Sarah Louisa Kilpack (1839–1909) or Sarah Louise Kilpack was a British artist and musician who is best known for her portrayals of stormy coastal scenes.

Life

Kilpack was born in

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

in London. Her father, Thomas, was the proprietor of a popular tobacconists and bowling alley called Gliddon's Divan. She was a talented but shy child, enjoying artistic pursuits including drawing and music. As a young woman she became a King's Scholar at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke ...

, under the tutelage of

Kate Loder Kate Fanny Loder, later Lady Thompson, (21 August 1825 – 30 August 1904) was an English composer and pianist. Biography Kate Loder was born on 21 August 1825, on Bathwick Street, Bathwick, within Bath, Somerset where the Loder family w ...

. She became an Associate of the academy and began a career as a pianist, performing in concerts and providing tuition. Income from her musical work enabled her to travel outside of London, where she would sketch. The family became more dependent on the income from her concert playing particularly after the death of her mother in 1863. At this time she first travelled to the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey ...

where she became a frequent visitor. She remained somewhat distrustful of people, which is reflected in the stormy nature of many of her paintings. In 1876, following the demise of her father, she gave up music and concentrated on art. She became a very successful artist with a particular focus on

marine art Marine art or maritime art is a form of figurative art (that is, painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture) that portrays or draws its main inspiration from the sea. Maritime painting is a genre that depicts ships and the sea—a genre parti ...

, exhibiting 119 landscapes at 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 about 1855, offering women artists the opportunity to exhibit and ...

between 1867 and 1909, and also at the

British Institution The British Institution (in full, the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom; founded 1805, disbanded 1867) was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it w ...

. In the early 1880s she was earning about £500 a year from painting. She died in 1909 of cancer.

Legacy

In 1989, a series of stamps was issued to mark the 150th anniversary of Sarah Louisa Kilpack's birth, highlighting her importance in the

culture of Jersey The culture of Jersey is the culture of the Bailiwick of Jersey. Jersey has a mixed Franco-British culture, however modern Jersey is culture is very dominated by British cultural influences and has also been influenced by immigrant communitie ...

. Her works are exhibited in the Jersey Museum and Art Gallery, and in the Rona Cole Art Gallery on Guernsey. Paintings by Kilpack can also be found at

Chepstow Museum Chepstow Museum is a museum in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It is operated by Monmouthshire Museums Service. Location Chepstow Museum is located close to the town centre, opposite Chepstow Castle in Bridge Street, near the R ...

Hastings Museum and Art Gallery Hastings Museum & Art Gallery is a museum and art gallery located in, Hastings, East Sussex, England. Established in 1892, it originally resided in the Brassey Institute (now the town's library), but moved to its current location in 1927. it ...

and the National Trust property

Belton House Belton House is a Grade I listed country house in the parish of Belton near Grantham in Lincolnshire, England, built between 1685 and 1688 by Sir John Brownlow, 3rd Baronet. It is surrounded by formal gardens and a series of avenues leading t ...

References

External links

Sarah Louisa Kilpack at The Island Wiki
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kilpack, Sarah 1839 births 1909 deaths 19th-century English painters 20th-century English painters 19th-century English women artists 20th-century English women artists Arts in Guernsey Arts in Jersey British marine artists Painters from London People from Covent Garden