Scribbling Siblings - Esther

This week marked St Andrew’s Day. Although St Andrew is Scotland’s patron saint, we don’t go big licks for it like Ireland does for St Patrick. Not yet at least, although there are often calls for 30th November to be made a Scottish public holiday. I’m all for it of course. I always remember St Andrew’s because my brother is an Andrew & I’ve always sent him a card. Needs a bit more planning these days, now he lives in Switzerland but still the card & texts get sent. He tends to express surprise, because he usually forgets. I suppose if you’re already an Andrew, you’re just going about your business of being awesome* without considering it.

(*Andrews may vary).

I’ve considered doing a blog with people who are related, especially those who are life partners, but haven’t got to it just yet. Thinking of my brother this week (he’s never far from my thoughts) got me wondering about siblings in art & despite being aware of a good few examples, it turns out there are more than I expected. By this I mean both siblings are artists, not pictures of siblings, which – as I accidentally discovered – will only throw up a lot of sentimental drivel. On embarking on this, I was hoping for lots of sibling rivalries. Just for the drama.

Achille Devéria (France, 1800-1857), Self Portrait (c. 1835) & Eugène Devéria (France, 1805-1865), The Reading of the Sentence of Mary Stuart

Achille was an illustrator, lithographer & painter, successful in his day mostly known for his portraits of celebrities. His portraits are exceptionally fine & his erotic works surprisingly daring. I suppose there’s always been a market… In his incredible self portrait, he’s putting this aside however, to look serious & intense. Younger brother Eugène’s work was in the Romantic history vein, included significant mural commissions & filled with different sorts of spectacle. Here Mary, Queen of Scots is told she’s for the chop. Since she spent most of her life in France, traditionally a Catholic country at the time, we can see Devéria 2 has some sympathy for her plight & depicts her as vulnerable but nevertheless pious.

Doris Zinkeisen (Scotland, 1898-1991), Elsa Lanchester (exhibited 1925) & Anna Zinkeisen (Scotland 1901-1976), Night Duty (c.1955?) 

Doris & Anna could never be accused of specialising in a single field. Designers,   painters, muralists & war artists, they portrayed their times: from extreme scenes from WWII all the way through to society portraits. Anna too worked for the war effort as an artist, her focus being on anatomical drawings of injuries. They shared a love of art from an early age & later, they even shared studio space, They were also both commissioned for joint projects, such as by shipbuilders John Brown & Co on the Clyde & by United Steel Companies. 

Gwen John (Wales, 1876-1939), A Lady Reading (1911)  & Augustus John (Wales, 1878-1961), The Artist’s Daughter, Poppet (1927-28)

No such list would be complete without this brother/sister set. Their portrait styles were so different: his painterly, traditional, expressive to her dabbed, quiet & muted. Much of Gwen’s work could be described as “Intimism,” the visual art of subdued household compositions. She often used a very muted palette. Augustus’s portrait of his daughter shows a young woman perfectly unsuited to the name “Poppet.” She’s staring right at Dad, possibly complaining but certainly challenging him & looking more impudent than in any other of his paintings of her. 

Paul Nash (England, 1889-1944), The Ypres Salient At Night & John Nash (England, 1893-1977), Over the Top (1918) 

Both brothers were commissioned as war artists & as we can see had very different approaches. Although Paul is perhaps best known (& the better known brother) for his war paintings, he nevertheless worked in different media & subjects. John later reported that they would complete their “war art” pieces for the day & then painted what they liked after 6pm. Despite a relatively early death due to asthma, Paul was incredibly prolific & moved towards surrrealist methods of depicting the world. 

Mary Henrietta Dering Curtois (England, 1854-1929), Ruston War, Lincoln County (1891) & Ella Rose Curtois (England, 1860-1944), Child Playing at Marbles (1897)

The Curtois sisters worked in different media & so I suppose it’d be easier to eliminate the possibility of any sibling rivalry in their chosen careers; Mary was a painter whereas Ella was a sculptor. Mary created genre paintings, portraits & rural scenes. Their rector father & Ella were responsible for constructing a choir screen at his church which was sadly mostly destroyed by fire.

Charles Pollock (1902-1988), Look Down That Road (1942) & Jackson Pollock (USA, 1912-1956), Self Portrait (c. 1930-33)

Who knew Jackson Pollock had an artist brother? To my shame, until recently I did not. But he was rather good! Both became abstract expressionist painters, but that’s too easy & I’ve gone for some social realism on the part of Charles & a little stone self portrait by Jackson. & when I say little, I mean no larger that 4.25 inches in size. Look up photographs of the two brothers just for fun – their resemblance (if not in their work) is striking.

Chica Macnab (Scotland, 1889-1980) & Iain Macnab (Scotland, 1890-1967), Back Gardens, Lisbon (Garrett 20) (1959) 

Initially, I liked the name Chica Macnab & decided I’d look her up however I’ve not been able to find any of her work. I could find out that she painted & did wood engravings but no images. This was deeply frustrating & rather than just forget about her & select other siblings for the blog, I’m making it a small mission to try & find something, anything, of her works. I did find Iain’s very lovely work, as pictured here & if she’s anything as talented as her brother, I’m dying to find even one example. His wood engravings are impressively detailed & I always find such printing work incredible. As a result of his sister’s interesting name I continue to search. I’d love to hear from anyone with any further knowledge of her. But Chica remains – for now & for me at least – an art mystery.