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Airy, Anna [1882-1964. UK. Painter/Etcher]
Airy, Anna [1882-1964. UK. Painter/Etcher]
Anna Airy was born in Greenwich, London on 6 June 1882 and studied under Philip Wilson Steer, Fred Brown, Henry Tonks and Walter Westley Russell at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College, London from 1899 to 1903. She subsequently established a studio in Hampstead, London where she embarked on a career as a painter and etcher.
Airy was a prolific exhibitor and between 1905 and 1956 showed her work at Baillie Gallery, Carfax & Co. Gallery, Goupil Gallery, International Society of Sculptors, Painers and Gravers, Fine Art Society, Grosvenor Gallery, London Salon, New English Art Club, Royal Society of Portrait Painters, Royal Academy, Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, and Royal Institute of Oil Painters in London; Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts; Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool; Manchester City Art Gallery; the Ipswich Art Club; the Paris Salon; and in Italy, Germany, Sweden, Pittsburgh, Toronto. She participated in the art competitions held as part of the Summer Olympic Games held in in Amsterdam in 1928 and Los Angeles in 1932,
She was elected a member of the Pastel Society in 1908, an Associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers (ARE) in 1908, a full member of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers (RE) in 1914, and a full member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI) in 1909, Royal Society of Portrait Painters (RP) in 1913, and the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI) in 1918. She was also a member of the Ipswich Art Club from 1903 to 1964 and its first woman president.
During World War One she received a commission from the Munitions Committee of the Imperial War Museum to paint women working in war factories. She received a similar commission in 1940 from the Ministry of Munitions.
Airy was the author of The Art of Pastel (London: Winsor & Newton, 1930) and other books on art.
In 1916 she married the artist Geoffrey Buckingham Pocock (1879-1960) who had taught at the Slade. They lived in London until 199 when they moved to ‘The Cottage’, Playford, near Ipswich where Airy remained for the rest of her life. She died on 23 October 1964.
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Biographical notes on Anna Airy in Colour vol.10, no.4, May 1919 (p.70):
Anna Airy. Born 1882. Daughter of Wilfrid Airy, M.Inst.C.E. Educated, Slade School. Slade Scholarship 1902, Melville Nettleship Prize 1901, 1902,1903, and all Slade First Prizes. Exhibitor R.A., International Society of Painters, Sculptors and Gravers, New English Art Club, etc., etc.; also Salon Paris, 1912 (Place of Honour), Italy, Germany, Sweden, Pittsburgh, Toronto, etc.; Member: Pastel Society, R.E., R.O.I., R.I., Royal Society of Portrait Painters.
Commissioned by Canadian War Memorials Fund 1917 ("Army Cookhouse” ); Ministry of Munitions for Imperial War Museum 1918 (4 Pictures of Munition Factories); Imperial War Museum 1918-1919 (2 Pictures).
Airy was a prolific exhibitor and between 1905 and 1956 showed her work at Baillie Gallery, Carfax & Co. Gallery, Goupil Gallery, International Society of Sculptors, Painers and Gravers, Fine Art Society, Grosvenor Gallery, London Salon, New English Art Club, Royal Society of Portrait Painters, Royal Academy, Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, and Royal Institute of Oil Painters in London; Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts; Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool; Manchester City Art Gallery; the Ipswich Art Club; the Paris Salon; and in Italy, Germany, Sweden, Pittsburgh, Toronto. She participated in the art competitions held as part of the Summer Olympic Games held in in Amsterdam in 1928 and Los Angeles in 1932,
She was elected a member of the Pastel Society in 1908, an Associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers (ARE) in 1908, a full member of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers (RE) in 1914, and a full member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI) in 1909, Royal Society of Portrait Painters (RP) in 1913, and the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI) in 1918. She was also a member of the Ipswich Art Club from 1903 to 1964 and its first woman president.
During World War One she received a commission from the Munitions Committee of the Imperial War Museum to paint women working in war factories. She received a similar commission in 1940 from the Ministry of Munitions.
Airy was the author of The Art of Pastel (London: Winsor & Newton, 1930) and other books on art.
In 1916 she married the artist Geoffrey Buckingham Pocock (1879-1960) who had taught at the Slade. They lived in London until 199 when they moved to ‘The Cottage’, Playford, near Ipswich where Airy remained for the rest of her life. She died on 23 October 1964.
_____
Biographical notes on Anna Airy in Colour vol.10, no.4, May 1919 (p.70):
Anna Airy. Born 1882. Daughter of Wilfrid Airy, M.Inst.C.E. Educated, Slade School. Slade Scholarship 1902, Melville Nettleship Prize 1901, 1902,1903, and all Slade First Prizes. Exhibitor R.A., International Society of Painters, Sculptors and Gravers, New English Art Club, etc., etc.; also Salon Paris, 1912 (Place of Honour), Italy, Germany, Sweden, Pittsburgh, Toronto, etc.; Member: Pastel Society, R.E., R.O.I., R.I., Royal Society of Portrait Painters.
Commissioned by Canadian War Memorials Fund 1917 ("Army Cookhouse” ); Ministry of Munitions for Imperial War Museum 1918 (4 Pictures of Munition Factories); Imperial War Museum 1918-1919 (2 Pictures).
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Bibliography
1. Anna Airy: paintings, drawings, and prints. London: Royal Society of British Artists, 1952
2. Casey, Andrew. Anna Airy (1882-1964): the story of her life and work. Leiston, England: Leiston Press, 2014.
3. Gray, Sara. The dictionary of British women artists. Cambridge, England: The Lutterworth Press, 2009 [ISBN: 978 0 7188 3084 7]
4. Retrospective loan exhibition oils, water-colours, pastels, etchings, drawings by Anna Airy R.I., R.O.I., R.E. Ipswich, Suffolk: Ipswich Art Club/Ipswich Borough Council, 1985.
1. Anna Airy: paintings, drawings, and prints. London: Royal Society of British Artists, 1952
2. Casey, Andrew. Anna Airy (1882-1964): the story of her life and work. Leiston, England: Leiston Press, 2014.
3. Gray, Sara. The dictionary of British women artists. Cambridge, England: The Lutterworth Press, 2009 [ISBN: 978 0 7188 3084 7]
4. Retrospective loan exhibition oils, water-colours, pastels, etchings, drawings by Anna Airy R.I., R.O.I., R.E. Ipswich, Suffolk: Ipswich Art Club/Ipswich Borough Council, 1985.
