27 Facts About Hilda Carline

Hilda Anne Carline was a British painter, daughter of the artist George Francis Carline, and first wife of the artist Stanley Spencer.

Hilda Carline studied art under the Post-Impressionist Percyval Tudor-Hart, with her brothers Sydney and Richard, and then at the Slade School of Art under Henry Tonks.

Hilda Carline had a promising early start with her works being shown at the London Group, Royal Academy and New English Art Club.

Hilda Carline died in 1950, having struggled for several years with breast cancer.

Hilda Anne Carline was born on 20 November 1889 to the artist George Francis Carline and Annie Smith Carline, who had been adopted by a relative and never knew her mother or father, John Smith.

Hilda Carline was one of five children born to the family.

Hilda Carline lived in London until 1892 when the family moved to Oxford.

George Hilda Carline taught his daughter to paint until October 1913, when she enrolled in the school that Percyval Tudor-Hart had established in Hampstead.

Now, Sydney, Richard, and Hilda Carline lived and studied together, sharing their opinions about art.

From 1916 to 1918 Hilda Carline did farm work for the Women's Land Army near Wangford, Suffolk.

Hilda Carline made Return from the Farm, in a Gauguinesque the style that reflected her connection to and appreciation for the countryside.

Under Henry Tonks, Hilda Carline studied line and formalism, which was different from the instruction she received from Tudor-Hart.

Hilda Carline was able to leverage what she learned from Tudor-Hart to make works that were nearly abstract landscapes, and she made refined landscapes and figures from Tonk's instruction.

Hilda Carline exhibited at the New English Art Club and the Royal Academy.

Hilda Carline liked the fact that she was a devout Christian Scientist, talented, imaginative and striking.

The Hilda Carline family travelled for painting retreats and Stanley Spencer accompanied them on the 1920 Seaford, Sussex, 1922 Yugoslavia and 1924 Essex and Suffolk trips.

Spencer and Hilda Carline often painted landscapes side-by-side, making similar works.

Hilda Carline proposed to her six times before they were married, Spencer got cold feet and called the wedding off, only to ask her again.

Hilda Carline made Stanley Nude, which is similar in composition to the sketch Spencer made of her.

Spencer and Hilda Carline moved in 1932 to Cookham and bought a large house called Lindworth.

In 1932 Hilda Carline made only two paintings, which journalist John Henshall attributed to depression.

Hilda Carline never developed a theme or signature style, largely because of the long periods of not painting when she was married.

Hilda Carline struggled to see herself, and have others see her, as a serious artist: when she was studying with her brothers she thought she just needed some space in a hall, while her brothers had their own rooms in the studio building.

Hilda Carline became an artist during the Edwardian era, when there were strict responsibilities and limitations for single and married woman.

Hilda Carline seems trapped, shaded under her hat, and yet slightly defiant.

Hilda Carline retained her own artistic style, like the portrait she made of Elsie, their housekeeper.

Towards the end of her life, Hilda Carline created works that expressed her devout religious beliefs using pastels.