Sir Galahad File:Rose still life.jpg, Rose Still Life File:Ariel Atkinson.jpg, Ariel (1915) File:Portrait Tommy.jpg, Tommy (1916)


References


Further reading

* Royal Academy of Arts, General Archive. London .UK * Maas Gallery. London . UK http://www.massgallery.org/ * Rex Vicat Cole, "Art and Life of Byam Shaw" (London: Seeley, Service, 1932) * Tim Barringer, "Before and After Modernism: Byam Shaw, Rex Vicat Cole and Yinka Shonibare" (London: Central St Martin's, 2010). {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Maud Tindal 1875 births 1954 deaths 19th-century English painters 20th-century English painters 20th-century English women artists 19th-century English women artists British children's book illustrators British women illustrators English illustrators People from Bromley