Dorothea Sharp, RBA, ROI, PSWA (1874-1955)

Children on a Beach

Oil on Canvas
20⅛ x 24¼ inches – 51 x 61.5 cms

Provenance: Private Collection, UK Artist Biography: Dorothea Sharp studied at an art school in Richmond, run by Charles Edward Johnson, RI (1832-1913) studying landscape painting, and at Regent Street Polytechnic, continuing her studies in Paris. Sharp exhibited widely, at the Royal Academy between 1901 and 1948, at the RBA to which she was elected in 1907, the ROI elected member 1922, and at the SWA of which she was Vice President.

For much of her life Dorothea Sharp lived at 22 Blomfield Road in West London, moving to St. Ives in 1940-1946. She travelled widely in the 1920’s and 1930’s, visiting Cornwall, the South of France, Spain, Portugal and Italy, views of which appeared in her Royal Academy exhibits. Dorothea Sharp epitomises the movement known as ‘British Impressionism’. She had studied and painted in France and was clearly aware of Claude Monet (1840-1926) and the Impressionists; the clarity of light, her novel use of colour, the spontaneity of her brushwork, define her as a significant figure in 20th century British painting.