Dolly Robinson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dolly Robinson
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Dolly Robinson in Cannes, 1937
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| Born |
Dorothy Travers Smith
26 October 1901 |
| Died | 4 November 1977 (aged 76) |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Education | Chelsea College of Arts |
| Known for | Artist, theatrical costumer and designer |
| Spouse(s) | Lennox Robinson (m. 1931) |
Dolly Robinson was a talented Irish artist and theatre designer. She was born Dorothy Travers Smith on October 26, 1901, in Dublin, Ireland. She passed away on November 4, 1977. Dolly was known for her amazing work designing sets and costumes for plays.
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Early Life and Art School
Dolly Robinson's birth name was Dorothy Travers Smith. She was born in Dublin on October 26, 1901. Her mother was Hester Dowden, and her grandfather was Edward Dowden, a famous writer and critic.
Dolly loved art from a young age. She first studied art with a teacher named Estella Solomons. Later, she went to the Chelsea College of Arts in London to continue her studies.
A Career in Theatre Design
Dolly became very interested in designing for the theatre. In 1926, she designed the set for a play called The Emperor Jones at the famous Abbey Theatre in Dublin. The next year, the Abbey Theatre asked her to design costumes for another play, Caesar and Cleopatra.
- From 1927 to 1935, Dolly worked almost continuously with the Abbey Theatre.
- She created both set designs and costumes for many of their plays.
- For example, she designed for King Lear, which was the Abbey's first Shakespeare play.
- She also worked on plays by famous writers like W. B. Yeats and George Bernard Shaw.
- She even designed for a play by her future husband, Lennox Robinson, called Ever the Twain.
Dolly had her own art studio in Dublin, which she playfully called "the grimery." Many other artists and writers were her friends, including Harry Clarke and the Yeats family. The famous poet W. B. Yeats even gave her the nickname "Chinatown" because of her looks. He admired her ability to combine artistic ideas with the needs of the stage.
Exhibitions and Other Work
Dolly also showed her own paintings in art exhibitions.
- In 1936, she displayed a painting called Bungalows at the Royal Hibernian Academy.
- In 1938, she had her own art show where she exhibited 49 works. Many of these were beautiful Irish landscapes.
- In 1943, her painting Donegal in March was shown at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art.
Besides her design work and painting, Dolly was also a member of the Dublin United Arts Club. She helped organize art shows there. For a short time in the 1960s, she was also the curator (someone who looks after a museum's collection) for the Joyce Museum in Sandycove.
Marriage and Later Life
Dolly married Lennox Robinson, a playwright, on September 8, 1931. They got married in London. After their wedding, they went to America for their honeymoon because the Abbey Theatre was on tour there.
When they returned to Dublin, Dolly and Lennox lived in a cottage called Sorrento Cottage in Dalkey. Later, around 1949, they moved to a flat in Monkstown.
Dolly Robinson passed away on November 4, 1977, in a nursing home in Dublin. She was buried with her husband at St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.
Dolly Robinson's Legacy
Dolly Robinson's art is still important today.
- The Crawford Art Gallery has her painting Cordyline palms from 1935.
- They also have a charcoal drawing of Dolly herself, made by another artist named Margaret Clarke.
- Letters between Dolly and her husband Lennox are kept in the Library of Trinity College Dublin. These letters help us learn more about their lives and work.
