Byam Shaw: A Studio of Their Own

"The Blessed Damosel" by Byam Shaw

"June 1893 saw Byam Shaw and his fellow student and friend Gerald Metcalfe settled in a studio of their own at 95 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea. The studio was formerly Whistler's, and was attached to a charming house, three hundred years old, which Gerald's mother had taken. Here Shaw finished 'Silent Noon' and set to work on a watercolor for the Academy schools competition, the subject being a decoration, 'Abundance', and also the life-sized cartoon in charcoal of one of the figures to accompany it. The prize was won and both the watercolor and 'Silent Noon' were well hung in the Academy of 1894.

It was the right atmosphere for the production of good work. The friends, believing in each other in each other's work, had the encouragement they required, and an additional backing from Shaw's sister, Glen, and from Mrs. Metcalfe, who had character, as well as being gentle and sympathetic, with a quaint and original sense of humour that delighted Byam. Shaw now began a portrait of Miss E. Pyke-Nott, who had been a student with him, both at St. John's Wood and the Academy schools, and in the summer they became engaged - the first step in a very happy life shared together.

For many years there existed a club for students of all art schools called 'The Gilbert-Barrett Sketch Club'. Subjects were set and each school contributed a panel of work. The figure subject for 1893 was 'An Idyll'. Byam painted the story of 'The Princess and the Swineherd' from Hans Andersen, and won the first prize. Another picture of large size, entitled 'The Blessed Damosel' was then begun. [It was based on a poem of the same name by artist and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti.] In the summer he was making studies for it at Lyme Regis, from whence he wrote: 'I want to get on with my apple tree and rose bush in the big picture as I have only slight studies for them. I want to work at them while they are fresh in what I am pleased to call my mind.' The picture appeared in the Academy of 1895, and at once brought the painter into most favourable notice. Its success was immediate. It was hung on the line and sold for three hundred pounds."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "The Art & Life of Byam Shaw" by Rex Vicat Cole.)