 |
|
|
Edith King
Edith King's
watercolours are in contrast to the extensive views shown in Bertha's
work and present a closer more intimate view of nature.
The large body
of work which she produced serves as a comprehensive record of a
life lived by a poet and artist in South Africa during the first
half of the twentieth century- of travels at home and abroad - and
of a stylistic development towards Modernism.
Mature works
illustrate her deeply felt responses to nature and her search for
a more poetic vision of harmony and rhythmic form within the enormity
and complexity of the landscape. Nature's growth and movement finds
expression in controlled, sinuous Art Nouveau-like form, line and
pattern. Mountainous rock pools, tree ferns, flowering aloes, indigenous
trees and grassland include Edith's favourite subjects. |
Edith King was born in Pietermaritzburg 1870 - 1962
Art Education
- 1888 – 1902 : Read Modern Languages at Oxford (BA Hons) – trained for Teacher’s Diploma in Bristol; studied in life-classes at Bristol School of Art.
- 1925 – 1927 : Edith King studied art informally in Paris.
Short Artist Biography
- The elder sister of Bertha Everard, Educated in England.
- 1903 : Edith King taught English at Redland, near Clifton, England.
- 1905 : Edith King returned to South Africa; taught at Eunice School for Girls, Bloemfontein.
- 1913 : Edith King appointed Headmistress at Eunice School.
- 1923 : Edith King retired and subsequently concentrated on self-expressive activities.
- 1924 – 1927 : She joined the family in Europe, studied art and wrote verse.
- 1929 : On her return to South Africa, Edith King settled at “Bonnefoi” painting and writing fulltime.
- 1931 : Edith King organized the first Everard Group exhibition, Herbert Evans Gallery, Johannesburg. She published “Country Rhymes for Children”; “Fifty Country Rhymes.; “Bloemfontein”; “Delville Wood Poems”. Painted exclusively in watercolour.
Art Exhibitions
- 1910 : South African National Union Exhibition of Arts and Crafts, Johannesburg (at which exhibition her watercolour paintings were initially mistaken for an aspect of Bertha Everard’s contribution and, thus, were not accorded separate consideration by the judges.
- 1931 : Edith King'S first Everard Group exhibition, Herbert Evans Gallery, Johannesburg.
- 1936 : Empire Exhibition, Johannesburg.
- 1952 : Van Riebeeck Tercent Exhibition, Cape Town.
- 1955 : Pretoria Centenary Art Exhibition.
- 1956 : First Quad of South African Art.
- 1960 : Second Quad of South African Art; various art exhibitions with the Everard Group.
- 1967 : Prestige retrospective exhibition “The Everard Group”, Pretoria Art Museum.
Public Art collections
South African National Art Gallery, Cape Town; Johannesburg Art Gallery; Pretoria Art Museum; Ann Bryant Art Gallery, East London; Tatham Art Gallery, Pietermaritzburg; King George VI Gallery, Port Elisabeth; William Humphreys Art Gallery, Kimberley.
Source
Berman, E. 1994. Art & Artists of South Africa . Southern Book Publishers. |
|
