Edith Somerville 1858-1949

Edith Somerville is probably most famous for her partnership with her cousin, Violet Martin, with whom she formed the popular literary duo [E.] Somerville and [‘Martin’] Ross. Their amusing tales of the Experiences of an Irish R.M., first published in 1899, are still in print today, often accompanied by Edith’s original illustrations.

Less well known as a painter but none the less accomplished for this fact, Edith displays here the continental style that Lavery, O’Conor and Leech, amongst others, did so much to popularise at the turn of the century. Sketched at Annecy, in France, the paint is built up here with lovely wet swipes suggestive of the earlier square-brush technique, yet that also possess additional fluidity and freedom. The subject matter of a local lavendeuse or blancheuse was also adopted by Lavery at Grez-sur-Loing (see his major work On the Loing: An Afternoon Chat, 1884, coll. Ulster Museum, Belfast). Having trained in Paris on and off from 1884, Somerville visited Brittany herself in 1891. A retrospective of her work will be held at the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, Edith Somerville, The Painter, 25th March-15th August 2004.