Katharine Cameron facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Katharine Cameron
Back row: Margaret Macdonald middle row L-R: Frances MacDonald, Katharine Cameron, Janet Aitken, Agnes Raeburn, Jessie Keppie, John Keppie front row L-R: Herbert McNair, Charles Rennie Mackintosh (circa 1894).
Born	(1874-02-26)26 February 1874 Glasgow, United Kingdom
Died	1965
Nationality	British
Education	Glasgow School of Art
Known for	Painting, Illustration
Spouse(s)	Arthur Kay ​ (m. 1928)​

Katharine Cameron (born February 26, 1874 – died 1965) was a talented Scottish artist. She was known for her beautiful watercolour paintings and etchings, especially of flowers. She was part of a special group of artists called the Glasgow Girls.

Early Life and Art School

Katharine Cameron was born in Hillhead, Glasgow, Scotland. Her father was a reverend, and her brother, David Young Cameron, was also an artist.

From 1889 to 1893, Katharine studied at the Glasgow School of Art. Here, she joined a small group of female students who called themselves 'The Immortals'. This group included famous artists like Frances and Margaret Macdonald, Janet Aitken, Agnes Raeburn, Jessie Keppie, John Keppie, Herbert McNair, and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. While at art school, Katharine drew pictures for The Yellow Book and a student magazine called The Magazine.

Around 1902, she traveled to France to continue her art studies at the Atelier Colarossi with a teacher named Gustave Courtois.

Illustrating Books

As one of the Glasgow Girls, Katharine Cameron worked in the Glasgow Style. This art style mixed ideas from Art Nouveau, Celtic Revival, the Arts and Crafts movement, and Japonisme (Japanese art).

Her paintings had "bold outlines and vivid colors," which made them perfect for illustrating books. In 1904, she signed a contract with London publishers T. C. and E. C. Jack to create art for fairytale books. Her drawings often showed her interest in fancy fabrics and costumes. She also designed the covers for these books.

Katharine illustrated three fairytale books for the Jacks: In Fairyland, The Enchanted Land, and Celtic Tales. Other artists really liked her work. Her fourth book for them, Legends and Stories of Italy for Children (1909), was part of a series called Told to the Children. Other Scottish artists like Phoebe Anna Traquair and Olive Allen Biller also drew for this series.

Starting in 1907, Katharine also illustrated gift books for T. N. Foulis's Envelope Book series. These books showed her skill for "delicate romantic watercolor illustrations" that reminded people of the early work by the Macdonald sisters and Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Her last book for the Jacks was Flowers I Love, published in 1916. This book, which featured unusual and exotic plants, showed that she was starting to focus on her "real love": painting flowers. Her last book cover design was for Treasure Trove in Art in 1939.

Etching Art

Katharine Cameron made her first etching in 1898. An etching is a type of printmaking where an artist draws on a metal plate with a sharp tool, then uses acid to create lines.

In 1909, she started etching again. She made two plates called 'April' and 'The Tryst', which showed bees and blackthorn blossoms. Between 1898 and 1938, she created about eighty-eight etchings. Her etchings were inspired by Scottish folklore, botany (the study of plants), and Japonisme. Art critics praised her etchings for being "naturalistic and at the same time exceedingly decorative."

Painting Flowers and Landscapes

Katharine Cameron became a very active watercolourist. Watercolour painting became her main art style throughout her career. Early on, she painted many different things, including romantic figures, Scottish folklore, and flower studies.

She showed her art in many places. At just 22 years old, she was chosen to be a member of the Royal Scottish Watercolour Society. In an interview, she once said, "there is nothing so inspiring as painting flowers."

Katharine also painted landscapes. She often showed these alongside her flower studies and still life pictures. She and her husband, Arthur Kay, often visited the Scottish Highlands. There, she would sketch the beautiful scenery, especially around Connel, Achnacree Moss, Loch Etive, and Benderloch. Her landscapes were full of rich colours, and she loved to capture how the light changed.

Art critics gave her work good reviews. In 1948, critic R. H. Westwater said that Katharine Cameron captured the "delicious texture of flower and leaf" and filled each painting with a special light.

Her last solo art show was in 1959 in Glasgow. It featured 56 watercolours and drawings of the West Highlands and Islands that she had painted over her career.

Where Her Art Was Shown

Katharine Cameron showed her art in many exhibitions. Her first show was in 1891 at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, where she displayed 'September Flowers'. A year later, she became a member of the Glasgow Society of Lady Artists. In 1897, she joined the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour.

In 1920, she became an associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers, and a full member in 1964. In 1950, she was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

She exhibited her work widely, including at the Royal Scottish Academy (Edinburgh), the Society of Women Artists, Aitken Dott (The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh), the Fine Art Society (London), Walker Art Gallery (Liverpool), Annan (Glasgow), James Connell & Sons (Glasgow & London), and Goodspeed's (Boston).

Books Illustrated by Katharine Cameron

Many of her illustrated books were published by T. C. & E. C. Jack of London in their Told to the Children series.

• The Yellow Book (1897) – she was one of several illustrators
• Mary Macgregor – Stories of King Arthur's Knights (Jack, 1905)
• Charles Kingsley - The Water Babies, told to the Children by Amy Steedman (Jack, 1905)
• Louey Chisholm - The Storks and Other Stories for the Six Year Old (Jack, 1905)
• Louey Chisholm – The Enchanted Land (Jack, 1906)
• Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué - Undine, told to the Children by Mary Macgregor (Jack)
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning – Rhyme of the Duchess May (T. N. Foulis, around 1907)
• Aucassin and Nicolette (a 12th-century French song story) (1908)
• Amy Steedman – Legends and Stories of Italy (Jack, 1909)
• Louey Chisholm – In Fairyland: Tales Told Again (Jack, 1910)
• Louey Chisholm – Celtic Tales, told to the Children (Jack, 1910)
• James Richmond Aitken – In a City Garden (Foulis, 1913)
• Edward Thomas – The Flowers of Love: An Anthology of Flower Poems (Jack, 1916)
• US edition, The Flowers I Love: A Series of Twenty-Four Drawings in Colour by Katharine Cameron, with an Anthology of Flower Poems, selected by Edward Thomas (Stokes, 1917)
• Iolo Aneurin Williams – Where the Bee Sucks: A Book of Flowers (Poems Chosen by I. A. Williams) (Medici Society, 1929)
• Fiona Grierson – Haunting Edinburgh (John Lane, 1929)
• Katherine Cameron – Iain the Happy Puppy: Being the Autobiography of a West Highland Terrier (Moray Press, 1934)

Later Life

In 1928, when she was 54, Katharine married Arthur Kay. He was an art collector who was very interested in Scottish history and art. They lived in Edinburgh until Arthur passed away in 1939.

After her husband's death, Katharine continued to paint and show her art. However, she mostly painted flowers because there was no one to drive her to the Highlands to paint landscapes anymore.

Katharine Cameron died in 1965 at the age of 91.

Where You Can See Her Art

Katharine Cameron's artwork is kept in many public art collections, including:

• National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh
• Glasgow Museums, Glasgow
• Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow
• Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen
• British Museum, London
• Victoria & Albert Museum, London
• Tate, London
• The Fleming Collection, London
• Washington Library of Congress, Washington D.C.

See also

In Spanish: Katharine Cameron para niños

• List of Orientalist artists
• Orientalism