Averil Burleigh

Averil Mary Burleigh born Averil Mary Dell (1883–1949) was a British artist and painter. Based in Sussex, Burleigh was known for painting in egg tempera with the subject usually involving a central figure. Her husband and daughter also painted but she is the best regarded of the three.

Biography

Burleigh was born in 1883 in Hassocks in West Sussex and went on to study at the Brighton School of Art. She married the painter Charles Burleigh and they lived and worked together as artists in Hove and Sussex. They designed a house with a large sun-lit top floor studio. Their daughter Veronica, who would also become a notable artist, was born there in 1909. The family never became rich from their works, and often relied on Burleigh's flair for buying and selling shares. From 1939 she was a member of the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours. Shortly before she died, Burleigh was elected an associate of the Royal Watercolour Society.

Style and technique

Burleigh specialised in tempera painting, although she also worked in chalk and watercolour. Her works tend to have a bright colour palette with contrasting colours to lead the eye around the picture. Frequently, her works portray decorative renaissance subjects, usually dominated by a female figure who is regularly modelled on her daughter, Veronica Burleigh.

Works At the start of Burleigh's career she produced 24 colour illustrations for The Poems of John Keats in 1911. From 1912 to 1945 she was a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy, which included showing a series of 17 tempera paintings there between 1930 and 1935. Burleigh also contributed to the 1913 Arts and Crafts Society exhibition held at the Grovesnor Galleries.