Adelaide Claxton facts for kids
Adelaide Sophia Claxton (born May 10, 1841 – died August 29, 1927) was a talented British artist and inventor. She was a painter and also drew pictures for magazines. She was one of the first women artists to earn a lot of money by selling her funny and clever drawings to many different newspapers and magazines.
Early Life and Art Training
Adelaide Claxton was born in London. Her father, Marshall Claxton, was also a painter. Adelaide and her sister, Florence, both followed in their father's footsteps and became artists. However, Adelaide preferred painting smaller pictures, unlike her father who liked large oil paintings.
She studied art at Cary's School in London. There, she learned to focus on painting people using watercolors. In 1850, when she was young, she traveled with her family to Australia. They stayed there for four years before returning to England, passing through Calcutta, India, on their way home.
Artistic Career
Adelaide Claxton's paintings often showed scenes from everyday life mixed with magical or dreamlike elements. She painted ghosts and dreams, making her art very interesting. She started showing her work in the late 1850s at the Society of Women Artists.
Over the years, she exhibited her paintings many times at famous places like the Royal Academy of Arts and the Royal Society of British Artists. One of her paintings, A Midsummer Night's Dream at Hampton Court, was so popular that she painted five copies of it! Another painting, Little Nell, was copied 13 times because so many people loved it. Her painting Wonderland, which shows a little girl reading fairy tales by candlelight, has been printed many times.
Claxton also earned money by drawing funny pictures and clever cartoons for popular magazines. She drew for magazines like Bow Bells, The Illustrated London News, and Judy. She was one of the main artists for Judy magazine. She was one of the first British women artists to regularly work for magazines, earning good money for her drawings. In 1859, her painting The Standard-Bearer was even featured on the cover of the Illustrated Times.
Adelaide Claxton also wrote and illustrated two books. One was called A Shillingsworth of Sugar-Plums (1867), and the other was Brainy Odds and Ends (1904). Her artwork can still be seen in art galleries today, like the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.
Inventions
In 1874, Adelaide Claxton married George Gordon Turner. After getting married, she mostly stopped working as an illustrator. The couple lived in Chiswick and had a son. Adelaide then became interested in inventing new things!
In the 1890s, she registered several inventions under her married name, Adelaide Sophia Turner. One of her inventions was an "Armpit-Crutch for Bed-Rests and Chair-Backs." This was a special support for people using bed rests or chairs. Another interesting invention was "Ear-caps for outstanding ears," which were designed to help ears that stuck out.
See also
In Spanish: Adelaide Claxton para niños
