Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale: Last Days

"The Little Foot Page"
by Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale

"Though Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale remained creatively active well into her sixties, the sense of decline if not closure expressed in her complaint of 1927 that 'Pre-Raphaelitism is no longer wanted', is echoed in a large painting she embarked upon in 1929 in which she assembled colleagues, friends and relatives in the benign presence of Mary the mother of Jesus. In valedictory manner, they each embody a different century, from the first till the present) which is represented by the banner each holds up and made clear by their period costume. Letters to her brother Charles, who figured in the composition, show that it was a self-imposed task, for which the artist did not expect to find a buyer. Be that as it may, it found a home as an altarpiece for the Kensington church of St. George's, Campden Hill.

In 1938, Fortescue-Brickdale suffered a stroke that ended her painting career for the remaining seven years of her life. She died on March 10, 1945, and was buried at Brompton Cemetery, London. In the edition of The Times of March 14, 1945, the following obituary appeared [excerpted here]:

'A Versatile Artist. Miss Fortescue-Brickdale RWS, painter, modeller, and designer of stained glass, and black and white artist died on March 10th as briefly announced in our columns yesterday. She was the last survivor of the late Pre-Raphaelite painters, who though – or possibly because – they did not come into personal contact with the original Brotherhood, carried some of their principles to extremes. Her nearest affinity was with the late Byam Shaw, and she was at the height of her reputation about the same time as he.

It was the allegorical side of Pre-Raphaelitism that Miss Fortescue-Brickdale inherited, and her work was distinguished by brilliance of colour and great fidelity to detail... She deserves to be remembered for her consistent fidelity to the tradition."

(Excerpts from "A Pre-Raphaelite Journey: The Art of Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale" by Pamela Gerrish Nunn and "The Times," March 14, 1945.)