Edna Clarke Hall
Edna Clarke Hall | |
---|---|
Born | Edna Waugh 29 June 1879 Shipbourne, Kent, England |
Died | 16 November 1979 Deal, Kent, England | (aged 100)
Education | Slade School of Art |
Known for | drawing, painting, etching, lithography, poetry |
Spouse |
William Clarke Hall
(m. 1898; died 1932) |
Edna Clarke Hall (née Waugh; 29 June 1879 – 16 November 1979) was a
Early life and education
Born Edna Waugh in
The young Edna Waugh showed an early talent for drawing. When she was fourteen, a barrister friend of her father, William Clarke Hall (1866-1932) arranged for her to enter the Slade School of Fine Art.[2] Whilst there, Edna was taught by Henry Tonks, "the most renowned and formidable teacher of his generation".[5] She studied alongside Gwen and Augustus John, Ida Nettleship, Ambrose McEvoy and Albert Rutherston, and made many drawings and etchings of her new friends.[2] She won many prizes and certificates for her drawings and in 1897 was awarded a Slade scholarship.[1][2] Although a couple of oil paintings, painted under Gwen John's guidance, exist, Edna's favoured medium as a painter was watercolour.[6][7][8]
Marriage
The 19-year-old Edna married William Clarke Hall on 22 December 1898.
Apart from Wuthering Heights, Edna's sons, Justin (b. 1905) and Denis (1910–2006) were key subjects for her art. She frequently painted them whilst they were otherwise absorbed in their own pursuits, creating tender yet unsentimental portraits, typically in watercolour.[2]
In 1914, Henry Tonks persuaded his former pupil to hold a one-woman show at the
Breakdown and artistic identity
Edna Clarke Hall suffered a
Edna Clarke Hall wrote and published two volumes of poetry, Poems (1926) and Facets (1930).[1] Three of her 'Poem Pictures', which merged illustration and text in a manner reminiscent of William Blake, appear as lithographs in Facets.[2]
William Clarke Hall was knighted in 1932 for his work towards reforming child law, at which point his wife became Lady Clarke Hall, but he died later that year.[8][14] A Trust was formed by Mrs F. Samuel, Mrs. E. Bishop, and Michel H. Salaman, who were mutual friends of the Clarke Halls, to enable Edna to retain her studio and continue working.[8][11]
In 1939 a retrospective of her drawings was held at Manchester.[1] In 1941, Clarke Hall's London studio was destroyed, along with much of her work, by enemy action during the Blitz.[8]
Later life and death
The loss of her studio was a devastating blow. Clarke Hall gradually painted less and less until ceasing completely in the early 1950s.[2] She lived out the rest of her life with her niece and companion, Mary Fearnley Sander, until her death, aged 100, on 16 November 1979.[2]
Her son, Denis Clarke Hall, was President of the Architectural Association in 1958–59.[15]
References
- ^ a b c d Biography of Lady Edna Clarke Hall, Tate Online, accessed 3 February 2012
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Alison Thomas, 'Hall, Edna Clarke , Lady Clarke Hall (1879–1979)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 3 Feb 2012
- ISBN 1-85149-106-6.
- ^ Elain Harwood, Obituary of Denis Clarke Hall, The Independent, Tuesday 8 August 2006. Accessed 3 February 2012
- ^ "Tonks, Henry" The Oxford Dictionary of Art. Ed. Ian Chilvers. Oxford University Press, 2004.
- ^ Still Life of a Basket on a Chair, 1900, collection of the Tate Gallery. Accessed 3 February 2012
- ^ Benjamin Waugh c.1904, Painted by Edna Clarke Hall, accessed 3 February 2012
- ^ a b c d e f "Chronology and works of Edna Clarke Hall". Archived from the original on 20 July 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2010.. Accessed 23 May 2012.
- ^ a b Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff at Wuthering Heights c.1910–11 , pen and ink sketch. Tate Gallery, London, accessed 3 February 2012
- ^ Catherine leaning on a wall, 1900–05, pen and blue wash. Tate Gallery, London, accessed 8 February 2012
- ^ a b c Heathcliffe (sic) supporting Catherine, pen, ink and watercolour. Tate Gallery, London, accessed 8 February 2012
- ^ J. H. Collins Baker for The Saturday Review, 14 April 1914. Quoted by Alison Thomas, 'Hall, Edna Clarke , Lady Clarke Hall (1879–1979)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 3 Feb 2012
- ^ The Times, 9 February 1926. Quoted by Alison Thomas, 'Hall, Edna Clarke , Lady Clarke Hall (1879–1979)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 3 Feb 2012
- ISBN 0-8386-6747-3
- ^ "Denis Clarke Hall". The Independent. 22 September 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
Further reading
Thomas, Alison, Portraits of Women: Gwen John and Her Forgotten Contemporaries, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996.
External links
- 9 artworks by or after Edna Clarke Hall at the Art UK site