Woman's Pictorial: April 1925

I was browsing through my collection of vintage magazines and came across this charming cover which reminded me that spring is on its way. This cover is from Woman’s Pictorial dated April 4th 1925. I have a number of these magazines and each one displays a work of art on the front cover, rather than the latest ‘it’ girl or model of the day; something that came much later of course.

This cover design was painted in 1925, especially for the “Woman’s Pictorial” by Dorothea Sharp*, R.O.I (Royal Institute of Oil Painters).

Ten years later, the Editor of The Artist praised Dorothea Sharp as ‘one of England’s greatest living woman painters’. He described her work so eloquently by saying:

No other woman artist gives us such joyful paintings as she. Full of sunshine and luscious colour, her work is always lively harmonious and tremendously exhilarating … the chief attractions of Miss Sharp’s delightful pictures are her happy choice of subjects, and her beautiful colour schemes. Rollicking children bathed in strong sunlight, playing in delightful surroundings, her subjects appeal because they are based on the joy of life. And she presents them equally happily, with a powerful technique which enables her to make the most of her wonderful sense of colour.

(Harold Sawkins, Dorothea Sharp, ROI, RBA, The Artist, April 1935) information c/o millingtonadams.com.

Dorothea Sharp for Woman’s Pictorial 1925

Now I hardly ever publish photos of my daughter, but found these lovely images of her beloved cats, and simply couldn’t resist! Miko and Suki are brothers and almost five years old. They are arguably the softest boys in town (possibly the world!) As you can see, she loves to carry them and cuddle them at every opportunity; whenever they are not busy sleeping of course!

This photo was taken around 18 months ago. Our cats are carried around and cuddled at EVERY opportunity!

An earlier photo: A cuddle for Miko.

* Dorothea Sharp was born in Dartford, Kent in 1874. She had a talent for art but it wasn’t until the age of twenty one, when an uncle died and left her one hundred pounds, that she was able to study at an art school run by C. E. Johnson, RI, in Richmond, Surrey. She later spent some time at the Regent Street Polytechnic. Shortly after, Dorothea moved to Paris where she was influenced by the work of the Impressionists such as Matisse and van Gogh.

Sharp exhibited regularly throughout her career including the Royal Academy. She was elected to the Royal Society of British Artists in 1907, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in 1922, and was also President for four years of the Society of Women Artists. She held her first one woman show at the Connell Gallery in 1933. Although Dorothea Sharp was a landscape and still life painter, she is probably best known for her pictures of children which are frequently shown on the beaches of Cornwall where she lived near St. Ives. Dorothea died on 17th December 1955.

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