Mary Cameron (painter)

Mary Cameron in her studio

Mary Margaret Cameron (9 March 1865 – 15 February 1921) was a Scottish artist, renowned for her depictions of everyday Spanish life. She exhibited fifty-six works at the Royal Scottish Academy between 1886 and 1919.

Early Life and education

Mrs. Blair with her Dogs
The grave of the Cameron family, Dean Cemetery

Mary Margaret Cameron[1] was born on 9 March 1865 in Portobello, Midlothian, Scotland, the third of six children of Duncan Cameron and Mary Brown Small.[2] Her father was associated with the Edinburgh, Scotland printing and stationery firm of Macniven and Cameron and the inventor of the "Waverley" pen-nib.[1] Her father also owned The Oban Times newspaper. Her mother was a member of the Smalls of Dirnanean of Perthshire, Scotland. Cameron was the younger sister of Flora Macaulay – widow of the Rev Robert Blair – who was Editor of The Oban Times newspaper until her death age 99 in 1958.

Cameron first began her art education at the age of sixteen through the Trustees Drawing Academy of Edinburgh, winning prizes as early as age seventeen.[3] She took classes at the Edinburgh Veterinary College to perfect her understanding of animal anatomy,[4] and developed a particular skill for depicting horses. This reflected her early interest in unusual subject matter, and was helped by her ability to use her own horse as a model.[3]

Spain

In 1900, Cameron travelled to Madrid in Spain to study the work of 17th-century Spanish painter, Diego Velazquez.[5] She fell in love with the country and in particular the people and culture. She painted many Spanish scenes, particularly bullfights,[1] and lived for a time in Madrid and Seville. She generated controversy in her native Scotland over her realistic portrayal of the sometimes brutal bullfighting scenes.[6]

Career

Cameron was a member of the Edinburgh Ladies' Art Club and was later involved with the Royal Scottish Academy.[4] She exhibited fifty-six works at the Royal Scottish Academy between 1886 and 1919.[7][8] Her painting, Portrait de Mme. Blair et ses borzois received a "Mention Honorable" at The Paris Salon in 1904.[9] The winning portrait depicted her sister Flora with her two Russian Borzoi dogs at either side.[4] The painting, along with one of Cameron's Spanish paintings, were published in the book Women Painters of the World (1905).[10]

In addition to being a talented artist, Cameron was also a capable linguist.[11] Cameron was able to speak French and Spanish fluently.[4] She also had a good knowledge of German and Italian, and knew enough Russian to read and translate it.[4]

Mary Cameron was the wife of Alexis Millar,[12] a horse dealer and jobmaster in Edinburgh. The couple were married at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London on 30 June 1905.[12] Mary Cameron died at Turnhouse, a hamlet immediately west of the Edinburgh city boundary (now the site of Edinburgh Airport), on 15 February 1921,[11] and is buried in Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh. The grave lies in the obscured southern terrace, towards the east end.

Legacy

Cameron has a small number of paintings in the British national collections.[13]

A portrait of Mary at work in her studio, by John Brown Abercromby, is held by the National Gallery of Scotland.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Reynolds, Sian (2007). Paris-Edinburgh: Cultural Connections in the Belle Epoque. Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 61. Taking the Boat-Train to Mountparnasse
  2. ↑ "Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564–1950". Family Search, Church of Latter Day Saints. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  3. 1 2 Helland, Janice. Professional women painters in nineteenth-century Scotland : commitment, friendship, pleasure. Ashgate.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Helland, Janice (2000). Professional women painters in nineteenth-century Scotland : commitment, friendship, pleasure. Aldershot [u.a.]: Ashgate. pp. 151–169. ISBN 0754600688.
  5. ↑ Strang, Alice (2015). Modern Scottish Women : Painters and Sculptors 1885–1965. Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland. p. 42. ISBN 9781906270896.
  6. ↑ "Mary Cameron, Scotch Artist, is Severely Criticised for Painting Spanish Bull Fights". The Milwaukee Sentinel. 17 July 1910. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  7. ↑ "McTear's Auctioners". Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  8. ↑ Ballin, Ada S. (1904). Womanhood, Volume 12. Office of Womanhood, Strand, London, England. p. 109. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  9. ↑ Caw, Sir James Lewis (1908). Scottish painting, past and present, 1620–1908. Edinburgh, Scotland: T. C. and E. C. Jack. p. 429. Retrieved 16 February 2013. The Figure-Painters
  10. ↑ Women Painters of the World, online from gutenberg.org, pages 124, 131, 155,
  11. 1 2 "Births, Deaths, Marriages". The Scotsman, Edinburgh Scotland. 18 February 1921. p. 10.
  12. 1 2 Cameron, Mary, Millar, Alexis. "London and Surrey, England, Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1597–1921". Ancestry.com, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
  13. ↑ Paintings by Mary Cameron at the Art UK site
  14. ↑ http://nationalgalleriesdigitisation.tumblr.com/post/133001958778/john-brown-abercromby-mary-cameron-artist-in

External links

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