1. Mary Harriet "Mainie" Jellett was an Irish painter whose Decoration was among the first abstract paintings shown in Ireland when it was exhibited at the Society of Dublin Painters Group Show in 1923.
14 Facts About Mainie Jellett
1. 2.
Mainie Jellett was a strong promoter and defender of modern art in her country, and her artworks are present in museums in Ireland.
3.
Mainie Jellett's work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics.
4.
Mainie Jellett's mother was an accomplished musician, and all her daughters received a musical education.
5.
Mainie Jellett's aunt was Eva Jellett, a pioneering doctor working in India.
6.
William and Eva Mainie Jellett were among the seven children of John Hewitt Mainie Jellett, Provost of Trinity College Dublin.
7.
Mainie Jellett's teachers included William Orpen, and his influence is apparent in her work from this period.
8.
Mainie Jellett decided to become a painter after working under Walter Sickert at the Westminster Technical Institute in London, where she enrolled in 1917 and remained until 1919.
9.
Mainie Jellett showed precocious talent as an artist in the impressionist style.
10.
Mainie Jellett was an important figure in Irish art history, both as an early proponent of abstract art and as a champion of the modernist movement.
11.
Mainie Jellett's painting was often attacked critically but she proved eloquent in defence of her ideas.
12.
Mainie Jellett died in Dublin on 16 February 1944, aged 46, of pancreatic cancer.
13.
Mainie Jellett's work was an important part of the Active Age project in the Irish Museum of Modern Art, which was produced to rewrite the narrative of art and change the canon.
14.
Mainie Jellett's work was not very well known outside of Ireland, but she was a pioneer of a national avant-garde and strongly supported the encouragement of young Irish artists.