Commissions - Supporters of women’s progress, 1929-1932
Oil ‘Mahatma Gandhi’, 1931
Kathleen’s commissioned work often focused on supporters of women’s progress.
Outside of the progressive ideals of the Slade School, women artists continued to face barriers, with women less likely to establish a successful commercial career than their male counterparts [1]. Despite this, Kathleen regularly painted commissions, exhibited and sold her artworks both in London and regionally throughout her adult life. Her extensive body of work was frequently featured in the daily press, accompanied by images of her paintings from London exhibitions. She consistently achieved numerous sales to a diverse clientele.
Commissions of Famous Sitters
Kathleen produced portraits of well-known figures of the time -pioneering women (see section: Commissions - pioneering women), as well as people who were advancing the progress for women. The records and images of such supporters of women’s progress that remain are:
a) Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi [2], 1869-1948, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, philosopher, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule. He inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahātmā (derived from Sanskrit, meaning "great-souled" or "venerable") was first bestowed upon him in South Africa in 1914. It has since gained global recognition and usage.
From September to December 1931, Gandhi visited London for the second Round Table Conference for Indian Independence. Gandhi, distinctive in his usual dhoti and shawl was a regular feature in the newspaper reports of the Conference. During his stay he lived at Kingsley Hall in the East End of London and commuted daily to an office at 88 Knightsbridge near Hyde Park for work [3,4]. In a history of this visit to Britain, there was the following description of that office:
“... the early mornings when Mr. Gandhi arrived, and you felt as though a torchlike “something” had come into the house. He would spring out of his car and be up in his room sitting by the fire spinning, in a flash. In every corner of the room there were famous sculptors and artists trying to get a model or a picture of this elusive man ...”
Kathleen Temple-Bird’s political background (see section: Politics) and experience of painting notable figures would have drawn her to the opportunity to paint Gandhi. In his itinerary, there were meetings organised where he could meet ordinary people, and local organisations - several of which were relevant to Kathleen’s interests and contacts [5]. From her time as a suffrage artist between 1910-1915, Kathleen "put her artistic skill to the service of the Cause by executing quick portrait sketches," and these portraits were subsequently sold [6]. She likely employed that skill at one of the locations to produce her first portrait of Gandhi - a pencil sketch. He must have given permission beforehand or acknowledged the art afterwards, since he signed the piece.
Pencil ‘Gandhi’, 1931, autographed by Gandhi (probably signed by Kathleen when she started exhibiting the drawing in 1932)
The second portrait Kathleen created was of Gandhi spinning, so it is likely she was one of the artists who visited his office to work up studies for the oil portrait, that she would have finished in her studio in 1932 (see portrait at the top of this page). These two portraits of Gandhi started to be accepted for exhibition in 1933 - the pencil drawing in the exhibitions of the Society of Graphic Arts and the London Portrait Society, and the oil painting in exhibitions of The Royal Institute of Oil Painters (1933) and the London Portrait Society (1934) where it had a catalogue price of £50, which is equivalent to £1,883 when converted to today’s prices [7].
In 1934, the French Government acquired both portraits for permanent display in the Musée du Luxembourg, Paris. The paintings were displayed in the Jeu de Paume pavilion in Tuileries Gardens, which was established to exhibit contemporary art from foreign schools of painting [8]. Kathleen corresponded with the curator Rose Valland, later to become the renowned resistance fighter who worked on the restoration of looted works of art to their owners after the Second World War [9]. These Gandhi portraits were on display until approximately 1937-1939, after which they moved to the Musee d’Orsay and later to the National Museum of Modern Art, Centre Pompidou, Paris, where they remain [10].
Around 1934, the Revue des Arts [11] wrote a letter to the Royal Institute of Oil Painters about Kathleen, appreciative of her talent, mentioning many paintings, including the small Gandhi oil, stating:
“Colour can lie when it’s not supported by a strong drawing. The fold of a mouth, a tired smile, the beginning of a gesture, blinking eyes behind glasses reveal to us the soul of ‘Mahatma Gandhi’. This work, small in size, but large through the interpretation of the sitter (world famous) is especially evocative of the painter’s talent”
As was widespread practice among artists, Kathleen produced a replica oil portrait of Gandhi spinning. This painting continued to be exhibited in the UK from 1940-1954, including the Royal Academy (1940), Royal Society of Portrait Painters (1946), as part of an Art Exhibition Bureau tour [12] of the country (1946-1947), the Paris Salon (1950), and the Society of Women Artists (1952 and 1954). Kathleen also exhibited another portrait study she had produced in chalk (ref. letters, newspaper articles, catalogues).
b) The Rev Dr WF Geikie-Cobb DD [13], 1857-1941, was a British Anglican priest and author, an innovative man, who believed in the independence, free will and strength of women, and supported the women’s suffrage movement.
The Rev William Geikie-Cobb was an influential, and sometimes controversial clergyman. From 1891-1898, he was assistant secretary to the English Churchman’s Union, and in 1899 was the organisation secretary. In 1900, he became the Curate-in-Charge at St Ethelburga’s Bishopsgate, London and by 1901 was the Rector there. Described as a gentle soul, who believed in the power of love and the search for truth, he wanted to see laws granting divorce by mutual consent. At the beginning of the 1900’s women had very few rights of their own, particularly when married as they became the property of their husband and found it almost impossible to obtain a divorce. Under William’s leadership, St Ethelburga’s became one of the first churches where divorced people could remarry. He was the Chairman of the Marriage Law Reform League from 1928-1941. William presided over dozens of remarriages of divorcees during the 1930’s and 1940’s and St Ethelburga’s attained a reputation for this unusual ministry [14]. William remained the Rector there until his death in 1941 (aged 84 years).
In early 1899, 41-year-old William joined a men-only freemasonry Lodge in Kent, under the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE). William resigned later that year because the rules and restrictions went against his more enlightened world view. A new form of Freemasonry had begun in France in the 1890s called Co-masonry, which admitted both men and women, and William and his wife Harriette joined the first London Co-Masonic lodge in 1902. But by 1907, some members were expressing their discontent, wanting to make the organisation of the Order more democratic, and under a Council in England rather than France. In 1908, William, his wife, and associates established a new organisation known as The Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Masonry. Rev Geikie-Cobb was appointed as the First Grand Master. Men slowly left because UGLE placed penalties on those that stayed. More women were drawn to it because it was free-er, and the rise of women’s suffrage and the loss of men in the First World War led to its membership becoming predominantly female. By the early 1920s, it was an exclusively female organization, and over the years became commonly known as the Order of Women Freemasons. Due to ill health, the Rev Geikie-Cobb left his post in 1912 and handed over to the first female Grand Master, Marion Lindsay Halsey [15,16,17,18].
There are several ways that Kathleen might have come to know the Rev Geikie-Cobb. Firstly, when she studied at the Slade School of Fine Art from 1899-1902 (see section: Art Training), where a contemporary art student Gabrielle Geikie overlapped with Kathleen from 1901-1902 [19]. Gabrielle was the daughter of Archibald Geikie (President of the Geographical Society) who was living in London and had a familial link to the Geikie-Cobbs, so she might have introduced them. Secondly, Kathleen was a suffragette, and became an active member of the Women's Social and Political Union run by Emmeline Pankhurst (see section: Politics) - the Rev Geikie-Cobb was a supporter and old friend of that movement. Thirdly, Kathleen gained an art teaching certificate from the examination board of the Department of Science and Art, in South Kensington (see section: Art Training), and spent some time teaching art between 1902-1908 in various places where they might have met. Thus by 1908, William Geikie-Cobb knew Kathleen, her artwork, and her teaching skills well enough to write her a testimonial and she gained a position as Head of Art at Havergal College, in Toronto from 1908-1910 (see section: Teaching in Canada).
Large oil ‘The Rev WF Geikie-Cobb DD’, 1929
Once Kathleen returned to England, she continued to cross paths/stay in touch with William Geikie-Cobb through her family life and politics. In 1929, the Reverend (aged 72) must have had a series of sittings with Kathleen (aged 50) for a large oil portrait. However, it is unclear whether these sessions took place in his office, his home, or Kathleen’s home. She often did sketches and watercolours before working up a large oil, but by April 1930 the portrait was ready and chosen for the Royal Academy Exhibition. This painting and Kathleen were photographed on Varnishing Day and on the opening evening by the newspapers, reviewed in an illustrated article in La Revue Moderne in Paris [20], and exhibited several times (ref. letters, press articles & photos, magazine review). Henri Vitérac, French journalist and art critic stated:
“The portrait of the Rev. Dr W.F. Geikie-Cobb, by Kathleen Temple-Bird, at the Royal Academy, is a testimony of the perfect craft and an original and personal artistic conception. The painter who composed this expressive picture stands out from your average portraitists. This large touch and the almost sculpture-like drawing are top-notch.”
The portrait was exhibited many times from 1930-1957. In Kathleen’s 1936 exhibition at the Forum Club in London, the catalogue gave a list price for this large oil of £52-10 shillings, equivalent to £4,725 when converted to today’s prices [7] (ref. catalogues).
c) Sir Patrick Geddes, FRSE [21], 1854-1932, was a lively and original thinker, a polymath of world significance, a botanist, biologist, town planner and landscape architect, and a pioneer in sociology, environmental education, and the arts. Words he devised such as ‘conurbation,’ ‘megalopolis,’ and ‘habitat’ seemed revolutionary during his lifetime, but are now common currency. His injunction to “think global, act local” has become an environmental catch phrase. His insight that cities are constantly evolving organic entities launched the urban and regional planning movement around the world. He was one of the first biologists to stress the prime importance of habitat, in what would now be called ecology, using a method of survey and synthesis based on the principle of “Place-Work-Folk.”
Patrick Geddes worked in Scotland, London, India, Palestine, and France, He was Lecturer in Zoology at the University of Edinburgh, Professor of Botany at University College Dundee, and Professor of Civics and Sociology at the University of Bombay. He was especially renowned for building designs that produced fairer neighbourhoods and improved living conditions, and Kathleen might have met him through his work in Chelsea restoring Crosby Hall as a residence for university women [22], or through other mutual contacts in the following years.
Small oil ‘The Late Sir Patrick Geddes’, c 1932
Kathleen’s portrait of ‘The Late Sir Patrick Geddes’ was exhibited by the Royal Society of Oil Painters in 1932, and by The London Portrait Society in 1933. After the Second World War, it was exhibited in various places including the Royal Society of Portrait Painters (1948) which gave it a list price of £50 which is equivalent to £2,297 today [7], the Paris Salon (1949), and in 1950 Kathleen received an Honourable Mention for the portrait from Le Salon des Artistes Français [23] (ref. newspaper articles, Who’s Who in Art [24]). The painting received positive responses in newspaper articles, for example, the Cornishman 15 July 1948, reported on the Sir Geddes oil at the ‘St Ives Society of Artists’ summer exhibition [25].
“Some of the portraiture is among the outstanding things of the exhibition, especially that of … and Kathleen Temple Bird ”
References
“Now you see us,” Women Artists in Britain 1520-1920, exhibition at Tate Britain London, 16 May-13 Oct 2024: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/women-artists-in-britain-1520-1920
Mahatma Gandhi’s Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi
Christopher Finnigan, ‘1931: A visit from Gandhi’, Oct 2019, South Asia@LSE Blog: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2019/10/02/a-visit-from-gandhi/
James D Hunt, ‘Gandhi in London,’ Ch7, p199, Internet Archive: https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.502483/2015.502483.Gandhi-In_djvu.txt
‘Mahatma Gandhi Events Chronology: Round Table Conference and London,’ Gandhi Heritage Portal: https://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/chronology/event-chronology-listing/MzQ=/NzQyMQ==#
Elizabeth Crawford, ‘Art and Suffrage: a biographical dictionary of suffrage artists,’ 2018, Francis Boutle Publishers - Kathleen Temple-Bird’s entry.
To calculate the equivalent values in today’s prices, the Measuring Worth website was used that allows the entry of LSD values. Purchasing Power UK£ calculations were chosen, follows by Commodity calculations, and the Real Price recorded (rather than labour, income, or economic share values): https://www.measuringworth.com/calculators/ppoweruk/
Jeu De Paume, ‘1862-2024: The History of Jeu De Paume.’ https://jeudepaume.org/en/about-us/history/
Jeu De Paume, ‘Rose Valland, A Resistance Fighter at the Jeu de Paume.’ https://jeudepaume.org/a-propos/histoire/rose-valland/
Centre Pompidou, ‘Kathleen E Temple-Bird’ page (currently being updated): https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/ressources/personne/cRy9b4
In France the ‘Revue des Arts’ was the official journal of the International Union of Decorative Arts published in Paris in the early 1930s, its offices were in Avenue Basquet, Paris.
Art Exhibitions Bureau : https://contemporaryartsociety.org/organisations/art-exhibitions-bureau-london
The Rev WF Geikie-Cobb’s Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Geikie-Cobb
Rev Cobb and Marriage Reform, p16 of St Ethelburga’s History: https://stethelburgas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/History-document-V2-compressed.pdf
AJ Pilcher-Dayton, ‘Women Freemasons and Feminist causes 1908 – 1935’, 2012: https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/15012/1/575742.pdf
Web of Hiram, ‘Tradition History of the OWF.’
https://www.webofhiram.org/?section=order_women_freemasons&page=traditional_history.html
Martin Cherry, Librarian, Museum of Freemasonry, Freemasons' Hall, London, website: museumfreemasonry.org.uk
The Order of Women Freemasons, by the Rev Geikie-Cobb: https://skirret.com/papers/geike-cobb.html
University of London’s Library Services - Special Collections, ‘University of London Calendars, 1899-1902.’
Henri Vitérac, journalist and art critic, “Artists recently seen in exhibitions/galleries, including …. the Royal Academy of Art, and ……”, La Revue Moderne - illustrated Arts and Life, published in Paris, No 16, 30 August 1930.
Sir Patrick Geddes’ Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Geddes
‘Who was Patrick Geddes’, Scottish Historic Buildings Trust: https://www.shbt.org.uk/knowledge/who-was-patrick-geddes/#:~:text=In%201908%20he%20restored%20Crosby,humans%20in%20his%20city%20plans
Le Salon des Artistes Français was an association set up by the French Government in 1881 which wanted the Paris Salon, created under Louis XIV, to be organized by artists going forward. From 1901, the Grand Palais, designed and built by artists (all members), became the location of the Salon and the association. During each exhibition, the jury of the painting, sculpture, engraving, photography and architecture sections awarded medals and private prizes: https://www.artistes-francais.com/
Kathleen Temple-Bird’s entry in ‘Who’s Who in Art,’ Sixth Edition, 1952, Art Trade Press, London.
Cornishman article, 15 July 1948, reporting on Kathleen’s Geddes oil portrait at the ‘St Ives Society of Artists’ summer exhibition, 1948.
