Edith Isabel Barrow was a notable, Royal Academy-exhibited, British painter of still lifes and landscapes.

Born in Bermondsey, Barrow developed advanced drawing skills from an early age and enrolled at the Blackheath School of Art. Here, under the tutelage of Mr J Hill, she was awarded several medals for her draughtsmanship. The style of tuition was predominantly traditional with students expected to learn from the masters of yesteryear, copying plaster casts and diligently analysing old master prints. 

Next, she entered the Goldsmiths' Institute and began winning medals for her still life paintings - a subject she would specialise in for the remainder of her career.

In 1890, she debuted at London’s prestigious Royal Academy with ‘Azaleas’ - a flower she would return to time and time again. There’s a purity to her work, a delicacy in the treatment of each petal, which suits this elegant shrub. Eight of her exhibited watercolours at the Academy would feature them.

Following the death of her father, she moved to the picturesque fishing village of Combe Martin, North Devon, with her mother. As an artist, she had inspiration on her doorstep - secluded sandy beaches, harbours and extensive views across the undulant countryside. She remained here and developed a solid reputation as an artist of merit. In addition to her stills, she also painted landscapes - charming vignettes of Westcountry idylls, with many of these exhibited locally and celebrated by critics.

“Unlike the modern school, this artist prefers a quiet naturalism to the more recent methods of composition, her pictures being delightful and appealing. She endeavours to make a flower look like a flower, and does not use it simply as a symbol.”

In 1918, Queen Mary purchased her ‘Still Life with White Primulas’ - a worthy highlight to crown an impressive career.

Exhibited

Royal Academy, Royal Society of British Artists, Allied Artists' Association, Goupil Gallery, Bournemouth Art Society, Blackheath Art Club, Blackheath Art Club. 

Timeline

1865

Born in Grange House, Bermondsey, to James Barrow, a leather tanner/merchant, and Emily Barrow.

1871

Lived in East Dulwich, London, with her parents, siblings and servants.

1881

Lived in East Dulwich, London, with her parents, siblings and servants.
Also lived in Brighton, Sussex, with her parents and older siblings. The 1881 census has two entries for this family.

C. 1886

Trained under Mr. J. Hill at the Blackheath School of Art (opened in 1881).

1887

Awarded a silver medal by the Blackheath School of Art.

1890

Debuted at the Royal Academy with ‘Azaleas’. She exhibited 25 works between 1890 and 1904.

1891

Lived in Peckham, London, with her parents, five sisters, brother, and servant. Occupation recorded as “Artist, oil and water colours”.

1893

Awarded a bronze medal for painting from still life by the South Kensington and the City and Guilds of London Institute.
Shown at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

C. 1893

Trained at the Goldsmiths' Institute.
Awarded a bronze medal by the Goldsmiths' Institute.

1894

Shown at the Bournemouth Art Society.
Mentioned in the London Echo.

“In the report of the examiners in the national competition [Art] in connection with the Science and Art Department, South Kensington, Miss Edith Barrow and Messrs. Steel and Fenn, students of the Goldsmiths' Institute, have been specially commended. Miss Barrow's work, for which a silver medal was awarded, is termed ‘a very charming study of a white azalea’.”

1896

Shown at the Royal Academy with four watercolours. Mentioned in the Kentish Mercury.

“Miss Edith Isabel Barrow, daughter of Mr. James Barrow, of 45, Blessington Road, Lee, has four of her pictures hung at the Royal Academy this year. A fifth was accepted, but there was not room to hang it. Miss Barrow received her artistic training under the late Mr. J. Hill at the Blackheath School of Art and the Goldsmiths' Institute.”

1897

Shown at the Blackheath Art Club.
Shown at McLeans Gallery in Haymarket, London.
Shown at the Royal Academy in London. Reviewed in the Kentish Mercury.

“Miss Edith I. Barrow, of Blessington Road, Lee, has two of her water-colour sketches hung. ‘Yellow roses’ shows ability. Flowers are so apt to look waxy and stiff in their grouping; Miss Barrow's do not. There is a transparency about the petals which makes you think they really grew in a garden. Even better is ‘Azaleas’, which shows technique of the French school, the highlights being left on the white paper. This gives a transparency to the work which is totally wanting when water-colours are treated like oils.”

1899

Shown at the Royal Society of British Artists with ‘Brixham, South Devon’, a watercolour of a girl seated within a landscape.

1900

Shown at the Blackheath Art Club in London.

1901

Lived in Blackheath, London, with her parents, siblings, and servants. Occupation recorded as “Artist in water colours”.
Shown at the Royal Academy in London. Reviewed in the Kentish Mercury.

"’Peonies’, a water-colour by Miss Edith I. Barrow, 22, Belmont Park, Blackheath, is one of the admirable flower studies for which this artist is celebrated. This is a fine large picture, and the treatment, in which there is nothing forced or garish, indicates considerable reserved power.”

1904

Shown at the Royal Academy in London. Lived in Blackheath. Reviewed in the Lewisham Borough News.

“In the pictures and miniatures of local interest, ‘Japanese Study’ by Miss Edith I. Barrow, 22, Belmont Park, Blackheath, very cleverly done. The study is made up of three paper lanterns, the colourings of which harmonise beautifully with the vase and chrysanthemums. The scattered petals of the latter in the foreground are carefully worked in, and the treatment of the whole is exquisitely neat and pleasing.”

1911

Lived in Combe Martin, Barnstaple, North Devon, with her widowed mother and a servant. Occupation recorded as “Artist”.

1918

Her still life with white primulas was purchased by Queen Mary.

1921

Lived in Combe Martin, Barnstaple, North Devon, with her widowed mother and a servant. Occupation recorded as “Artist (Painter)”.
Shown at the New Society of Artists.

1924

Solo exhibition in Barnstaple. Reviewed in the North Devon Herald.

Obituaries

The Western Morning News And Mercury

“Miss Edith Barrow, who died on February 13, after a long illness, was widely known as a flower painter. Her first picture was hung in the Royal Academy at the age of sixteen, and she had the privilege of seeing her paintings hung for eight consecutive years, an outstanding honour for so young an artist.

During her lifetime she enjoyed many artistic successes, notably when her flower studies were chosen to represent English flower painting at the great Chicago exhibition, and in 1918, when the Queen did her the honour of purchasing her picture of white primulas. Although Miss Barrow was best known for her floral paintings, her talents were varied, and her interiors, seascapes and charming pictures of quaint little sea villages of the Westcountry were always keenly sought after. She exhibited in many London and provincial galleries and her exhibitions in North Devon, her home for 25 years, will be remembered by many.

Her artistic career was much interrupted by ill-health, but in spite of this serious handicap, she continued her successes at the Academy and retained her world-wide reputation as a flower artist, being engaged in her Combe Martin studio until a short time before her death.”

Torquay Herald & Express

“Miss Edith Barrow, who died on February 13th, at Combe Martin, after a long illness, was widely known as a flower painter. Her interiors, seascapes, and pictures of quaint little ses villages of the Westcountry were much sought after. Her exhibitions in North Devon, her home for 25 years, will be remembered by many.”