Rosamund Praeger

Sophia Rosamond Praeger, MBE, HRHA, MA (17 April 1867 – 16 April 1954) was an Irish artist, sculptor, illustrator, poet and writer.

Early life and education Praeger was born in Holywood, County Down, Ireland on 17 April 1867. Her parents were Willem Emil Praeger and Marie Ferrar Patterson. Her grandfather was the naturalist Robert Patterson.

Her father immigrated to Belfast from Holland to work with his uncle in the family linen company, which was established in 1860. Praeger had five brothers, one of whom was the naturalist Robert Lloyd Praeger. Praeger received her primary school education at the day school run by the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian minister, Rev Charles James McAlester. Praeger would later teach at this school. She attended Sullivan Upper School, the Belfast School of Art and the Slade School of Art in London.

At the Belfast School of Art, Praeger studied under the painter George Trobridge, and became a member of the Rambler's Sketching Club in 1886. In 1888, she enrolled in the Slade School, studying under Alphonse Legros and won a silver medal for drawing. Whilst there she became friends with fellow sculptor, Ellen Mary Rope. From 1892 to 1893, Praeger travelled to Paris to study, having been encouraged to do so by Legros and Rope.

Career Following her time in Paris, Praeger returned to Holywood and established a studio. Having rented a number of studios in Belfast, in 1914 she built St Brigid's Studio on Hibernia Street, which she worked from until her death. Praeger completed her first large commission in 1907, a memorial to T. Hamilton for Queen's University Belfast. Her more well known pieces depict children in what is sometimes described as a sentimental style.

Praeger's work in included in the collections of the Ulster Museum and the National Gallery of Ireland, and some private collections around the world.