From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
|
 |
|||
| Line 11: | Line 11: | ||
|
Gertrude was extremely close to her brother Llewelyn, and illustrated a number of his books, including ”Earth Memories” (1934), ”Rats in the Sacristy” (1937), and ”A Baker’s Dozen” (1941).<ref name=”:1″ /> |
Gertrude was extremely close to her brother Llewelyn, and illustrated a number of his books, including ”Earth Memories” (1934), ”Rats in the Sacristy” (1937), and ”A Baker’s Dozen” (1941).<ref name=”:1″ /> |
||
|
Gertrude Powys spent many years living with and caring for her father, and it has been argued that her “artistic career was sacrificed for the family.”<ref>{{Cite web |title=Self Portrait |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/self-portrait-60032 |access-date=2025-11-19 |website=artuk.org}}</ref> In ”The Life of Llewelyn Powys,” Malcolm Elwin noted that:<blockquote>John [Cowper Powys] recognized the debt owed by all the family when he dedicated Weymouth Sands ‘to Gertrude Mary Powys remembering her life with my father at Greenhill Terrace, Weymouth.’ Llewelyn witnessed all that this devotion meant in daily wastage of his gifted sister’s life, and fretted against the fate that denied her the time and training to develop fully her artistic talent.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Elwin |first=Malcolm |url=http://archive.org/details/lifeofllewellynp0000elwi |title=Life of Llewellyn Powys. |date=1953 |publisher=Macdonald |others=Internet Archive}}</ref></blockquote>Llewellyn Powys described his sister as: “a most generous, noble, distinguished creature—quite unsurpassed by any other woman I have ever seen. I am always happy with her.”<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/lettersofllewely0000loui |title=The Letters of Llewelyn Powys |publisher=John Lane and the Bodley Head |others=Internet Archive |year=1943 |editor-last=Wilkinson |editor-first=Louis |location=London |editor-last2=Gregory |editor-first2=Alyse}}</ref> |
Gertrude Powys spent many years living with and caring for her father, and it has been argued that her “artistic career was sacrificed for the family.”<ref>{{Cite web |title=Self Portrait |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/self-portrait-60032 |access-date=2025-11-19 |website=artuk.org}}</ref> In ”The Life of Llewelyn Powys,” Malcolm Elwin noted that:<blockquote>John [Cowper Powys] recognized the debt owed by all the family when he dedicated Weymouth Sands ‘to Gertrude Mary Powys remembering her life with my father at Greenhill Terrace, Weymouth.’ Llewelyn witnessed all that this devotion meant in daily wastage of his gifted sister’s life, and fretted against the fate that denied her the time and training to develop fully her artistic talent.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Elwin |first=Malcolm |url=http://archive.org/details/lifeofllewellynp0000elwi |title=Life of Llewellyn Powys. |date=1953 |publisher=Macdonald |others=Internet Archive}}</ref></blockquote>Llewellyn Powys described his sister as: “a most generous, noble, distinguished creature—quite unsurpassed by any other woman I have ever seen. I am always happy with her.”<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/lettersofllewely0000loui |title=The Letters of Llewelyn Powys |publisher=John Lane and the Bodley Head |others=Internet Archive |year=1943 |editor-last=Wilkinson |editor-first=Louis |location=London |editor-last2=Gregory |editor-first2=Alyse}}</ref> |
||
|
== Death == |
== Death == |
||
Latest revision as of 14:51, 19 November 2025
Gertrude Mary Powys (6 October 1877[1] – 23 April 1952)[2] was a British artist, notable for her portraits of members of the literary Powys family, including John Cowper Powys and Llewelyn Powys.[3][4]
Gertrude Mary Powys was born in Brailsford, Derbyshire in 1877,[5] one of the eleven children of Mary Cowper Johnson (1849–1914) and the Reverend Charles Francis Powys (1843–1923).[6] Her siblings included the writers John Cowper Powys, Theodore Francis Powys, Llewelyn Powys, and Philippa Powys.[6] Another sister, Marian Powys-Grey, became a world authority on old lace.[4]
Gertrude studied art at the Slade School of Fine Art and in Paris.[7] Between 1910–23 she lived at Montacute Vicarage, Somerset.[3]
Powys’ first solo exhibition was held at the Cooling Galleries in London in 1937.[7] It featured paintings and drawings of landscapes, as well as portraits, her “Dorset scenes” being described as “strong in colour and sound in technique” by the Western Mail.[8]
Gertrude was extremely close to her brother Llewelyn, and illustrated a number of his books, including Earth Memories (1934), Rats in the Sacristy (1937), and A Baker’s Dozen (1941).[3]
Gertrude Powys spent many years living with and caring for her father, and it has been argued that her “artistic career was sacrificed for the family.”[9] In The Life of Llewelyn Powys, Malcolm Elwin noted that:
John [Cowper Powys] recognized the debt owed by all the family when he dedicated Weymouth Sands ‘to Gertrude Mary Powys remembering her life with my father at Greenhill Terrace, Weymouth.’ Llewelyn witnessed all that this devotion meant in daily wastage of his gifted sister’s life, and fretted against the fate that denied her the time and training to develop fully her artistic talent.[10]
Llewellyn Powys described his sister as: “a most generous, noble, distinguished creature—quite unsurpassed by any other woman I have ever seen. I am always happy with her.”[11] He dedicated Skin for Skin (1925) to his sister.[12]
Gertrude Mary Powys died in Weymouth, Dorset on 23 April 1952.[2]
An exhibition of her work was arranged in conjunction with the conference of The Powys Society in Bath in 1986.[3]
- ^ “1939 Register”. Findmypast. 1939.
- ^ a b “England & Wales Government Probate Death Index 1858-2019”. Findmypast. 1952.
- ^ a b c d “Gertrude Mary Powys”. artuk.org. Retrieved 2025-11-19.
- ^ a b “John Cowper Powys”. The Times. 19 June 1963. p. 19.
- ^ “Derbyshire Registrars Birth Index”. Findmypast. 1877.
- ^ a b Foss, P. J. (2004-09-23). Powys, Llewelyn (1884–1939), writer. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/56994.
- ^ a b “The Powys Family”. Western Mail. 12 February 1937. p. 8.
- ^ Evans, Tim (27 February 1937). “Cooling Galleries”. Western Mail. p. 11.
- ^ “Self Portrait”. artuk.org. Retrieved 2025-11-19.
- ^ Elwin, Malcolm (1953). Life of Llewellyn Powys. Internet Archive. Macdonald.
- ^ Wilkinson, Louis; Gregory, Alyse, eds. (1943). The Letters of Llewelyn Powys. Internet Archive. London: John Lane and the Bodley Head.
- ^ Powys, Llewelyn (1925). Skin for Skin. Internet Archive. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company.
