Irene Ryland
(British 1910 - 1951)

The Red Tray, c.1920

oil on canvas
signed upper right ‘Irene Ryland’

51cm x 41cm.
(framed 63.5 x 53.5 cm.)
with exhibition lables, verso
in its original frame

Provenence
by decent in the family of the artist until 2025

Exhibited
London, The Royal Institure of Oil Painters, no.583, titled ‘The Red Tray’, c.1920s;
London, Royal Academy of Art, c.1920s.

Works from the Ryland family of ArtistsWilliam Wynne Ryland (1732-1783) trained in London with his father Edward Ryland and inParis with Boucherand Le Bas. He pioneered stipple engraving and in 1772 began a famous series of stipple engravings after Kauffman. After producing engravings of George III and Queen Charlotte he was appointed engraver to the king, a position that carried a salary of €200 per annum.

In 1783 Ryland was suspected of involvement in forgery. He disappeared from his home on 1st April 1783. An advertisement was issued offering a reward for his apprehension, on a charge of forging and uttering two bills of exchange for £714 seeking to defraud the East India Company. He was ultimately hanged for the crime at Tyburn, achieving an unenviable notoriety as the last person to be hanged at Tyburn, after which the gallows there were taken down.

Irene Ryland (1910-1951) appears to have had a less dramatic career than her predecessor. She lived in Kensington and studied painting at the Grosvenor Road Life School under Walter Donne and under Sir William Nicholson at the London School of Art. She exhibited at the Royal Academy, the New English Art Club and the Paris Salon. She was acting President for the Society of Women Artists in 1949-50.

Irene was the Great Aunt of Christopher Ryland who was born at Eastbourne. Christopher studied at the Goldsmiths College, was also a member of 395 Association, a group of community artists in S.E. London 1973-1975, and an associate lecturer in art and design at Southwark Adult Education 1981. He specialised in botanical painting and in 1995 was elected a member of the Society of Botanical Artists. He had many solo shows including at the John Russell Gallery in Ipswich and at the Wildlife Gallery in Lavenham. His paintings have been collected widely and sold around the world, featuring in many publications and winning awards, including the President's Award at the annual exhibition of the Royal Society of British Artists in 2001 and the St Cuthbert's Mill Award in 2007. He was a keen teacher of art classes from his purpose-buitt studio in his house in Sudbury.