Edna Clarke Hall

Edna Clarke Hall (née Waugh; 29 June 1879 – 16 November 1979) was a watercolour artist, etcher, lithographer and draughtsman who is mainly known for her many illustrations to Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.

Early life and education

Born Edna Waugh in Shipbourne, a tiny village in the Kent hop fields, she was the tenth of the twelve children of the social campaigner Benjamin Waugh who was a cofounder of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). In 1881, the Waughs moved to Southgate, and in 1889, after her father resigned the ministry to dedicate himself to the NSPCC, the family settled in St Albans, Hertfordshire. She studied alongside Gwen and Augustus John, Ida Nettleship, Ambrose McEvoy and Albert Rutherston, and made many drawings and etchings of her new friends. The mediums watercolor and pen and ink were what Edna preferred to work with, being that it fulfilled her instinctive needs and carefulness. Using her everyday life as inspiration, she drew ideas from her lived reality. Creating works of art focusing on the process, rather than the result.

Marriage

The 19-year-old Edna married William Clarke Hall on 22 December 1898. For the rest of her artistic life Clarke Hall added to the Wuthering Heights drawings and etchings during periods of emotional crisis. and Heathcliff supporting the dying Catherine. One of her drawings of the latter scene was inscribed with the quote 'Let me alone! If I've done wrong, I'm dying for it'.

Breakdown and artistic identity Edna Clarke Hall suffered a nervous breakdown in 1919. Through the assistance of Tonks and the psychologist Henry Head she addressed some of the problems with her marriage and was able to reassert her artistic identity.

Edna Clarke Hall wrote and published two volumes of poetry, Poems (1926) and Facets (1930). A trust was formed by Mrs F. Samuel, Mrs. E. Bishop, and Michel H. Salaman, who were mutual friends of the Clarke Halls, to enable Edna to retain her studio and continue working.