Gladys Wynne

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Edith Gladys Wynne (27 June 1876 – 24 March 1968) was an Irish watercolour artist, who spent most of her life in Glendalough, County Wicklow, living in Lake Cottage. She painted the area and landscape throughout her career.

Biography[]

A view of the lower lake, Glendalough, Co. Wicklow by Gladys Wynne. Source: Private collection.

Wynne was born at Holywood, County Down where her father, George Robert Wynne, was the Church of Ireland rector.[1] She was a great granddaughter of Owen Wynne (1723–1789) of Hazelwood House, Sligo.[2] Her mother, Ellen Lees Smith, was the daughter of the Rev. G. Sidney Smith and her parents married on 6 June 1863 at Aghaven Church, County Fermanagh.[3] They had one son and five daughters.[2] Gladys’ brother, George Robert Llewellyn Wynne (known as Llewy), became a Church of Ireland rector like his father.[4]

Gladys Wynne's father moved several times during his ministry. After Holywood, Co. Down, he was Rector of Killarney from 1880 to 1904 and Rector of St. Michael's in Limerick from 1904 to 1910.[5] He retired to live in Glendalough in 1910 where Wynne cousins owned property.[6] Gladys, who never married, appears to have continued living with her parents well into adulthood. She is recorded as being at her father's address in the 1911 census.[7]

After her father's death in 1912, Wynne continued to live in Glendalough for the rest of her life. Although Co. Wicklow, and particularly Glendalough, had a huge influence on Wynne and are strongly represented in her work, there were also other influences, as she also painted scenes of Italy and wrote a book on architectural history for children which was first published by Thomas Nelson in about 1913.[8][9]

From 1902 until 1963, Wynne exhibited regularly with the Watercolour Society of Ireland, who include her in their collection among 28 "well-known Irish artists".[10][11] Apart from the Glendalough area, subjects included Killarney, the Bog of Allen, the County Dublin coast, and County Donegal. Her work, which is signed 'G. Wynne', is sold occasionally at auction.

She died in Glendalough at the age of 91.[12] Writing just after her death, Tom Nisbet, a fellow watercolour artist, described her as a ‘marvellous woman, selfless in her devotion to those who needed her; blest with a radiant friendliness, a rare talent for refined, atmospheric water colour painting and a lively wit that was innocent of malice’.[13]

References[]

  1. ^ "Civil records: register of births" (PDF). Irish Genealogy. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Burkes Irish Family Records. London: Burkes Peerage. 1976. p. 1229.
  3. ^ "Births, marriages and deaths". Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette: 796. 15 June 1863.
  4. ^ "Obituary: Rev. G.R.L. Wynne". Irish Times: 3. 18 April 1945.
  5. ^ Shepherd, Ernie (1983). Behind the scenes: the story of Whitechurch district in South County Dublin (PDF). Dublin: Whitechurch Publications. p. 22.
  6. ^ "Obituary: Archdeacon Wynne D.D.". Daily Express. 3 May 1912.
  7. ^ "Census of Ireland 1911". Census of Ireland 1901/1911 and Census fragments and substitutes, 1821-51. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  8. ^ "Miss Gladys Wynne's water-colours". Irish Times: 20. 27 November 1937.
  9. ^ Wynne, Gladys (1913). Architecture shown to the children ... illustrated with numerous drawings and photographs. London: Nelson.
  10. ^ "University of Limerick Visual Arts". Archived from the original on 29 December 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
  11. ^ Water Colour Society of Ireland (1995). Exhibition list 1872-1994. Dublin: The Society. pp. 237–239.
  12. ^ "Civil records: register of deaths" (PDF). Irish Genealogy. 1 July 1968. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  13. ^ Nisbet, Tom (3 April 1968). "Gladys Wynne: an appreciation". Irish Times: 9.

Further reading[]


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