Edith Elizabeth Downing 1857 - 1931 - Pascal Theatre Company

Edith Elizabeth Downing 1857 – 1931

Artist, sculptor, suffragette.

January 1857 – 3 October 1931

Education

Cheltenham College.

South Kensington School of Art (became the Royal College of Art in 1896).

1892-1893 Slade School of Art.

Some Key Achievements and Interests

As a female sculptor made a living from her art, listing herself as a sculptor in the 1911 census.

1891 Began to exhibit regularly at the Royal Academy and with the Society of Lady Artists.

1896 –1900 Member of the South Wales Art Society and exhibitor at South Wales Art Society Annual Exhibition.

1897 – 1903 Exhibited at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool Autumn exhibition.

Exhibited at the Leeds City Art Gallery, Royal Glasgow Institute, the Paris Salon and the Society of Women Artists.

Became involved with the campaign for women’s electoral suffrage. Sold her artwork to contribute to the cause.

1903 Joined the Central Society for Women’s Suffrage.

1906 Became a member of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS).

1908 Joined the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU).

1909 Produced ceramic statuettes of Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenny for sale at an exhibition organised by the WSPU.

1910,1911 Collaborated with Marion Wallace-Dunlop to create floats for the WSPU.

Contributed to The Suffragette Handkerchief, a handkerchief embroidered with over 60 women’s names who were imprisoned for their involvement in the violent demonstrations towards women’s suffrage.

The Suffragette Handkerchief.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Suffragette_Handkerchief.jpg

Issues

While studying at the Female School of Art in South Kensington, female artists had to study in a separate building form the men; models in the life classes had to be significantly draped to maintain decorum.

Was arrested on different occasions for her involvement in the protest tactics employed by WSPU.

Sent to Holloway Prison where she joined a hunger strike and was force fed. Was given a Hunger Strike Medal ‘for valour’ by WSPU.

Downing felt frustrated with the ‘futility of quiet work’ in the work towards women’s suffrage. Women were seen as less serious in their struggle to vote, compared to men, who had previously burnt down a castle and pulled up railings in Hyde Park. Downing, like many other women, felt frustrated with this ‘futility of quiet work,’ and subsequent lack of respect and attention being paid to their efforts, leading to her joining WSPU as a means to enact more militant and radical progress for the women’s suffrage movement.

Connection to Bloomsbury

Slade School of Art.

Female Networks

Annie Kenney, Marion Wallace-Dunlop, Sylvia Pankhurst and others in art and suffrage networks.

Legacy

1932, sculpture Pompilia was gifted to the University of London’s first women’s hall in residence following Downing’s death.

Works Include

c1897 Music, bronze sculpture.

c1899 Pompilia, bronze sculpture.

1901 Motherhood, bronze sculpture.

1906 Sulks, bronze sculpture.

1907 Boy with Cherry, bronze sculpture.