Margaret Justina Wrightson FRBS (1877–1976) was a British artist, renowned for her work in sculpture.[1][2]

Margaret Wrightson
Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
Born1877
Norton, County Durham
Died1976
NationalityBritish

Early life and education

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Margaret Wrightson was born at Norton Hall and her father was the politician Sir Thomas Wrightson.[3] She never married, and had a studio and home in Bedford Gardens in London.[4] Wrightson's younger sister, Jocelyn Wrightson, was a painter, mainly working in watercolours.[3]

Wrightson first studied under William Blake Richmond at the Royal College of Art before travelling to Paris to learn from Édouard Lantéri.[3] From 1901, Wrightson exhibited frequently at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition.[1] She also exhibited with the Society of Women Artists and at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.[5]

Career

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Wrightson received many commissions throughout her long career.[5] Theresa, Marchioness of Londonderry, commissioned Wrightson to create a female nude which was completed in 1912 and sold at Christies in 2014 for £68,500.[6] Wrightson created a sculpture of a woman titled ‘Mechanic, Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps’ in 1917 that was later exhibited at the Royal Academy; the work had been suggested as a war memorial.[7] In 1925 she created a 'Viking Warrior' for Walter Runciman.[8] Wrightston's memorial of Admiral Earl Jellicoe stands in St Paul's Cathedral, London.[9] Other public works include the figure of Saint George on the Cramlington war memorial in Northumberland, created in 1922, and a figure memorialising Charles Lamb, situated in the Inner Temple gardens, London.[4]

Several of Wrightson's works are in the collection of National Trust's Mount Stewart, including the popular bronze of Lady Mairi as a child.[10] The work was restored in 2012 after originally being commissioned in 1925, and erected in 1928.[11]

Wrightson became an Associate member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1929 and a Fellow in 1943.[1][5][12] She was also a member of the Royal Academy.[13]

Works

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Title Year Medium Gallery no. Gallery Location
Albert Sammons 1951–1952 - PPHC000370 Royal College of Music London, England
Albert Sammons 1951–1952 - PPHC000371 Royal College of Music London, England
Lady Edith Helen Chaplin, Marchioness of Londonderry, DBE (1878-1959) as President of the Women's Legion, Motor Drivers 1920 cast bronze & silver plated 1655801 Mount Stewart County Down, Northern Ireland
Lady Helen Maglona Vane-Tempest-Stewart (1911-1986) 1930 bronze 1220135 Mount Stewart County Down, Northern Ireland
Lady Mairi Elizabeth Vane-Tempest-Stewart, later Viscountess Bury (1921-2009) as a Child 1921–1926 Carrara marble 1221036 Mount Stewart County Down, Northern Ireland
Lady Mairi Elizabeth Vane-Tempest-Stewart, later Viscountess Bury (1921-2009) as a Child, aged 4 1925–1926 Carrara marble 1221050 Mount Stewart County Down, Northern Ireland
Lady Rose Keppel (b.1943), Attired in Highland Dress 1954 bronze 1220134 Mount Stewart County Down, Northern Ireland
Lord John Rushworth Jellicoe of Scapa (1859–1935) 1910 bronze 1983/1075/10 National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth England
Mechanic: Women's Auxiliary Army Corps[14] 1917 bronze 5352 England
Sir John Rushworth Jellicoe (1859–1935) 1910 bronze 1992/337/1 National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth England
The Mairi Fountain: Lady Mairi Elizabeth Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Viscountess Bury (1921-2009) 1928 bronze 1221060 Mount Stewart County Down, Northern Ireland
Viking Warrior 1925 bronze & sandstone - Northumberland County Council England
Youth and Progress[15] 1958 bronze and aluminium Fountain House, Fenchurch Street, EC3

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Miss Margaret J. Wrightson - Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951". sculpture.gla.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  2. ^ "WRIGHTSON Margaret Justina 1877-1976 | Artist Biographies". www.artbiogs.co.uk. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Sara Gray (2019). British women artists: A biographical dictionary of 1,000 women artists in the British decorative arts. United Kingdom. ISBN 978-1911121633. OCLC 1085975377.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ a b "Portrait Bust of Rear-Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, K.C.V.O., C.B., R.N., 1910". www.armoury.co.uk. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  5. ^ a b c "Twentieth Century British Art Artist Margaret Wrightson by Margaret Wrightson | www.lissllewellyn.com". www.lissllewellyn.com. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  6. ^ "A GEORGE V BRONZE FEMALE NUDE, ENTITLED 'SPIRIT OF THE GARDEN', ON A BRONZE-MOUNTED SANDSTONE FOUNTAIN PEDESTAL , BY MARGARET WRIGHTSON, DATED 1912". www.christies.com. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  7. ^ "Liss Fine Art unveil major WWI tribute". www.antiquestradegazette.com. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Wrightson, Margaret, Viking Warrior". vads.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  9. ^ "Admiral Earl Jellicoe". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  10. ^ ntmountstewart (28 July 2016). "Thumbs Up for Mairi". NT Mount Stewart - Volunteer's Garden Diary. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  11. ^ Savage, Claire (18 May 2012). "Mount Stewart Lady Mairi fountain restored". Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  12. ^ member file, Margaret Wrightson: archive of the Royal Society of Sculptors
  13. ^ "Margaret Wrightson | Artist | Royal Academy of Arts". www.royalacademy.org.uk. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  14. ^ "Liss Llewellyn". Liss Llewellyn. 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  15. ^ Royal Society of Sculptors, Royal Society of British Sculptors Annual Report of the Council for the year ending 31st December 1958 to be presented at the fifty-fifth Annual General Meeting 1959, annual reports file, archive of the Royal Society of Sculptors, p.19
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