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{{Short description|British painter and etcher}}
{{for|the New Zealand cricketer|Maddie Green}}
{{for|the New Zealand cricketer|Maddy Green}}
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Madeline Emily Green (1884-1947) was a British figurative artist, who exhibited at the [[Royal Academy]], the [[Society of Women Artists]], the [[Society of Graphic Art]] and at many other locations in Great Britain, and abroad.
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox artist
| name = Madeline Green
| image = Painting, Honesty.jpg
| caption = Madeline Green, Self-Portrait painting ''Honesty'' (Private collection)
| birth_name = Madeline Emily Green
| birth_date = {{birth date|1884|8|27|df=y}}
| birth_place = Craven Road, Paddington, London
| death_date = {{death date and age|1947|2|17|1884|8|27|df=y}}
| death_place = Norwich, Norfolk, England
| nationality = British
| field = Figurative artist
| training = [[Royal Academy of Arts]]
| movement =
| works =
| patrons =
| awards =

}}
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'''Madeline Emily Green''' (1884–1947) was a British figurative artist, who exhibited at the [[Royal Academy]], the [[Society of Women Artists]], the [[Society of Graphic Art]] and at many other locations in Great Britain, and abroad.

==Biography==
==Biography==
Green’s parents were Emily Laura (née Butler) and Frederick John Green, a butcher and farmer. They had a son, followed by four daughters the third of whom, Madeline, was born in Paddington on 27 August 1884. She was baptised at St James, Paddington<ref>{{cite web | url = http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=1558 | title = London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906 | last = | website = Ancestry | publisher = Ancestry Information Operations Unlimited Company | access-date = 16 April 2017 | quote = Baptism date: 21 September 1884. Birth date also shown. Wrongly entered as Madeleine Emily Green}}</ref>. The Green family moved from 3 Craven Road, Hyde Park to Silsoe Villa, Uxbridge Road, Ealing (later known as 40 The Mall), in about 1889.
Green’s parents were Emily Laura (née Butler) and Frederick John Green, a butcher and farmer. They had a son, followed by four daughters the third of whom, Madeline, was born at 3 Craven Road, Paddington on 27 August 1884.<ref>Birth certificate</ref> She was baptised at St James, Paddington.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=1558 | title = London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813–1906 | website = Ancestry | publisher = Ancestry Information Operations Unlimited Company | access-date = 16 April 2017 | quote = Baptism date: 21 September 1884. Birth date also shown. Wrongly entered as Madeleine Emily Green}}</ref> The Green family moved from 3 Craven Road, Hyde Park to Silsoe Villa, Uxbridge Road, Ealing (later known as 40 The Mall), in about 1889.


From the age of nine Green attended [[Princess Helena College]] with her sisters. She studied at the [[Royal Academy of Arts]] in London from 31 July 1906 to July 1911. Green set up her Northcote studio at 51 The Mall, close to her home.
From the age of nine Green attended [[Princess Helena College]] with her sisters. She studied at the [[Royal Academy of Arts]] in London from 31 July 1906 to July 1911. On 10 December, 1911 she was awarded two RA medals (1) £25 and a Silver medal, for a cartoon of a draped figure “Agrippina carrying the ashes of Germanicus” and (2) a second prize Bronze medal for a “painting of head from the life”. Green set up her Northcote studio at 51 The Mall, close to her home.


In 1940 Green moved to [[Melton Constable Hall|Melton Constable Park]] in Norfolk, presumably to escape the bombing in the London area. Two years later she was at The Grange, [[Felmersham]] and finally in 1943 she and her sister Gladys lived in [[Sloley]], Norfolk, where their address was “The Shop”. Gladys, who “managed affairs and organised exhibitions, allowing Madeline to focus entirely on her work”, died on 18 May 1951 in [[Tring]]. Madeline died, aged 62, in the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital on 17 February 1947. The two sisters are buried, with their parents, at St Leonard's, [[Heston]].
In the early 1940s Green moved to [[Sutton Bridge]], Lincolnshire and then to [[Melton Constable Hall|Melton Constable Park]] in Norfolk, following the requisition of 40 The Mall by the Government.<ref>Information from a Green family member</ref> Two years later she was at The Grange, [[Felmersham]] and finally in 1943 she and her sister Gladys lived in [[Sloley]], Norfolk, where their address was “The Shop”. Madeline died, aged 62, in the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital on 17 February 1947. Gladys, who “managed affairs and organised exhibitions, allowing Madeline to focus entirely on her work”, died on 18 May 1951 in [[Tring]]. The two sisters are buried, with their parents, at St Leonard's church, [[Heston]].


==Works and Exhibitions==
==Works and exhibitions==
Madeline Green’s work was exhibited during her lifetime in at least 18 galleries, in England, Scotland and Ireland, as well as at the Venice Biennale, the Paris Salons (where she was twice awarded medals), and in [[Adelaide]]<ref>{{Citation | title = Society of Graphic Art: Exhibition of Etchings and Drawings | pages = 7 | newspaper = The Register | location = Adelaide | date = 2 December 1924}}</ref> and [[Melbourne]].
Madeline Green’s work was exhibited during her lifetime in at least 18 galleries, in England, Scotland and Ireland, as well as at the Venice Biennale, the Paris Salons (where she was twice awarded medals), and in [[Adelaide]]<ref>{{Citation | title = Society of Graphic Art: Exhibition of Etchings and Drawings | pages = 7 | newspaper = The Register | location = Adelaide | date = 2 December 1924}}</ref> and [[Melbourne]].


In November 1910, while still at the Royal Academy, Madeline joined 26 others in Ealing in setting up the [[Ealing Art Group|Ealing Art Guild]], the brainchild of Arthur Sortwell and John Dovaston. John’s sister, [[Margaret Dovaston]], is credited with founding the Guild, but the newspaper cited<ref>{{cite news|title=A Visit to a Studio. Interview with Miss Dovaston RBA|work=Middlesex County Times|date=22 October 1910|page=5}}</ref> only makes reference to her showing works at the opening Exhibition. It is not known whether Green exhibited with the Guild in the early days; it later became the Ealing Arts Club and the catalogues<ref>The secretary, Ealing Art Group (the successor to the Ealing Arts Club), September 2017.</ref> show that Green exhibited “Ponies’ Heads” and "The Young Man" in 1931, and “Horses” in 1933, suggesting that she had been a long time member.
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Newspaper reports of exhibitions indicate that one of Green’s earliest displays was at [[Aylesbury]] Town Hall in November 1912, soon after she had finished at the Royal Academy. The following year, a review in the [[Bedford]] local paper<ref>{{Citation | title = Bedfordshire Society of Artists: Exhibition of Paintings | newspaper = The Bedfordshire Times and Independent | location = Bedford| date = 6 June 1913}}</ref> of works in the town’s annual exhibition noted that Green’s “spirited drawings of horses are quite admirable”.


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Newspaper reports of exhibitions indicate that one of Green’s earliest displays was at [[Aylesbury Town Hall]] in November 1912, soon after she had finished at the Royal Academy. The following year, a review in the [[Bedford]] local paper<ref>{{Citation | title = Bedfordshire Society of Artists: Exhibition of Paintings | newspaper = The Bedfordshire Times and Independent | location = Bedford| date = 6 June 1913}}</ref> of works in the town’s annual exhibition noted that Green’s “spirited drawings of horses are quite admirable”.
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Green exhibited 24 times at the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition during the years 1912–1943, with a total of 32 paintings.<ref>{{cite book | title = Royal Academy Exhibitors 1905-1970: A Dictionary of Artists and their Works in the Summer Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts | publisher = Hilmarton Manor Press | location = Hilmarton, Wiltshire | date = 1985}}</ref> They were sometimes singled out for special comment. As early as 1915, for example, a critic remarked on “a small painting by Miss Madeline Green, ‘The Model’, which also makes its appeal by its delicate refinements and subtle quality. The colouring is of greys, with a blue note in the skirt of the figure, and is most successful, and the picture stands out among its more ordinary surroundings by its inherent distinction.”<ref>{{Citation | title = The Royal Academy: Spring Exhibition | newspaper = The Yorkshire Post | date = 1 May 1915}}</ref>


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Green exhibited 24 times at the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition during the years 1912–1943, with a total of 32 paintings.<ref>{{cite book | title = Royal Academy Exhibitors 1905–1970: A Dictionary of Artists and their Works in the Summer Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts | publisher = Hilmarton Manor Press | location = Hilmarton, Wiltshire | date = 1985}}</ref> They were sometimes singled out for special comment. As early as 1915, for example, a critic remarked on “a small painting by Miss Madeline Green, ‘The Model’, which also makes its appeal by its delicate refinements and subtle quality. The colouring is of greys, with a blue note in the skirt of the figure, and is most successful, and the picture stands out among its more ordinary surroundings by its inherent distinction.”<ref>{{Citation | title = The Royal Academy: Spring Exhibition | newspaper = The Yorkshire Post | date = 1 May 1915}}</ref>
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Madeline Green exhibited “The Balloon Girl” at the [[Royal Hibernian Academy]], Dublin in 1916, at a time which coincided with the [[Easter Rising]]. The Academy was hit by a shell from the armed steam yacht “Helga”<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.generalmichaelcollins.com/life-times/the-1916-rising/map/helga-gunship | title = Helga Gunship | date = 2014 | website = Collins 22 Society | access-date = 16 April 2017}}</ref> which destroyed all the hundreds of paintings on display and many valuable reference works<ref>{{cite web | url = http://inspiring-ireland.ie/cultural-cost-of-1916-property-losses-ireland-committee-and-royal-hibernian-academy | title = The cultural cost of 1916: the Property Losses (Ireland) Committee and the Royal Hibernian Academy | last = Milligan | first = Kathryn | website = Inspiring Ireland | publisher = Digital Repository of Ireland | access-date = 16 April 2017}}</ref>. The Property Losses Committee awarded Green their standard 85% of her £30 claim for her painting.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://centenaries.nationalarchives.ie/reels/plic/PLIC_1_858.pdf | title = The cultural cost of 1916: the Property Losses (Ireland) Committee and the Royal Hibernian Academy | website = Property Losses (Ireland) Committee, 1916: Inspector's Report | publisher = National Archives of Ireland | access-date = 16 April 2017}}</ref>
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[[File:Madeline Green 2.jpg|thumb|left|Madeline Green, ''Glasgow'' c. 1930, oil on canvas, 53.6 x 43.3 cm, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Felton Bequest, 1931 (4468-3)]]
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Madeline Green exhibited “The Balloon Girl” at the [[Royal Hibernian Academy]], Dublin in 1916, at a time which coincided with the [[Easter Rising]]. The Academy was hit by a shell from the armed steam yacht “Helga”<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.generalmichaelcollins.com/life-times/the-1916-rising/map/helga-gunship | title = Helga Gunship | date = 2014 | website = Collins 22 Society | access-date = 16 April 2017}}</ref> which destroyed all the hundreds of paintings on display and many valuable reference works.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://inspiring-ireland.ie/cultural-cost-of-1916-property-losses-ireland-committee-and-royal-hibernian-academy | title = The cultural cost of 1916: the Property Losses (Ireland) Committee and the Royal Hibernian Academy | last = Milligan | first = Kathryn | website = Inspiring Ireland | publisher = Digital Repository of Ireland | access-date = 16 April 2017}}</ref> The [[Property Losses (Ireland) Committee]] awarded Green their standard 85% of her £30 claim for her painting.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://centenaries.nationalarchives.ie/reels/plic/PLIC_1_858.pdf | title = The cultural cost of 1916: the Property Losses (Ireland) Committee and the Royal Hibernian Academy | website = Property Losses (Ireland) Committee, 1916: Inspector's Report | publisher = National Archives of Ireland | access-date = 16 April 2017}}</ref>


In 1918 "The Step Dancer" (a self-portrait) was lampooned in [[Punch (magazine)|''Punch'' magazine]]. The original rather feminine figure with “striped green silk taffeta iridescent harem trousers” was turned into a cartoon “where the gentle gaze has turned shrewish, her stockings bagged around bony ankles and ungainly flat feet.”<ref>{{cite book | last = Edwards | first = | title = Dressed for war : uniform, civilian clothing and trappings, 1914 to 1918 | publisher = I.B. Tauris | date = 2015 | location = London | isbn = 978 1 78076 707 9}}</ref>
In 1918 "The Step Dancer" (a self-portrait) was lampooned in [[Punch (magazine)|''Punch'' magazine]]. The original rather feminine figure with “striped green silk taffeta iridescent harem trousers” was turned into a cartoon “where the gentle gaze has turned shrewish, her stockings bagged around bony ankles and ungainly flat feet.”<ref>{{cite book | last = Edwards | title = Dressed for war: uniform, civilian clothing and trappings, 1914 to 1918 | publisher = I.B. Tauris | date = 2015 | location = London | isbn = 978-1-78076-707-9}}</ref>


The [[Society of Graphic Art]], now the Society of Graphic Fine Art was founded in 1919. Madeline Green took part in their inaugural exhibition at the Suffolk Street Galleries in London, on 1-29 January 1921, showing five of her works;<ref name=Jones>Geraldine Jones, Archivist SGFA, April 2017</ref> two years later she exhibited ''Costers''.<ref>{{Citation | title = Society of Graphic Art| newspaper = The Yorkshire Post | location =| date = 6 January 1923}}</ref> In December 1924 in Adelaide, at Mr F W Preece’s<ref>{{cite book | last = Dutton | first = Geoffrey | title = Preece, Frederick William (1857–1928) | publisher = Melbourne University Press | volume = 11 | date = 1988 | location = Carlton, Victoria | url = http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/preece-frederick-william-8101 | isbn = 0522843808}}</ref> bookshop and gallery on King William Street, three of Madeline Green’s works (“Remounts”, “On the Balcony” and “Covent Garden”) were displayed, along with those of other members of the Society of Graphic Art. Green retired from the Society in 1927.<ref name=Jones />
Green took part in the inaugural exhibition of the [[Society of Graphic Art]] at the Suffolk Street Galleries in London, on 1–29 January 1921, showing five of her works;<ref name=Jones>Geraldine Jones, Archivist SGFA, April 2017</ref> in the three following years she exhibited ten more. In December 1924 in Adelaide, at Mr F W Preece’s<ref>{{cite book | last = Dutton | first = Geoffrey | title = Preece, Frederick William (1857–1928) | publisher = Melbourne University Press | volume = 11 | date = 1988 | location = Carlton, Victoria | url = http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/preece-frederick-william-8101 | isbn = 0522843808}}</ref> bookshop and gallery on [[King William Street, Adelaide|King William Street]], three of Madeline Green’s works (“Remounts”, “On the Balcony” and “Covent Garden”) were displayed, along with those of other members of the Society of Graphic Art. Green retired from the Society in 1927.<ref name=Jones />


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In 1925 “The Future” left one observer<ref>{{Citation | title = London Letter: The Royal Academy | newspaper = Hull Daily Mail | date = 2 May 1925}}</ref> slightly mystified: “It is a clever painting, delightful in its colour and technique. A young man and a young woman [are] seated apart in what appears to be a public gallery. The maiden is sadly pensive, the youth frankly bored. Possibly the lady’s wedding ring conveys a hint of the artist’s meaning.” The artist’s meaning became a little clearer in 1927 when [[Joseph Duveen, 1st Baron Duveen|Sir Joseph Duveen, Bt]], a noted British art dealer, purchased “The Future” and presented it to Manchester City Art Gallery. The Curator, Lawrence Howard, wrote to Madeline Green asking for details of her painting, so that he could correctly catalogue it and, if need be, have it appropriately cleaned or restored in years to come. Green replied that the painting was intended to portray a newly married couple looking into the future, and that she had sat for the figure of the coster girl herself, using a looking glass to help compose the picture. Madeline also explained her technique: “[the painting] is done in body colour underneath & glazed with pure colour and oil – I always paint this way – & although it takes rather a time I don’t think the same effect can be obtained otherwise.”<ref>The archivist, Manchester Art Gallery, April 2017</ref>
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[[:File:Painting_(named_Glasgow)_by_Madeline_Green.jpeg|Madeline Green, ''Glasgow'' c. 1930, oil on canvas, 53.6 x 43.3 cm, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Felton Bequest, 1931 (4468-3)]]
[[File:Grave of Madeline Green and family at St. Leonard, Heston.jpg|thumb|Square kerb memorial of Madeline Green, her parents, and sister Gladys (not named on grave) at St. Leonard, Heston.]]
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Examples of Green’s paintings are held, although not always on display, by several UK galleries including those in Dulwich, Glasgow, [[Kirklees]], [[Leeds Art Gallery|Leeds]] and Manchester. Sacha Llewellyn<ref>{{cite web | url = https://independent.academia.edu/Sachallewellyn | title = Sacha llewellyn | website = Academia.edu | access-date = 29 January 2018 }}</ref> notes that "Madeline Green's ''Self-portrait (The Chenille Net)'' occupies an important position In Dulwich Picture Gallery's collection. It is one of the few works by a female artist."<ref>{{cite journal | last = Llewellyn | first = Sacha | title = From the Collection: New Light on a Hidden Gem | journal = In View | issue = Spring 2018 | pages = 22 | publisher = Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery | location = Dulwich | date = 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/explore-the-collection/601-650/self-portrait-the-chenille-net | title = Self-portrait (The Chenille Net) | website = Dulwich Picture Gallery | access-date = 16 April 2017 | quote = A self-portrait, exhibited under the above title at the RA and at the Glasgow Institute in 1938 and awarded a gold medal at the Paris Salon of 1947}}</ref>


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In 1931, with the help of the Felton Bequest<ref>{{Citation | last = Mangan | first = John | title = The bequest of a century | newspaper = The Age | location = Melbourne | date = 12 January 2004 | url = http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/11/1073769451690.html?from=storyrhs}}</ref> the [[National Gallery of Victoria]] acquired “Glasgow”, which was displayed in their 2007 exhibition “Modern Britain, 1900–1960.” The catalogue<ref>{{cite book
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In 1925 “The Future” left one observer<ref>{{Citation | title = London Letter: The Royal Academy | newspaper = Hull Daily Mail | date = 2 May 1925}}</ref> slightly mystified: “It is a clever painting, delightful in its colour and technique. A young man and a young woman [are] seated apart in what appears to be a public gallery. The maiden is sadly pensive, the youth frankly bored. Possibly the lady’s wedding ring conveys a hint of the artist’s meaning.” The artist’s meaning became a little clearer in 1927 when [[Joseph Duveen, 1st Baron Duveen|Sir Joseph Duveen, Bt]], a noted British art dealer, purchased “The Future” and presented it to Manchester City Art Gallery. The Curator, Lawrence Howard, wrote to Madeline Green asking for details of her painting, so that he could correctly catalogue it and, if need be, have it appropriately cleaned or restored in years to come . Green replied that the painting was intended to portray a newly married couple looking into the future, and that she had sat for the figure of the coster girl herself, using a looking glass to help compose the picture. Madeline also explained her technique: “[the painting] is done in body colour underneath & glazed with pure colour and oil – I always paint this way – & although it takes rather a time I don’t think the same effect can be obtained otherwise.”
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| last = Gott | first = Ted | title = Modern Britain, 1900–1960 : masterworks from Australian and New Zealand collections | publisher = [[National Gallery of Victoria]] | location = Melbourne | date = 2007 | isbn = 9780724102921}}</ref> describes how Madeline and Gladys were the models for this "engaging and enigmatic painting [which] depicts a somewhat unconventional pairing of women, whose costume and demeanour raise questions about the representation of gender and sexuality during the modernist period.”


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An exhibition of Green’s pictures, “Moments in Time”,<ref>{{cite book | last = Walker | first = Carole and Peter | title = Moments in Time | publisher = Wolds Publishing Limited | location = Budleigh Salterton | date = 2011}}</ref> was held in 2011 at the [[Pitzhanger Manor#PM Gallery and House|PM Gallery]] in Ealing, not far from 40 The Mall. A new exhibition ("Reflections of an Artist: Madeline Green, 1884-1947") opened at [[Gunnersbury Park]] Museum on 11 February 2020.
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Examples of Green’s paintings are held, although not always on display, by several UK galleries including those in Dulwich,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/explore-the-collection/601-650/self-portrait-the-chenille-net | title = Self-portrait (The Chenille Net) | website = Dulwich Picture Gallery | access-date = 16 April 2017 | quote = A self-portrait, exhibited under the above title at the RA and at the Glasgow Institute in 1938 and awarded a gold medal at the Paris Salon of 1947}}</ref> Glasgow, [[Kirklees]] and Manchester.


A comprehensive list of Madeline Green’s works is published in Carole Walker's book.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Walker | first1 = Dr Carole | title = Reflections of an Artist: Madeline Green | location = Budleigh Salterton, EX9 6QS | publisher = Wolds Publishing | date = 2020 | isbn = 9780956472427}}</ref> She was a versatile artist who used a variety of techniques including [[aquatint]], charcoal, [[drypoint]], oil, and watercolour.
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In 1931, with the help of the Felton Bequest<ref>{{Citation | last = Mangan | first = John | title = The bequest of a century | newspaper = The Age | location = Melbourne | date = 12 January 2004 | url = http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/11/1073769451690.html?from=storyrhs}}</ref> the [[National Gallery of Victoria]] acquired “Glasgow”, which was displayed in their 2007 exhibition “Modern Britain, 1900-1960.” The catalogue<ref>{{cite book
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| last = Gott | first = Ted | title = Modern Britain, 1900-1960 : masterworks from Australian and New Zealand collections | publisher = [[National Gallery of Victoria]] | location = Melbourne | date = 2007 | isbn = 9780724102921}}</ref> describes how Madeline and Gladys were the models for this "engaging and enigmatic painting [which] depicts a somewhat unconventional pairing of women, whose costume and demeanour raise questions about the representation of gender and sexuality during the modernist period.”


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After a period of little interest, her oil and watercolour paintings now change hands at auction with increasing frequency, at prices in the thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of pounds sterling.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/madeline-green-1884-1947-the-model-5074449-details.aspx | title = Madeline Green (1884–1947): The Model | website = Christie’s | publisher = Christie’s | access-date = 20 April 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.bonhams.com/search/?q=%22madeline%20green%22&main_index_key=lot#/q0=madeline%2520green&MR0_display=search&m0=0?q=%22madeline%2Bgreen%22 | title = Search Results: Madeline Green | website = Bonhams | publisher = Bonhams | access-date = 20 April 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.invaluable.co.uk/catalog/searchLots.cfm?scp=m&catalogRef=&shw=50&ord=2a&img=0&olF=0&houseRef=&houseLetter=A&artistRef=8sh8059ugx&aID=0&areaID=&countryID=&regionID=&stateID=&fdt=&tdt=&fr=0&to=0&wa=&wp=&wo=&nw=&upcoming=0&rp=&hi=&rem=FALSE&ns=0&isSC=0&row=1&isBIN=&isAdvanced=0 | title = Madeline Green Auction Price Results | website = Invaluable | publisher = Invaluable LLC | access-date = 20 April 2017 }}</ref>
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The most recent exhibition of Green’s pictures, “Moments in Time”,<ref>{{cite book | last = Walker | first = Carole and Peter | title = Moments in Time | publisher = Wolds Publishing Limited | location = Budleigh Salterton | date = 2011}}</ref> was held in 2011 at the [[Pitzhanger Manor#PM Gallery and House|PM Gallery]] in Ealing, not far from 40 The Mall.
There is no complete list of Madeline Green’s works currently available, but they number in excess of 85.<ref>List assembled from auction websites, exhibition catalogues, reviews of exhibitions, gallery websites and known owners of Green's paintings</ref> She was a versatile artist who used a variety of techniques including [[Aquatint|aquatint]], charcoal, [[Drypoint|drypoint]], oil, and watercolour.

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After a period of little interest, her oil and watercolour paintings now change hands at auction with increasing frequency, at prices in the thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of pounds sterling<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/madeline-green-1884-1947-the-model-5074449-details.aspx | title = Madeline Green (1884-1947): The Model | website = Christie’s | publisher = Christie’s | access-date = 20 April 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.bonhams.com/search/?q=%22madeline%20green%22&main_index_key=lot#/q0=madeline%2520green&MR0_display=search&m0=0?q=%22madeline%2Bgreen%22 | title = Search Results: Madeline Green | website = Bonhams | publisher = Bonhams | access-date = 20 April 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.invaluable.co.uk/catalog/searchLots.cfm?scp=m&catalogRef=&shw=50&ord=2a&img=0&olF=0&houseRef=&houseLetter=A&artistRef=8sh8059ugx&aID=0&areaID=&countryID=&regionID=&stateID=&fdt=&tdt=&fr=0&to=0&wa=&wp=&wo=&nw=&upcoming=0&rp=&hi=&rem=FALSE&ns=0&isSC=0&row=1&isBIN=&isAdvanced=0 | title = Madeline Green Auction Price Results | website = Invaluable | publisher = Invaluable LLC | access-date = 20 April 2017 }}</ref>.


==References==
==References==

{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Art UK bio}}


{{authority control}}
{{authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Madeline}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Madeline}}
[[Category:1947 deaths]]
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[[Category:British women painters]]
[[Category:1884 births]]
[[Category:1884 births]]
[[Category:20th-century British painters]]
[[Category:1947 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English painters]]
[[Category:20th-century English women artists]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy Schools]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy Schools]]
[[Category:People from Paddington]]
[[Category:English women painters]]
[[Category:Painters from London]]
[[Category:Painters from London]]
[[Category:20th-century women artists]]
[[Category:People from Paddington]]
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[[Category:20th-century British women painters]]

Latest revision as of 20:47, 5 November 2024

For the New Zealand cricketer, see Maddy Green.

Madeline Green
Madeline Green, Self-Portrait painting Honesty (Private collection)
Born
Madeline Emily Green

(1884-08-27)27 August 1884
Craven Road, Paddington, London
Died17 February 1947(1947-02-17) (aged 62)
Norwich, Norfolk, England
NationalityBritish
EducationRoyal Academy of Arts
Known forFigurative artist

Madeline Emily Green (1884–1947) was a British figurative artist, who exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Society of Women Artists, the Society of Graphic Art and at many other locations in Great Britain, and abroad.

Biography

[edit]

Green’s parents were Emily Laura (née Butler) and Frederick John Green, a butcher and farmer. They had a son, followed by four daughters the third of whom, Madeline, was born at 3 Craven Road, Paddington on 27 August 1884.[1] She was baptised at St James, Paddington.[2] The Green family moved from 3 Craven Road, Hyde Park to Silsoe Villa, Uxbridge Road, Ealing (later known as 40 The Mall), in about 1889.

From the age of nine Green attended Princess Helena College with her sisters. She studied at the Royal Academy of Arts in London from 31 July 1906 to July 1911. On 10 December, 1911 she was awarded two RA medals (1) £25 and a Silver medal, for a cartoon of a draped figure “Agrippina carrying the ashes of Germanicus” and (2) a second prize Bronze medal for a “painting of head from the life”. Green set up her Northcote studio at 51 The Mall, close to her home.

In the early 1940s Green moved to Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire and then to Melton Constable Park in Norfolk, following the requisition of 40 The Mall by the Government.[3] Two years later she was at The Grange, Felmersham and finally in 1943 she and her sister Gladys lived in Sloley, Norfolk, where their address was “The Shop”. Madeline died, aged 62, in the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital on 17 February 1947. Gladys, who “managed affairs and organised exhibitions, allowing Madeline to focus entirely on her work”, died on 18 May 1951 in Tring. The two sisters are buried, with their parents, at St Leonard's church, Heston.

Works and exhibitions

[edit]

Madeline Green’s work was exhibited during her lifetime in at least 18 galleries, in England, Scotland and Ireland, as well as at the Venice Biennale, the Paris Salons (where she was twice awarded medals), and in Adelaide[4] and Melbourne.

In November 1910, while still at the Royal Academy, Madeline joined 26 others in Ealing in setting up the Ealing Art Guild, the brainchild of Arthur Sortwell and John Dovaston. John’s sister, Margaret Dovaston, is credited with founding the Guild, but the newspaper cited[5] only makes reference to her showing works at the opening Exhibition. It is not known whether Green exhibited with the Guild in the early days; it later became the Ealing Arts Club and the catalogues[6] show that Green exhibited “Ponies’ Heads” and "The Young Man" in 1931, and “Horses” in 1933, suggesting that she had been a long time member.

Newspaper reports of exhibitions indicate that one of Green’s earliest displays was at Aylesbury Town Hall in November 1912, soon after she had finished at the Royal Academy. The following year, a review in the Bedford local paper[7] of works in the town’s annual exhibition noted that Green’s “spirited drawings of horses are quite admirable”.

Green exhibited 24 times at the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition during the years 1912–1943, with a total of 32 paintings.[8] They were sometimes singled out for special comment. As early as 1915, for example, a critic remarked on “a small painting by Miss Madeline Green, ‘The Model’, which also makes its appeal by its delicate refinements and subtle quality. The colouring is of greys, with a blue note in the skirt of the figure, and is most successful, and the picture stands out among its more ordinary surroundings by its inherent distinction.”[9]

Madeline Green, Glasgow c. 1930, oil on canvas, 53.6 x 43.3 cm, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Felton Bequest, 1931 (4468-3)

Madeline Green exhibited “The Balloon Girl” at the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin in 1916, at a time which coincided with the Easter Rising. The Academy was hit by a shell from the armed steam yacht “Helga”[10] which destroyed all the hundreds of paintings on display and many valuable reference works.[11] The Property Losses (Ireland) Committee awarded Green their standard 85% of her £30 claim for her painting.[12]

In 1918 "The Step Dancer" (a self-portrait) was lampooned in Punch magazine. The original rather feminine figure with “striped green silk taffeta iridescent harem trousers” was turned into a cartoon “where the gentle gaze has turned shrewish, her stockings bagged around bony ankles and ungainly flat feet.”[13]

Green took part in the inaugural exhibition of the Society of Graphic Art at the Suffolk Street Galleries in London, on 1–29 January 1921, showing five of her works;[14] in the three following years she exhibited ten more. In December 1924 in Adelaide, at Mr F W Preece’s[15] bookshop and gallery on King William Street, three of Madeline Green’s works (“Remounts”, “On the Balcony” and “Covent Garden”) were displayed, along with those of other members of the Society of Graphic Art. Green retired from the Society in 1927.[14]

In 1925 “The Future” left one observer[16] slightly mystified: “It is a clever painting, delightful in its colour and technique. A young man and a young woman [are] seated apart in what appears to be a public gallery. The maiden is sadly pensive, the youth frankly bored. Possibly the lady’s wedding ring conveys a hint of the artist’s meaning.” The artist’s meaning became a little clearer in 1927 when Sir Joseph Duveen, Bt, a noted British art dealer, purchased “The Future” and presented it to Manchester City Art Gallery. The Curator, Lawrence Howard, wrote to Madeline Green asking for details of her painting, so that he could correctly catalogue it and, if need be, have it appropriately cleaned or restored in years to come. Green replied that the painting was intended to portray a newly married couple looking into the future, and that she had sat for the figure of the coster girl herself, using a looking glass to help compose the picture. Madeline also explained her technique: “[the painting] is done in body colour underneath & glazed with pure colour and oil – I always paint this way – & although it takes rather a time I don’t think the same effect can be obtained otherwise.”[17]

Square kerb memorial of Madeline Green, her parents, and sister Gladys (not named on grave) at St. Leonard, Heston.

Examples of Green’s paintings are held, although not always on display, by several UK galleries including those in Dulwich, Glasgow, Kirklees, Leeds and Manchester. Sacha Llewellyn[18] notes that "Madeline Green's Self-portrait (The Chenille Net) occupies an important position In Dulwich Picture Gallery's collection. It is one of the few works by a female artist."[19][20]

In 1931, with the help of the Felton Bequest[21] the National Gallery of Victoria acquired “Glasgow”, which was displayed in their 2007 exhibition “Modern Britain, 1900–1960.” The catalogue[22] describes how Madeline and Gladys were the models for this "engaging and enigmatic painting [which] depicts a somewhat unconventional pairing of women, whose costume and demeanour raise questions about the representation of gender and sexuality during the modernist period.”

An exhibition of Green’s pictures, “Moments in Time”,[23] was held in 2011 at the PM Gallery in Ealing, not far from 40 The Mall. A new exhibition ("Reflections of an Artist: Madeline Green, 1884-1947") opened at Gunnersbury Park Museum on 11 February 2020.

A comprehensive list of Madeline Green’s works is published in Carole Walker's book.[24] She was a versatile artist who used a variety of techniques including aquatint, charcoal, drypoint, oil, and watercolour.

After a period of little interest, her oil and watercolour paintings now change hands at auction with increasing frequency, at prices in the thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of pounds sterling.[25][26][27]

References

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  1. ^ Birth certificate
  2. ^ "London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813–1906". Ancestry. Ancestry Information Operations Unlimited Company. Retrieved 16 April 2017. Baptism date: 21 September 1884. Birth date also shown. Wrongly entered as Madeleine Emily Green
  3. ^ Information from a Green family member
  4. ^ "Society of Graphic Art: Exhibition of Etchings and Drawings", The Register, Adelaide, p. 7, 2 December 1924
  5. ^ "A Visit to a Studio. Interview with Miss Dovaston RBA". Middlesex County Times. 22 October 1910. p. 5.
  6. ^ The secretary, Ealing Art Group (the successor to the Ealing Arts Club), September 2017.
  7. ^ "Bedfordshire Society of Artists: Exhibition of Paintings", The Bedfordshire Times and Independent, Bedford, 6 June 1913
  8. ^ Royal Academy Exhibitors 1905–1970: A Dictionary of Artists and their Works in the Summer Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts. Hilmarton, Wiltshire: Hilmarton Manor Press. 1985.
  9. ^ "The Royal Academy: Spring Exhibition", The Yorkshire Post, 1 May 1915
  10. ^ "Helga Gunship". Collins 22 Society. 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  11. ^ Milligan, Kathryn. "The cultural cost of 1916: the Property Losses (Ireland) Committee and the Royal Hibernian Academy". Inspiring Ireland. Digital Repository of Ireland. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  12. ^ "The cultural cost of 1916: the Property Losses (Ireland) Committee and the Royal Hibernian Academy" (PDF). Property Losses (Ireland) Committee, 1916: Inspector's Report. National Archives of Ireland. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  13. ^ Edwards (2015). Dressed for war: uniform, civilian clothing and trappings, 1914 to 1918. London: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-78076-707-9.
  14. ^ a b Geraldine Jones, Archivist SGFA, April 2017
  15. ^ Dutton, Geoffrey (1988). Preece, Frederick William (1857–1928). Vol. 11. Carlton, Victoria: Melbourne University Press. ISBN 0522843808.
  16. ^ "London Letter: The Royal Academy", Hull Daily Mail, 2 May 1925
  17. ^ The archivist, Manchester Art Gallery, April 2017
  18. ^ "Sacha llewellyn". Academia.edu. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  19. ^ Llewellyn, Sacha (2018). "From the Collection: New Light on a Hidden Gem". In View (Spring 2018). Dulwich: Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery: 22.
  20. ^ "Self-portrait (The Chenille Net)". Dulwich Picture Gallery. Retrieved 16 April 2017. A self-portrait, exhibited under the above title at the RA and at the Glasgow Institute in 1938 and awarded a gold medal at the Paris Salon of 1947
  21. ^ Mangan, John (12 January 2004), "The bequest of a century", The Age, Melbourne
  22. ^ Gott, Ted (2007). Modern Britain, 1900–1960 : masterworks from Australian and New Zealand collections. Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria. ISBN 9780724102921.
  23. ^ Walker, Carole and Peter (2011). Moments in Time. Budleigh Salterton: Wolds Publishing Limited.
  24. ^ Walker, Dr Carole (2020). Reflections of an Artist: Madeline Green. Budleigh Salterton, EX9 6QS: Wolds Publishing. ISBN 9780956472427.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  25. ^ "Madeline Green (1884–1947): The Model". Christie’s. Christie’s. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  26. ^ "Search Results: Madeline Green". Bonhams. Bonhams. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  27. ^ "Madeline Green Auction Price Results". Invaluable. Invaluable LLC. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
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