This wonderful Impressionist work by Margaret Fisher Prout (1875–1963) is a particularly appealing example of the career of one of Britain’s accomplished female painters of the early 20th century. Born in London, Prout was the daughter of the celebrated landscape painter Mark Fisher, who gave her her earliest artistic instruction. She went on to study at the Slade School of Art from 1894 to 1897, establishing the foundation for a long and highly respected career.
Prout developed a distinctive Impressionist approach to landscape, flowers and figures, and was known for experimenting with unconventional methods of applying and manipulating pigment. She was also an influential teacher, teaching life drawing at the Hammersmith School of Arts and Crafts before 1914—a notable position for a woman at the time.
Her exhibition career was extensive. She exhibited with the New English Art Club beginning in 1906, became a member in 1925, and showed at the Royal Academy, Royal Scottish Academy, Royal Hibernian Academy and Royal Glasgow Institute. In 1922 she had a solo exhibition at the Beaux Arts Gallery. She was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1948, and a member of the Royal Watercolour Society in 1945.
Prout’s work is now represented in important public collections including the Tate, British Museum, Government Art Collection, Manchester Art Gallery and Newport Museum and Art Gallery. The Government Art Collection holds her oil painting Old Romney, while the Contemporary Art Society records her oil-on-board work Flower Piece in the Newport collection.
Dated 1934, this larger-format oil on board comes from well into Prout’s mature career. The date is particularly appealing because it places the work during a period when her reputation was firmly established and only fourteen years before her election as an Associate of the Royal Academy. Signed lower left and retaining a gallery label on the verso, the painting has both artistic and provenance interest.
A memorable quality of Prout’s work is the combination of Impressionist atmosphere with her willingness to experiment. She was not simply following the conventions of British landscape painting; she actively explored unusual ways of using pigment to achieve light, color and texture. That inventive quality gives her paintings a freshness that remains remarkably appealing today.
For a designer, this is an especially versatile work: substantial in scale, historically significant and unmistakably British, while its Impressionist handling gives it an easy elegance for a traditional, transitional or collected interior.
Measurements: 28” × 24” framed and 23” × 19” unframed.
Condition: Very Good.
This wonderful Impressionist work by Margaret Fisher Prout (1875–1963) is a particularly appealing example of the career of one of Britain’s accomplished female painters of the early 20th century. Born in London, Prout was the daughter of the celebrated landscape painter Mark Fisher, who gave her her earliest artistic instruction. She went on to study at the Slade School of Art from 1894 to 1897, establishing the foundation for a long and highly respected career.
Prout developed a distinctive Impressionist approach to landscape, flowers and figures, and was known for experimenting with unconventional methods of applying and manipulating pigment. She was also an influential teacher, teaching life drawing at the Hammersmith School of Arts and Crafts before 1914—a notable position for a woman at the time.
Her exhibition career was extensive. She exhibited with the New English Art Club beginning in 1906, became a member in 1925, and showed at the Royal Academy, Royal Scottish Academy, Royal Hibernian Academy and Royal Glasgow Institute. In 1922 she had a solo exhibition at the Beaux Arts Gallery. She was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1948, and a member of the Royal Watercolour Society in 1945.
Prout’s work is now represented in important public collections including the Tate, British Museum, Government Art Collection, Manchester Art Gallery and Newport Museum and Art Gallery. The Government Art Collection holds her oil painting Old Romney, while the Contemporary Art Society records her oil-on-board work Flower Piece in the Newport collection.
Dated 1934, this larger-format oil on board comes from well into Prout’s mature career. The date is particularly appealing because it places the work during a period when her reputation was firmly established and only fourteen years before her election as an Associate of the Royal Academy. Signed lower left and retaining a gallery label on the verso, the painting has both artistic and provenance interest.
A memorable quality of Prout’s work is the combination of Impressionist atmosphere with her willingness to experiment. She was not simply following the conventions of British landscape painting; she actively explored unusual ways of using pigment to achieve light, color and texture. That inventive quality gives her paintings a freshness that remains remarkably appealing today.
For a designer, this is an especially versatile work: substantial in scale, historically significant and unmistakably British, while its Impressionist handling gives it an easy elegance for a traditional, transitional or collected interior.
Measurements: 28” × 24” framed and 23” × 19” unframed.
Condition: Very Good.
