Lot 294: Hilda Fearon (1878-1917)

The Bathers
signed 'HILDA.FEARON.' (lower left)
oil on panel; with a sketch of a bather wrapped in a checked shawl, under an umbrella (on the reverse)
15 1/8 x 18 in. (38.4 x 45.7 cm.)

Possibly London, Royal Academy, 1913, no. 354 as 'Under the Cliffs'.

Like her exact contemporary, Dorothea Sharp, Hilda Fearon was one of a number of female artists who were drawn to paint in Cornwall, where she worked under Algernon Talmage at St. Ives. Born in Banstead, Surrey, she studied in Dresden from 1897-99, and then at the Slade School from 1899-1904. She exhibited several works at the Royal Academy from 1908 until her early death in 1917, and was also a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Oil Colours. Costumes in black and white stripes and a limited, muted palette characterise her work. The checquered shawl appears as leitmotif, and can be seen in Enchantment, sold at Sotheby's Sussex, 22 May 1996, lot 112 (£93,900).

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