Phoebe Anna Traquair

Discover one of the artists who contributed towards the Arts and Crafts movement in Scotland and beyond

Phoebe Anna Traquair, 1852 - 1936. Artist (Sculpted in 1927) by Peter InduniNational Galleries Scotland: National

Phoebe Anna Traquair was a significant and important figure in British art. 

She contributed widely to the Arts and Crafts movement, and was one of the first women artists in Scotland to achieve professional recognition. 

The Shepherd Boy (Dated 1891) by Phoebe Anna TraquairNational Galleries Scotland: National

Like many artists of the Arts and Crafts era she worked across diverse branches of the arts, producing embroideries, manuscript illumination, bookbinding, enamelwork, furniture decoration, easel painting and mural decoration, which led to international recognition. 

The Awakening (Dated 1904) by Phoebe Anna TraquairNational Galleries Scotland: National

Many of Traquair’s ideas at this time ran in parallel with William Morris, who similarly blurred distinctions between fine and decorative arts;  both also shared a Christian affinity with nature as the prime example of God’s design.

Night Angel Holding a Waning Moon (c. 1862 - 1864) by William MorrisThe Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

In the early 1880s in Edinburgh, the beginnings of Arts and Crafts practice lay in philanthropy as a means of bringing greater morality and deeper meaning into art and design. 
A programme of mural decoration was initiated in 1885 by the Edinburgh Social Union, responding to William Morris’ call for an art that would transform the everyday lives of the working classes.  

Three Studies for the Decoration of the first Mortuary Chapel, the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh (1885) by Phoebe Anna TraquairNational Galleries Scotland: National

In 1884 the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh received a request from the Hospital Ladies’ Committee for a chapel space. The small disused hospital coalhouse, measuring only twelve by eight feet, was found and in April 1885, Traquair was formally invited by the Social Union to paint the walls, marking her debut as a professional artist. This is a study for the mural she created.

The Progress of a Soul: The Victory (1902) by Phoebe Anna TraquairNational Galleries Scotland: National

In Scotland she was seen as a contributor to the Celtic Revival along with the painter John Duncan, both saw the relevance of historical prototypes to modern decorative art. Her embroidered panels are a fine example, combining historical, decorative embroidery techniques with modern Symbolist subject matter. 

The Progress of a Soul: The Entrance, Phoebe Anna Traquair, 1895, From the collection of: National Galleries Scotland: National
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The Progress of a Soul: The Stress, Phoebe Anna Traquair, 1897, From the collection of: National Galleries Scotland: National
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The Progress of a Soul: Despair, Phoebe Anna Traquair, 1899, From the collection of: National Galleries Scotland: National
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The Progress of a Soul: The Victory, Phoebe Anna Traquair, 1902, From the collection of: National Galleries Scotland: National
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Two Pages, Illuminated, 'Sonnets from the Portuguese' by Elizabeth Barrett Browning Two Pages, Illuminated, 'Sonnets from the Portuguese' by Elizabeth Barrett Browning by Phoebe Anna TraquairNational Galleries Scotland: National

From 1890 onwards Traquair illuminated a series of texts, including poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnets from the Portuguese, 1892-97 

Two Pages, Illuminated, 'Sonnets from the Portuguese' by Elizabeth Barrett Browning Two Pages, Illuminated, 'Sonnets from the Portuguese' by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1894 - 1896) by Phoebe Anna TraquairNational Galleries Scotland: National

Two Pages, Illuminated, 'Sonnets from the Portuguese' by Elizabeth Barrett Browning Two pages, Illuminated, 'Sonnets from the Portuguese' by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1894 - 1896) by Phoebe Anna TraquairNational Galleries Scotland: National

The Psalms of David (About 1884 - 1891) by Phoebe Anna TraquairNational Galleries Scotland: National

and The Psalms of David, 1884-1891.   

'For So He Giveth His Beloved Sleep': Fragment of a Mural from the Mortuary Chapel, the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh (1886) by Phoebe Anna TraquairNational Galleries Scotland: National

In the 1900s Traquair took up enamelling, jewellery and commercial book illustration. By the mid-1930s the modernist aesthetic had taken over and her work fell from public view; much of her legacy remained neglected and unseen until the early 1990s. Since this time, museums and galleries have been avidly collecting her work and re-establishing a reputation which was so high during her lifetime. 
 

The video below is about the Celtic Revival in Scotland and covers much of Phoebe Anna Traquair's work.

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