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Rosamond Praeger

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Sophia Rosamund Praeger
MBE
Born17 April 1867
Holywood, County Down, Ireland
Died16 April 1954(1954-04-16) (aged 86)
Rock Cottage, Craigavad, County Down, Northern Ireland, UK
Resting placePriory Cemetery, Holywood
NationalityIrish,
Alma mater
Known forSculpture

Sophia Rosamond Praeger, MBE, HRHA, MA (17 April 1867 – 16 April 1954) was an Irish artist, sculptor, illustrator, poet and writer.[1]

Early life and education

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Praeger was born in Holywood, County Down, Ireland on 17 April 1867. Her parents were Willem Emil Praeger and Marie Ferrar Patterson. Her father, immigrated to Belfast from Holland to work with his uncle in the family linen company, which was established in 1860. Praeger had five brothers, one of whom was the naturalist Robert Lloyd Praeger. Praeger received her primary school education at the day school run by the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian minister, Rev Charles James McAlester. Praeger would later teach at this school.[2] She attended Sullivan Upper School, the Belfast School of Art and the Slade School of Art in London.[3]

At the Belfast School of Art, Praeger studied under the painter George Trobridge, and became a member of the Rambler's Sketching Club in 1886. In 1888, she enrolled in the Slade School, studying under Alphonse Legros and won a silver medal for drawing.[4] Whilst there she became friends with fellow sculptor, Ellen Mary Rope. From 1892 to 1893, Praeger travelled to Paris to study, having been encouraged to do so by Legros and Rope.[5]

Career

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Following her time in Paris, Praeger returned to Holywood and established a studio. Having rented a number of studios in Belfast, in 1914 she built St Brigid's Studio on Hibernia Street, which she worked from until her death. Praeger completed her first large commission in 1907, a memorial to T. Hamilton for Queen's University Belfast.[5]

Praeger wrote and illustrated children's books,[4] as well as providing botanical illustrations for her brother's work. However she is best known for her sculptures, working primarily in plaster but also marble, terracotta and stone.[6] Her more well known pieces depict children in what is sometimes described as a sentimental style.[7][3] Her best known piece, The Philosopher, was first shown at the Royal Academy in London during 1920, subsequently Praeger made several copies for various museums.[4]

Her sculptures also include:

Praeger also modelled figures for such diverse bodies as the Northern Bank, the Carnegie Library on the Falls Road in Belfast and at St Anne's Church of Ireland Cathedral (Belfast). She was President of the then Ulster Academy, which later became the Royal Ulster Academy.[2]

Selected works

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  • "Johnny The Jig" sculpture in Holywood
  • Lord Carson memorial plaque, St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast
  • Bird bath memorial to Hamilton Harty, Hillsborough
  • First World War memorial on Pump House, Belfast

Awards and legacy

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Ulster History Circle plaque on the location of Praeger's studio in Holywood

Praeger became an Honorary Academician of the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1927, received an honorary MA from Queen's University Belfast in 1938, and in 1939 was awarded the MBE.[2]

She died at Rock Cottage, Craigavad, County Down, on 16 April 1954, the day before her 87th birthday, and was buried in the Priory Cemetery.[8]

Praeger's work in included in the collections of the Ulster Museum and the National Gallery of Ireland, and some private collections around the world.[5] A house at Sullivan Upper School is named after Praeger and her brother Robert.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "Praeger, Sophia Rosamond". National Irish Visual Arts Library. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Newmann, Kate. "Sophia Rosamond Praeger (1867–1954): Sculptor". Dictionary of Ulster Biography. Ulster History Circle. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  3. ^ a b James Mackay (1977). The Dictionary of Western Sculptors in Bronze. Antique Collectors' Club. ISBN 0902028553.
  4. ^ a b c David Buckman (2006). Artists in Britain Since 1945 Vol 2, M to Z. Art Dictionaries Ltd. ISBN 0-953260-95-X.
  5. ^ a b c d "Sophia Rosamond Praeger HRHA". Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851–1951. University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  6. ^ Pauline Rose (23 November 2020). "A look at Britain's neglected professional women sculptors". Art UK. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  7. ^ "Rosamond Praeger". Culture Northern Ireland. 13 April 2006. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  8. ^ Biography of Rosamond Praeger, belfastentries.com. Accessed 30 September 2022.
  9. ^ "House System". Sullivan Upper School. Retrieved 31 July 2022.

Further reading

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  • McBrinn, Joseph (2009) 'A Populous Solitude': the life and art of Sophia Rosamond Praeger, 1867–1954, Women's History Review, Vol. 18, Iss. 4
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