Anne SEFTON 'FISH'
Born in Bristol, the caricaturist and social satirist, Anne studied under Charles Orchardson and John Hassall at the London School of Art and in Paris. She married Walter Sefton, an Irish linen merchant, although she always used her maiden name 'FISH' when signing her works. An animal lover, she became particularly well-known for her amusing paintings of cats, although in the 1920s and 1930s she contributed drawings and caricatures on the flapper lifestyle to 'The Tatler' and created the character of 'Eve of the Tatler'.
In the 1926 Bookman, a review of Sugar and Spice by Lady Kitty Vincent (Bodley Head), reads 'Sixty sparkling essays by Lady Kitty Vincent and a dozen of those comically grotesque sketches for which "Fish" is celebrated constitute a volume which may be heartily commended for between-courses in serious reading.' These illustrations were not cats, but caricatures of 'grotesquely' thin women dressed in the flapper style.
The couple moved to St Ives after the end of the War. In later years she served on the management and hanging committees of NAG, and upon her death bequeathed them a cash legacy. For eight years prior to her death in 1964 she held an exhibition of cat subjects at her Digey studio, donating the proceeds to the Cat Protection League. She also made available Studio 27 to other artists for one-man shows.
works and access
Access to Work:
Tovey repr Holidaymakers at St Ives (b/w) p60
Drawings and caricatures; The Tatler An example of one her etchings, The Snake Charmer, is in the British Museum collection: Awful weekends and guests; publ 1938; also the book: Eve of the Tatler
Vincent (1926) Sugar & Spice, as listed below
exhibitions
RA(1) Penwith Society Their opening show St Ives STISA 1949, Show Day 1952 to 1964
memberships
Penwith Society of Arts in Cornwall: 1949- STISA: 1952-1964
references
The Bookman, Christmas issue, 1926 (with illus)
Hardie (1995) 100 Years/Diary
Tovey (2003) Creating a Splash
Tate St Ives 1939-64, Twenty Five Years of Painting
Vincent (1926) Sugar and Spice (col & b&w illus) London: Bodley Head