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Dame Ethel Walker DBE ARA (9 June 1861 – 2 March 1951) was a Scottish painter of portraits, flower-pieces, sea-pieces and decorative compositions. From 1936, Walker was a member of The London Group.[1] Her work displays the influence of Impressionism, Puvis de Chavannes, Gauguin and Asian art. Walker achieved considerable success throughout her career, becoming the first female member elected to the New English Art Club in 1900.[2] Walker's works were exhibited widely during her lifetime, at the Royal Academy, the Royal Society of Arts and at the Lefevre Gallery. She represented Britain at the Venice Biennale four times, in 1922, 1924, 1928 and 1930.[3][1] Although Walker proclaimed that 'there is no such thing as a woman artist. There are only two kinds of artist — bad and good', she was elected Honorary President of the Women's International Art Club in 1932.[4][2] Soon after her death, she was the subject of a major retrospective at the Tate in 1951 alongside Gwen John and Frances Hodgkins.[1] Walker is now acknowledged as a lesbian artist, a fact which critics have noted is boldly apparent in her preference for women sitters and female nudes.[5][6][7] It has been suggested that Walker was one of the earliest lesbian artists to explore her sexuality openly in her works.[5] While Walker was contemporarily regarded as one of the foremost British women artists, her influence diminished after her death, perhaps due in part to her celebration of female sexuality.[8][9][10] Made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1943, Walker was one of only four women artists to receive the honour as of 2010.[3]
- ^ a b c The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 2006. p. 363. ISBN 9780748626601.
- ^ a b Rideal, Liz (2002). Mirror, Mirror Self-portraits by Women Artists. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 60. ISBN 9780823030712.
- ^ a b Greer, Germaine (20 June 2010). "Paula Rego is the fourth woman painter to be made a dame. I wish she'd refused". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
- ^ Wullschlager, Jackie. "Queer Art At Tate Britain". Financial Times. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
- ^ a b Hyde, Sarah (1997). Exhibiting Gender. Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. 49. ISBN 9780719042430.
- ^ Summers, Claude (2012). The Queer Encyclopedia of the Visual Arts. New Jersey: Cleis Press. p. 360. ISBN 9781573448741.
- ^ Bedworth, Candy (22 August 2019). "Dame Ethel Walker – A Sensitive Portrait". Daily Art Magazine. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
- ^ Reckitt, Helena (2022). The Art of Feminism, Revised Edition. London: Chronicle Books LLC. p. 83. ISBN 9781797220383. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
- ^ Cooper, Emmanuel (2005). The Sexual Perspective Homosexuality and Art in the Last 100 Years in the West. London: Taylor & Francis. p. 90. ISBN 9781134834587. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
- ^ Bilton, Dominic. ""(re)remembered and celebrated"". British Art Network. Retrieved 2 December 2022.