Letitia Hamilton RHA, WCSI (1878-1964)

The Irish landscape painter Letitia Hamilton was born in County Meath. She came from a generation of famous Irish women artists - her elder sister Eva Hamilton (1876-1960) was also a talented painter, while her cousin was the watercolourist Rose Barton. In her early days, Letitia exhibited under the name May Hamilton. She trained under William Orpen at the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin (NCAD), where she learned drawing and painting (in both oils and watercolours) and subsequently painted in several European countries, including Italy and France.

Canal Scene in Venice

LANDSCAPE ART IN IRELAND
For a guide to scenic painters like
Letitia Hamilton, see:
Irish Landscape Artists.

From 1925-1928 she exhibited regularly with the Paris Salon. First and foremost however, Letitia Hamilton was a dedicated painter of the Irish landscape, exhibiting more than 200 paintings at the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) where she was duly elected a full member in 1944. In addition, she was a committee member of the Water Colour Society of Ireland (WCSI) and a founder member of the Dublin Painters in 1920. She won numerous awards including: the Silver medal for design of enameled panel, gained in the Board of Education National Competition (1912; the Bronze medal at the Olympic Games Art Section, London (1948).

Solo exhibitions of Letitia Hamilton's watercolour painting were held in 1912, by the Water Colour Society of Ireland; in 1951, by the Dublin Painters Gallery; and in 1982 by the Godolphin Gallery, Dublin.

Her pictures are represented in several public collections, including: the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, Dublin; the Limerick City Gallery of Art (includes National Collection of Contemporary Drawing); the Ulster Museum, Belfast; the Crawford Municipal Gallery, Cork; the Drogheda Municipal Art Collection; the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; and the Waterford Art Gallery.

Auction Record For Letitia Hamilton

The highest price paid at auction for a work by Letitia Hamilton was recorded in 2004, when his abstract painting, entitled Canal Scene In Venice, was sold at Sotheby's, in London, for £33,600.

More Information About Visual Arts in Ireland

• For details of other watercolourists, see: Irish Artists: Paintings and Biographies.
• For more about women artists like Letitia Hamilton, see: Irish Art Guide.
• For more about gouache and watercolours, see: Homepage.