Irene Stella Rolph Langdale (1880 – April 14, 1976) was an English and Canadian artist. She was commonly referred to as Stella Langdale.
She sketched primarily in charcoal but also used oils, watercolour, pastels and etching techniques especially aquatint in her work. She also produced sculptures. Her preferred subject matter was landscapes from North Africa, Italy and France, as well as imaginary images often with musical inspiration. She exhibited at the major British galleries including the Royal Scottish Academy, the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, and the Paris Salon. She was also a member of such organizations as the Senefelder Club, the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, and she was a founding member of The Print Society.
Early life
editStella Langdale was born in Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex. Her parents were Marmaduke Albert Langdale, a successful landscape painter, and Emma Jane Rolf.[1] Langdale was the youngest daughter of their four children.[1] Born Irene Stella Rolph Langdale, she seems to have rarely if ever used her full name, with the exception of her artist's signature or stamp.[1]
Langdale's father, Marmaduke Albert Langdale, was painter who regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy,[2] Her father regularly painted landscapes featuring the Thames.[3]
Education
editLangdale began her art education at the Brighton School of Art, and pursued further studies at the Glasgow School of Art, where she studied under the new director of the school, Francis Henry Newbery.[2] She would attend the Glasgow School of Art fo 1907 to 1910.[2] At the Glasgow School of Art, Langdale was trained in the distinctive multidisciplinary Glasgow School of Art Style.[2] As a student of Glasgow School of Art Style, Langdale was trained in a wide variety of mediums including watercolor painting, oil paints, charcoal and oil pastels, etching, and sculpture.[4] The Glasgow School of Art also provided Langdale with a formal education in anatomy, composition, design, construction, and both painting and drawing technique. After school, Langdale would go on to specialize in charcoal, lithography, and oil painting.[2]
The Glasgow School of Art Style was an amalgamation of several different artistic styles from different corners of the globe that were popular at the time that Langdale was a student: Orientalism, Realistic Impressionism, and Scottish Romanticism.[2] These phantasmic styles and their emphasis on myth from marginalized cultures would evolve into defining characteristics of Langdale's work. Langdale would go on research and write extensively about Celtic and other global mythologies.[2]
Career
editAs Langdale's style developed, her work began to align most strongly with the Symbolist Movement.[2] Inspired by mythology and music, Langdale blended these elements to create an etherial tone, which she blended with the contemporary Art Nouveau style to create her signature styles.[2]
Despite her earlier education in a variety of mediums, by 1915 Langdale worked primarily in charcoals and aquatints.[5] Inspired by the still-standing edifices to ancient religions, Langdale spent a large part of her professional life traveling between England, Greece, North Africa, and Italy.[2] Pulling influences from her travels and contemporary music, she sought to create a sense of the sublime in her work, which her new favored mediums allowed.[5]
The Print Society
editIn 1919, Langdale became a founding member of The Print Society.[6] She was the only female founding member of the group, working alongside Percy Delf Smith, Thomas Todd Blaylock, Patrick Frazer, Erik Hesketh Hubbard, Edward W. Charlton, Leslie Ward, Reginald Green, and Matthew Henderson.[6]
Noteworthy Illustrations
editMove to Canada
editIn 1939, Langdale's health began to fail her, preventing her from continuing her travels across Europe and North Africa.[2] As a result of her failing health,Langdale moved to Victoria, Canada sometime between 1939 and 1940.[2] Langdale made the move with her life-long companion, Florence Baynham, and her good friend and patron Katherine Maltwood.[5]Baynham, a noted pianist, and Langdale appear to have stayed together in the Empress Hotel in Victoria.[5]
When Langdale moved to Canada, she brought with her a large collection of her works which she sold to Katherine Maltwood and later donated to the Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery at the University of Victoria.[5]
External Links
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c "British Armorial Bindings: Langdale, Irene Stella Rolph (1880 -1976)". University of Toronto Libraries. October 25, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Segger, Martin (November 1989). "Stella Langdale: Artist and Illustrator 1880 - 1976" (PDF). Retrieved 11 October 2023.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Somerset & Wood Fine Art". somersetandwood.com. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
- ^ "John & Katharine Maltwood Collection: History of the Collection - Stella Langdale". maltwood.uvic.ca. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
- ^ a b c d e Brown, Rosemary (1981). "Notable B.C. Artists in the Collection - Stella Langdale". University of Victoria, Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery. Retrieved 11/1/2023.
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(help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b Hopkinson, Martin (2010). "Art for Schools: The Print Society". Print Quarterly. 27 (3): 263–277. ISSN 0265-8305.