Lilian Lancaster (artist)

This article is about the artist. For her aunt, the cartographer, seeLilian Lancaster (cartographer).

Lilian Lancaster - self portrait (1920s)

Lilian Adelaide Lancaster(5 October 1886 – 3 June 1973) was a British teacher and artist and a former pupil ofWalter Sickert.

Early life and education

She was born inChiswickin London in 1886,one of two daughters of Margaret, an Irish comedienne, and William James Lancaster, a theatrical manager.Her older sister, Theodora Margaret Sothern Lancaster (1885-1977) married the sculptorEdmund Thomas Wyatt Ware(1883-1960).Her aunt, after whom she was named, was the actress and humorous cartographerLilian Lancaster.Primarily a figure and still-life painter,Lancaster studied at theWestminster School of Artand theSlade School of Fine Art(1906–10) where her teachers includedHenry TonksandFrederick Brown.She was a student at theRoyal Academy Schools(1910–14) where she studied underWalter Sickert.Her son, the architectStephen Gardinerlater recalled that his mother was Sickert's favourite pupil, and that he gifted her one of his paintings,Reverie,a half-length nude on a bed,painted during his Camden Town period. She was influenced by the French Impressionists, withRenoirbeing a particular influence on her own work, and by the works ofVincent van Gogh.

Career

Lilian Lancaster taught atBrighton School of ArtandEastbourne College of Artfrom 1916 to 1921. From 1911 to 1939 she exhibited her paintings in London,including at theRoyal Academy Summer Exhibitionand at theNew English Art Club,of which she was a member. Her paintings received excellent reviews in contemporary newspapers and art periodicals.

In 1912, when she was exhibiting at theDoré Galleryat the beginning of her artistic career,Anthony Ludoviciwrote of her work:

... Wonderfully able as "A Blonde" (No. 12) undoubtedly is, sound and faithful as are "Moi-meme" (NO. 15), "Barbara in Yellow" (No. z), "The Japanese Screen" (No. 16) and "Gold and Blue" (No 7), I have the feeling that in all these pictures Miss Lancaster is exhibiting more virtuosity than taste, more good schooling - than discrimination. And I say this in no carping spirit; for let me remind the artist that her earnestness both captivated and infected me, and I am doing my utmost to give her an earnest criticism. It is when you turn from "Embroidress" (No. 10) to a "Painting from the Antique" (No. 13) – a telltale juxtaposition, by-the-bye!– that you realise on the one hand wherein Miss Lancaster is incomplete, subservient and still diffident, and on the other wherein she is mistress, unhesitating and brilliant. No. 10 is a disorderly jumble, pretentious in its composition, deceptive through its complexity, and almost pre-Raphaelite in its humble prostration before insiignificant and disturbing detail. No. 14, on the contrary, is orderly, it is modest, tasteful and straightforward; but then half its beauty is borrowed beauty, almost all its charm comes from the inspired mastery of the ancient sculptor. Nevertheless, the borrowed beauty is splendidly rendered.

Her work can be found in various private and public collections, including theManchester Art Galleryand theGrundy Art GalleryinBlackpool.

Personal life

In 1920 she married the artistClive GardinerWith him she had two sons, the academic philosopherPatrick Gardinerand the writer and architectStephen Gardiner.

In 1960, after the death of her husband, she moved to the Dower House inWythaminOxfordshire.

Lilian Adelaide Gardiner died in 1973.