Jeanne du Maurier R.W.A
(Hampstead, London 1911-1997 Dartmoor, Devon)
Reflections, circa 1960
oil on canvas
signed lower left 'DUM'
35.5 x 25 cm.
Provenance
The artist;
Royal West of England Academy Permanent Collection, Bristol, until sold 1979, to
Private collection, UK.
Exhibited
Bristol, Royal West of England Academy, no. 30.
Bristol, Royal West of England Academy Spring Exhibition, 1979, no. 629.
Jeanne du Maurier came from an illustrious artistic family. She was the youngest of the three daughters of the actor-manager, Sir Gerald du Maurier, and sister of the writer, Daphne du Maurier. Their paternal grandfather was the author and Punch cartoonist, George du Maurier. Their cousins were the Llewelyn Davies boys, who were inspiration for J.M. Barrie's 'Peter Pan'.
Jeanne studied at the Central School of Arts & Crafts in London, where she was taught by Bernard Meninsky. During WWII she spent much of her time in Cornwall at the family home in Bodinnick, and in 1946 she took a studio in St Ives, and held her first exhibition at the town's Society of Artists' Autumn show. There, she met Dod Procter, with whom she began a passionate affair. In 1949 she and Dod Procter were invited to join the Penwith Society of Artists which had been established by Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson. At this time she met the poet Noel Welch, who became her life-long partner. In 1953 the couple moved to Menaton, a village in Dartmoor, Devon, where she lived for the rest of her life.