Molly Barton (3 April 1861 – 8 November 1949) was an Irish artist.

Life

Molly Barton was born Mary Georgina Barton in

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

, County Louth on 3 April 1861. She was the youngest of the seven children of the civil engineer James Barton and his wife Catherine Frances Barton (née Golding). The family moved to Farndreg House, west of Dundalk in 1863, where Barton spent the rest of her childhood. Barton's mother died on her second birthday. Her father remarried to Mary Hewson in 1870, with whom he had six more children who survived to adulthood. She was educated at

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea began as a f ...

and Boulogne, moving to London in 1895 to attend the

Westminster School of Art The Westminster School of Art was an art school in Westminster, London. History The Westminster School of Art was located at 18 Tufton Street, Deans Yard, Westminster, and was part of the old Royal Architectural Museum. H. M. Bateman descri ...

. She then travelled to Rome in 1898, where she taught and studied art. Upon her return to Ireland she began to give art lessons to groups of women in country houses, teaching in five locations in 1900. In 1900 she exhibited with

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the Royal Irish Academy, the academy retained the word "Royal" after mo ...

, and with the Belfast Art Society in 1902. She was a member of the

Women's International Art Club The Women's International Art Club, briefly known as the Paris International Art Club, was founded in Paris in 1900. The club was intended to "promote contacts between women artists of all nations and to arrange exhibitions of their work", and ...

, and briefly of the Watercolour Society of Ireland. Barton held a joint exhibition with Ina Clogstoun at the

Fine Art Society The Fine Art Society is a gallery based in both London and in Edinburgh's New Town (originally Bourne Fine Art, established 1978). The New Bond Street, London gallery closed its doors in August 2018 after being occupied by The Fine Art Society ...

in 1902 entitled ''Irish life and scenery''. She exhibited there again in 1905. In 1904 two of her paintings, ''Autumn in Muckross'' and ''A cypress avenue'', were included in

Hugh Lane Sir Hugh Percy Lane (9 November 1875 – 7 May 1915) was an Irish art dealer, collector and gallery director. He is best known for establishing Dublin's Municipal Gallery of Modern Art (the first known public gallery of modern art in the ...

's exhibition of Irish art at London's Guildhall. She visited family members in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 1905, going on to visit

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

. In 1909 she made an extended trip across

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Her paintings from this trip resulted in an exhibition at the Fine Art Society in 1909 called ''Mexico: watercolours''. She also wrote an article for '' The Studio'' on her experiences in Mexico in 1910, and produced an illustrated book ''Impressions of Mexico'' (1911). In 1914 she travelled to Canada, and in 1929 she visited

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and France. Throughout this time she exhibited, with her paintings shown in Liverpool, Durban, Leeds, Venice, Vienna and Paris. Her last four paintings were shown in 1930 at the Royal Hibernian Academy. She exhibited with the

Society of Women Artists The Society of Women Artists (SWA) is a British art body dedicated to celebrating and promoting fine art created by women. It was founded as the Society of Female Artists (SFA) in 1855, offering women artists the opportunity to exhibit and sell ...

regularly, being appointed an associate member in 1909 and a full number in 1911. Amongst her best known works are ''Fountain in the cathedral patio, Seville'' and ''The road winds uphill all the way''. Later in life she lived in London and Bracknell, Berkshire. She died there on 8 November 1949. In the 1970s Bartons works began to be much prized by collectors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Molly 1861 births 1949 deaths People from Dundalk 20th-century Irish women artists Artists from County Louth 19th-century Irish painters 20th-century Irish painters 19th-century Irish women painters