For the fifth edition in their Hidden Gems series, Liss Llewellyn are delighted to unveil a new exhibition showcasing 18 works produced by pioneering women artists between 1907 – 1959. This includes a rare oil study by Winifred Knights (1899-1947) – the first female recipient of the Prix de Rome scholarship – of a peasant that she made in the Aniene valley for her masterpiece, the Santissima Trinità (1924-30). Paule Vézelay’s (1892-1984) painting L’Animal (1929) predates the abstract art of Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson by several years. Ithell Colquhoun (1906-1988) and Edith Rimmington (1902-1986) were amongst the few female members who were allowed to join the Surrealist Group in England; Rachel Reckitt (1908-1995) exhibited alongside Henry Moore and Victor Pasmore with the London Group, and The Event is an example of the ‘ingenious mosaics’ that Valentine Dobrée (1894-1974) exhibited at her pivotal Claridge Gallery show of 1931.

Gladys Hynes (1888-1958) worked as a sculptor for most of the 1930’s, but her production in this medium is today virtually unknown. Frances Richards’ (1903-1985) lithographs and embroidery collages differ greatly from the ‘extravagant and sometimes violent drama’ of her husband Ceri Richards’ paintings. Hilda Carline (1889-1950) married Stanley Spencer in 1925, rather than his younger brother Gilbert – who had for years been deeply in love with her – and this adds poignancy to her sensitive portrait of the latter. Tragically, as was the case with so many women, Carline productivity was hugely impaired by her marriage and the subsequent demands of family life. It is little wonder that so many of these artists – from this group Leighton, Colqhuoun, Hynes, Reckitt and Barbara Jones – chose to remain single.