Phoebe anna traquair biography examples

Phoebe Traquair was a dynamo of an artist, creating many ambitious embroideries, illuminated manuscripts, easel and mural paintings, furniture decoration, enamels and bookbindings, as well as designing metalwork, sculpture and pageant costumes for execution by others.

She read widely and incorporated into her work poetic and symbolic ideas from Blake, Rossetti, the Brownings, Burne-Jones, Pater and many others, along with Christian and classical imagery.

Phoebe anna traquair embroidery

Although she was born in Dublin in , she's associated with Scotland and in particular with Edinburgh where she lived with her husband.

Phoebe anna traquair progress of a soul

She was originally from Dublin but moved to Edinburgh after her marriage to Dr Ramsay Traquair, Keeper of Natural History at the Royal Scottish Museum.

Phoebe Traquair was the first woman to be elected an honorary member of the Royal Scottish Academy, was also a member of the Edinburgh Arts and Crafts Club.

Later in life she received important commissions and substantial fees, but after her death in 1936 she was virtually forgotten.

Fortunately, Traquair bequeathed a fine selection of works to the National Gallery of Scotland, and her nephew’s widow presented fascinating letters to the National Library.

But her revival owes most to Elizabeth Cumming, whose PhD research in the 1980s has provided rich material for displays and publications. The latest book is an enlarged and updated version of a 2005 volume. With o