Hooks Farm - Helen Allingham - Graphic Arts - Framed Print - 11"H x 14"W

Hooks Farm - Helen Allingham - Graphic Arts - Framed Print - 11"H x 14"W

Helen Allingham RWS (née Helen Mary Elizabeth Paterson) was an English watercolour painter and illustrator.

Paterson showed a talent for art from an early age, drawing some of her inspiration from her maternal grandmother Sarah Smith Herford and aunt Laura Herford, both accomplished artists.

She initially studied art for three years at the Birmingham School of Design and the National Art Training School in London.

One highlight was her commission to provide twelve illustrations for the 1874 serialisation of Thomas Hardy's novel Far from the Madding Crowd.

While Vincent Van Gogh was developing as an artist by studying English illustrated journals he was struck by Patterson's work in The Graphic.

She married William Allingham, and she began to paint the beautiful countryside around her and particularly the picturesque farmhouses and cottages of Surrey and Sussex for which she became famous. As well as landscapes, she completed several portraits, including one of Thomas Carlyle.

In 1890, she became the first woman to be admitted as a full member of the Royal Watercolour Society.