Sarah Purser facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sarah Purser
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Portrait by John Butler Yeats, around 1880–1885
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Sarah Henrietta Purser
22 March 1848 Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire), County Dublin, Ireland
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| Died | 7 August 1943 (aged 95) Dublin, Ireland
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| Resting place | Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin, Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Alma mater | Metropolitan School of Art, Académie Julian |
| Known for | First female member of the Royal Hibernian Academy |
| Movement | stained glass movement |
Sarah Henrietta Purser (born March 22, 1848 – died August 7, 1943) was a famous Irish artist. She is best known for her beautiful work with stained glass. Sarah Purser was also the first woman to become a full member of the Royal Hibernian Academy.
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About Sarah Purser
Sarah Purser was born in Kingstown, which is now called Dún Laoghaire. This town is in County Dublin. She grew up in Dungarvan, County Waterford. Her father, Benjamin Purser, was a successful flour miller and brewer. Sarah was one of many children in her family.
The Purser family came to Ireland from England in the 1700s. Sarah had two brothers, John and Louis, who became professors at Trinity College Dublin. Her niece, Olive Purser, was the first woman to earn a scholarship at Trinity College Dublin.
Sarah Purser lived for many years in a large house called Mespil House in Dublin. It was a beautiful old house with fancy ceilings. Every Tuesday afternoon, she would host parties for writers and artists in Dublin. These parties were a very important part of Dublin's art scene. After she passed away, Mespil House was taken down to build apartments. Sarah Purser was buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery with her brothers.
Her Education and Training
When Sarah was thirteen, she went to a school in Switzerland. It was called Institution Evangélique de Montmirail. There, she learned to speak French very well and started painting. In 1873, her father's business had problems. Sarah decided to become a full-time painter to help her family.
She took classes at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art. She also joined the Dublin Sketching Club and later became an honorary member. In 1874, she did very well in a national art competition. From 1878 onwards, she regularly showed her paintings at the Royal Hibernian Academy. For fifty years, she displayed her work, mostly portraits.
In 1878 and 1879, Sarah studied art in Paris at the Académie Julian. While there, she met a German painter named Louise Catherine Breslau. They became very close friends for life.
Her Art Career
Sarah Purser became quite wealthy because she made smart investments. She was very active in the art world in Dublin. She helped to create the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery. She even convinced the Irish government to provide Charlemont House to house the gallery.
She had her own art studio at 11 Harcourt Terrace. She lived and worked there from 1887 to 1909.
Sarah Purser was also the second woman to join the Board of Governors and Guardians of the National Gallery of Ireland. She served on the board from 1914 to 1943. She was made an honorary member of the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1890. Later, she became the first female Associate Member in 1923 and the first female full Member in 1924.
In 1924, she started a group called the Friends of the National Collection of Ireland. This group helped to get more art for Ireland's national collection.
Painting Portraits
Sarah Purser mostly painted portraits of people. She was very talented and energetic. She was friends with important families like the Gore-Booths from Lissadell House. This helped her get many painting jobs. She famously said that she "went through the British aristocracy like the measles," meaning she painted many important people.
In 1888, the Viceroy of Ireland asked her to paint his children. This showed that she was seen as the best portrait painter in the country.
Some of her most beautiful work was not just portraits. For example, her painting An Irish Idyll is in the Ulster Museum. Her painting Le Petit Déjeuner (The Breakfast) is in the National Gallery of Ireland.
Stained Glass Work (An Túr Gloine)
Sarah Purser used her own money to start An Túr Gloine (which means The Tower of Glass). This was a special workshop for making stained glass. It was a cooperative, meaning artists worked together. She ran it from when it opened in 1903 until she retired in 1940.
Many talented artists joined An Túr Gloine. These included Michael Healy, Catherine O'Brien, Evie Hone, Wilhelmina Geddes, Beatrice Elvery, and Ethel Rhind. Sarah Purser wanted the workshop to follow the true Arts and Crafts idea. This meant that "Each window is the work of one artist who makes the sketch and cartoon and selects and paints every morsel of glass him or herself."
Sarah Purser herself did not make many stained glass pieces. Most of the stained glass windows were painted by other artists in the cooperative. She likely guided their work. Two of her early works, from 1904, were St. Ita for St. Brendan's Cathedral and The Good Shepherd for St. Columba's College. Her last stained glass work is believed to be The Good Shepherd and the Good Samaritan from 1926. It is in a church in Killucan, Co. Westmeath.
Her Legacy
Sarah Purser is remembered with a special plaque on Harcourt Terrace. In 2020, the Post Office released a stamp honoring her. It was part of a series called "Pioneering Women."
Many of the portraits Sarah Purser painted are now kept in the National Gallery of Ireland. You can also find her old papers and records there. The records for An Túr Gloine are also kept at the National Gallery of Ireland.
See also
In Spanish: Sarah Purser para niños
- List of Irish artists
