Amy Sawyer (1863 – 1 October 1945) was a British painter, illustrator, and playwright in the Arts and Crafts movement. She lived most of her life in Ditchling, East Sussex, England.
Amy Sawyer | |
|---|---|
.png) Portrait by Hubert von Herkomer | |
| Born | 1863  East Grinstead |
| Died | 1 October 1945 (aged 81–82) Ditchling |
| Occupation | Painter, playwright, illustrator |
| Family | Mabel Ellen Young |
Biography
editEarly life
editAmy Sawyer was born in 1863 in East Grinstead, West Sussex, the oldest of seven children of Charles Sawyer, a draper and grocer, and Eliza Blacklock Sawyer.[1] Her sister was the woodcarver Mabel Ellen Young.[2] In 1885, Sawyer moved to Bushey, Hertfordshire, to attend the Herkomer School of Art, founded by Hubert von Herkomer.[1]
Career
editHer work incorporates folklore, mythology, fairies, and other fantastic themes, and is notable for its depiction of strong female characters.[1] Between 1887 and 1909, she exhibited sixteen times at the Royal Academy.[2] She exhibited her nude depiction of Psyche at the Salon des Beaux Arts in 1907.[3] Few of her works are in public collections; one exception is Gentle Spring Brings her Garden Stuff to Market (1893), in the Russell-Cotes Museum in Bournemouth, Dorset.[2]
Her illustration work appeared in the periodicals Black and White and The Illustrated London News. She also illustrated gift books for Raphael Tuck & Sons.
She illustrated the book Heart of the World, a fantasy novel by H. Rider Haggard set in Aztec Mesoamerica. Of the many artists who produced over a thousand images to accompany his works, Sawyer was the only woman to illustrate a work by Haggard during his lifetime.[1]
She also published an art book with Sands & Co., The Seasons (1905). Every month of the year was illustrated with depictions of women and different flowers corresponding to each month, accompanied by a quotation of poetry.[1]
Later life and death
editSawyer gave up art around 1913 after lead poisoning robbed her of the use of her right hand.[1][2] She became a playwright, staging her first play, Love Is Blind, in 1921.[2] Her plays involved similar themes to her artwork and were performed in local Sussex dialect.[2] Twenty-four of her plays were collected in Sussex Village Plays and Others (1934).[4]
Sawyer died on 1 October 1945 at her home in Ditchling.[1]
Gallery
edit
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Gentle Spring Brings Her Garden Stuff to Market (1893) -
Psyché (1907) -
Down in the Valley Where the Daisies Grow (1908)
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g Holterhoff, Kate (2023). "Romance Fiction, Folk Tales, and Poetry: Amy Sawyer and the Arts and Crafts Movement". In Devereux, Joanna (ed.). Nineteenth-Century Women Illustrators and Cartoonists. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526161697. JSTOR jj.3078856.17. OCLC 1379265686.
- ^ a b c d e f Parfitt-King, Anne (2013). "Amy Sawyer of Ditchling (1863–1945): Artist, playwright and lady of letters". The British Art Journal. 14 (1): 81–82. ISSN 1467-2006. JSTOR 43492022.
- ^ "Sawyer, Amy". Reid Hall Artist Index, 1893–1914. Columbia University.
- ^ Nicoll, Allardyce (1973). English Drama, 1900-1930 (First ed.). London: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-08416-1.