Ethel Wright (painter)

Ethel Wright later Ethel Bradley (1866 – 1939) was a British portrait painter. Wright has several paintings in British national collections and her most famous work is a portrait of Suffragette Christabel Pankhurst, which currently resides at the National Portrait Gallery.[1]

Ethel Wright
Portrait of Ethel Wright by Hayman Seleg Mendelssohn
Born1866
London, England
Died1939 (aged 72–73)
NationalityBritish
EducationAcadémie Julian, Paris
OccupationPainter
Known forPortraiture
SpouseMr Bradley

Work

Wright was born in London, England and later studied at the Académie Julian in Paris, France with the support and on the advice of renowned portraitist Solomon Joseph Solomon.[2] By the late 19th Century she was regularly exhibiting as a society portraitist at The Royal Academy[3] and achieved a profile as a painter in the 1890s identified in the modernist Rhythm Group.[4]

She was also known for painting Pierrot.[5]

Suffragette Portraits

Having achieved some recognition as a society portraitist, Wright became increasingly political as did her portraits. Wright became a supporter of the suffragettes.[6][2] In 1909 Wright painted her most famous portrait, that of Christabel Pankhurst.[7]

Her full length portrait of Christabel Pankhurst was exhibited at "The Women's Exhibition", hosted by the WSPU, funded by Clara Mordan and held at the Prince's Ice Rink in Knightsbridge in May 1909.[6][8][9] Suffragette and marriage reformer, Una Duval, bought the painting and it remained in the family until being bequeathed by a descendent of the Duvals to the National Portrait Gallery in 2011,[10] it was first exhibited by them in 2018.

In 1912, Wright also painted a full length portrait of Una Dugdale dressed in bright jade with a background of fierce fighting cocks, entitled "The Music Room". This painting was first shown in London’s Stafford Gallery in the same year[11] and was exhibited as recently as 2020 in Pallant House Gallery, Chichester.[12] Ethel Wright was also responsible for the portrait which was featured on Una Duval's marriage reform pamphlet "Love, Honour and not Obey".

She continued to support the suffragettes until 1927[5] and the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 gave women electoral equality with men.

Legacy

Her painting of Christabel Pankhurst was donated by Una Duval's descendant to the National Portrait Gallery in 2011.[4] It was exhibited in 2018 when it was noted that the gallery had previously only had pictures of suffragettes taken by the police as suspicious characters.[6]

She achieved success as a painter but she was identified as a great woman artist.[2]

Personal life

By 1898 she was exhibiting at the Oldham Gallery and "also known as Mrs Bradley" having become married,[2] Wright died in 1939.[5]

References
  1. "Dame Christabel Pankhurst". National Portrait Gallery (London). Retrieved 12 September 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. "Ethel Bradley?". The Artist. 1898.
  3. "Facing the new century: women artists 1900–1909". Art UK. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  4. "Dame Christabel Pankhurst - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  5. Broadley, Rosie (5 March 2015). "Suffragette Painter: discovering Ethel Wright". National Portrait Gallery (London). Retrieved 8 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. Brown, Mark (24 July 2014). "Portrait of an angry lady: suffragette Christabel Pankhurst goes on display". the Guardian. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  7. "Facing the new century: women artists 1900–1909". Art UK. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  8. "Clara Mordan". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  9. [Sheila Stowell, A Stage of their own: Feminist playwrights of the suffrage era (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1992), p. 53]
  10. "Dame Christabel Pankhurst 1880-1958". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  11. "Radical women rescued from obscurity". Financial Times. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  12. "Radical Women: Jessica Dismorr and her Contemporaries". Studio International. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
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