On a recent walk in North London, I stumbled upon Bruce Castle Museum. It was a wonderful place, with exhibitions, a Vintage fair, and lovely grounds. One of the exhibitions was about a painter, Beatrice Offor, who had exhibited at the Royal Academy.
Beatrice had an eventful life. She studyed at the Slade School of Art, and while there, she shared a studio with Mina Bergson, one of the founders of the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn, an association which influenced some of her paintings (see The Crystal Gazer at Bruce Castle). Offor lived in Chelsea with her first husband, William Farran Littler, and exhibited from her King's Road Studio address. Her two children by Littler died very young, and Littler himself died in1898 in the Banstead Asylum. Offor went on to marry James P. Bevan, from Bruce grove, Tottenham. She had further exhibits at the Royal Academy, including the painting Circe. In 1919, Offor suffered a nervous breakdown, and on the 6th August the following year, she threw herself to her death from her bedroom window: she thought she was loosing her talent! Beatrice Offer was burried in Lewisham. The exhibition, Beatirce Offor: A Tottenham Artist, will be on at Bruce Castle from 17 July – 29 September 2013 in the Compton Gallery. Check out this link for further details. |
My SitesContralto Corner Categories
All
Archives
May 2019
Blogs & SitesThe Arts Desk |