Edyth Starkie facts for kids

Edyth Starkie (born November 27, 1867 – died March 1941) was a talented Irish artist known for painting portraits. She was married to the famous illustrator Arthur Rackham. Edyth was born in County Galway, on the west coast of Ireland.

Life as an Artist

Growing Up and Studying Art

Edyth was the youngest of six children. She spent most of her childhood at Creggane Manor, near Rosscarbery in Cork. Her father, William Robert Starkie, was a local judge who also played the violin. Edyth was known for being very lively and sometimes a bit wild when she was young!

In 1883, when she was sixteen, Edyth moved to London with her mother. There, she started studying art at the Slade School, which was a very modern art school at the time. A year later, in 1884, she moved to Paris to continue her art studies at the Académie Julian. She learned from famous artists like Jules Joseph Lefebvre.

Later, Edyth studied art in Germany, where her brother Rex was an army officer. While in Cassel, Germany, Edyth got engaged to a Prussian officer. However, she eventually broke off the engagement. She found his strict attitudes difficult, and he was very jealous, even wanting to challenge anyone she simply smiled at! Edyth and her mother returned to London in 1895.

Meeting Arthur Rackham

Edyth met Arthur Rackham in Hampstead, London, in the 1890s. They were both artists. They got engaged in 1901. Arthur was a member of the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS), a group for artists who used watercolors. He was worried that other members might not like his fantasy drawings, which were different from the more traditional art shown at RWS exhibitions.

Edyth encouraged him to show his fantasy works, like illustrations for Grimm's Fairy Tales and Morte D'Arthur, at the RWS exhibition in 1902. They were very popular! Edyth was always his most important critic, and he trusted her artistic opinion greatly. She really helped him at the start of his career.

Edyth and Arthur got married on July 26, 1903, in Hampstead. They spent their honeymoon in North Wales. Their daughter, Barbara, was born in January 1908.

Their personalities were quite different. Edyth was curious, funny, and imaginative, like many Irish people. Arthur was more proper, precise, and very English. Edyth loved to tease her husband and make him laugh. Barbara, their daughter, later wrote that her mother wasn't beautiful in a traditional way, but people thought she was. She made everyone laugh and feel comforted. People who worked for them and shopkeepers loved her.

Arthur continued to be inspired by Edyth throughout his life. His art studio was full of her paintings. In his famous illustration for The Three Bears, he even included one of Edyth's paintings, called The Grebe Hat, on the wall of the bears' dining room! Arthur often asked journalists writing about him to include more information about Edyth. They had a very happy marriage.

Artistic Achievements

The Black Veil at the National Museum in Barcelona

Edyth Starkie was a member of the International Society of artists. She showed her paintings at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Some of her famous works exhibited there included Lilla (1897), St. Cecilia (1898), and Pippa Passes (1899).

Her paintings were bought by important museums. The National Museum in Barcelona, Spain, bought her painting The Black Veil. She even won a gold medal for this painting at the Barcelona International Exposition in 1911. In 1913, the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris bought her painting, The Spotted Dress. The Luxembourg collection has since moved to the Musée d'Orsay, another famous museum in Paris.

Notable Family Members

Edyth had some other well-known family members. Her older brother, W.J.M. Starkie, was a scholar who studied Greek. Her nephew, Walter Starkie, was also a scholar, and her niece, Enid Starkie, was famous for writing biographies about French poets.