Fortesque-Brickdale, Eleanor (1872–1945)

English painter. Name variations: Mary Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale, Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale. Born in 1871 in Norwood, Surrey, England; died in 1945 in England; dau. of a successful lawyer; trained at Crystal Palace School of Art under Herbert Bone, 1889–97; attended Royal Academy, 1897–1900.

Famed painter, illustrator and stained-glass artist who revived Pre-Raphaelite style of painting, began exhibiting illustrations and water-colors at Royal Academy (1896) and won a prize for design for academy's dining room (1897); began exhibiting large, set-piece oils such as The Pale Complexion of True Love (1899) and other scenes; illustrated many books of poetry and prose; had studio in Kensington (from 1902) and pursued dual career as painter and illustrator of fine color-printed editions of literary texts; taught for some years at Byam Shaw School of Art; traveled extensively in Italy and south of France; employed vibrant colors and chose moral or medieval subjects (including many paintings of fairies) as "second-wave" Pre-Raphaelite painter; painted posters for British government during WWI and was in great demand for stained-glass skills following the war. Was 1st woman to be elected member of Royal Institute of Oil Painters (1902) and the 1st to be associate member of Royal Society of Painters in Watercolor (1903).

See also Centenary Exhibition of Works by Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale, 1872–1945, 1 Dec 1972–7 Jan 1973 (Ashmolean Museum, 1972).