Stansmore Richmond Leslie Dean Stevenson (3 June 1866 – 15 December 1944) was a Scottish artist known for her oil paintings. She was a member of a group of women artists and designers known as the Glasgow Girls.

Biography

Stansmore Richmond Leslie Dean was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

on 3 June 1866, the youngest of six children of Jean Leslie and Alexander Davidson Dean (1814–1910). Her father was an artist and engraver from

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

who co-founded the ''Gilmour and Dean Ltd'' printing company in 1846. She studied at the

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; ) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and design. These are all awa ...

from 1883 to 1889 where her contemporaries included

Bessie MacNicol Elizabeth MacNicol (5 July 1869 – 4 June 1904) was a Scottish painter and member of the Glasgow Girls group of artists affiliated with the Glasgow School of artists. Early life and education MacNicol was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on 5 July ...

and

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Charles Rennie Mackintosh (7 June 1868 – 10 December 1928) was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macd ...

. In 1890 she was the first female student to win the School's Haldane Travelling Scholarship bursary which she used to travel to Paris to study with

Gustave Courtois Gustave-Claude-Étienne Courtois, also known as Gustave Courtois (; 18 May 1852 in Pusey, Haute-Saône – 23 November 1923 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a French painter, a representative of the academic style of art. Early life and education C ...

at the

Académie Colarossi The Académie Colarossi (1870–1930) was an art school in Paris founded in 1870 by the Italian model and sculptor Filippo Colarossi. It was originally located on the Île de la Cité, and it moved in 1879 to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the ...

. Courtois shared a studio with

Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret Pascal-Adolphe-Jean Dagnan-Bouveret (7 January 1852 – 3 July 1929) was a French painter, one of the leading members of the naturalist school. Biography He was born in Paris, the son of a tailor, and was raised by his grandfather after hi ...

and Dean may have been influenced by his paintings of women in traditional costumes. Stevenson first exhibited her work in 1894 at the Glasgow Institute and exhibited there regularly until 1910. She also exhibited in Paisley, the

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History The Walker Art Gallery's collection dates from 1819 ...

in Liverpool, at the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country's national academy of art. It promotes contemporary art, contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy ...

and twice at the International Society in London. Her early work may have been influenced by the Society's president

James McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral a ...

. In 1899, her painting ''Pensive'' was accepted at the salon of the

Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (SNBA; ; ) was the term under which two groups of French artists united, the first for some exhibitions in the early 1860s, the second since 1890 for annual exhibitions. 1862 Established in 1862 by the painter a ...

in Paris. When exhibiting she was sometimes mistakenly thought to be a man due to her given name Stansmore. On returning from studying in Paris Stevenson opened a studio in 1894 at West Regent Street, Glasgow. She regularly spent the summer months in France and the Netherlands and while in the artists' colony at

Volendam Volendam () is a tourist town in the Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of Edam-Volendam, Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands, known for its streets, old fishing boats and the traditional clothing wor ...

she created oil sketches, drawings and portraits of men and women in traditional costumes. Her 1895 painting ''Byway, Old Holland'' shows the distinctive Dutch '' kraplap'' chemise and peaked lace hat. On 30 April 1902 Dean married the artist Robert Macaulay Stevenson and was step-mother to his daughter Jean. They lived at Stevenson's house, Robinsfield, near Bardowie Loch at

Milngavie Milngavie ( ; ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland and a suburb of Glasgow. It is on the Allander Water, at the northwestern edge of Greater Glasgow, and about from Glasgow city centre. It neighbours Bearsden. Milngavie is a commuter t ...

. The artists each had studios at Robinsfield. In 1905 she painted a portrait of the Scottish author Neil Munro which is now at the

Scottish National Portrait Gallery National Galleries Scotland: Portrait is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. Portrait holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Collec ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. Dean was a member of the Glasgow Society of Lady Artists' Club. She was elected to supervise the alterations to the Club's premises on

Blythswood Square Blythswood Square is the Georgian square on Blythswood Hill in the heart of the City of Glasgow, Scotland. The square is part of the 'Magnificent New Town of Blythswood' built in the 1800s on the rising empty ground west of a very new Buch ...

and she selected Charles Rennie Mackintosh as the designer. The Club's President and Council disagreed with Dean's choice of Mackintosh and as a result she resigned her position in protest. In 1910 Dean and Stevenson moved to

Montreuil-sur-Mer Montreuil-sur-Mer (; or ; ), Montreuil-on-the-Sea, is a subprefecture in the Pas-de-Calais Department in northern France. Though commonly called by this name since at least the twelfth century, it was legally known as Montreuil until 31 Decemb ...

in France where they stayed until 1926. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

they helped the needs of soldiers as they passed through the town on their way to the front. In 1932 she and her husband moved to Kirkcudbrightshire where she made use of the Greengate studios of the artist Jessie M. King. By then Dean's eyesight was beginning to fail and she painted less often. Dean died at

Castle Douglas Castle Douglas () is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies in the lieutenancy area of Kirkcudbrightshire, in the eastern part of Galloway, between the towns of Dalbeattie and Gatehouse of Fleet. It is in the ecclesiastical paris ...

, Kirkcudbrightshire on 15 December 1944.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Stansmore Dean 1944 deaths 1866 births 19th-century Scottish painters 19th-century Scottish women painters 20th-century Scottish painters Académie Colarossi alumni Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art Painters from Glasgow Portrait painters Glasgow Society of Women Artists member 20th-century Scottish women painters