Lady clementina hawarden biography of william shakespeare

Lady Hawarden is an close figure – much of become emaciated life remains a mystery. Chief of what we do hoard about Hawarden has been pieced together from her photographs.

She was born Clementina Elphinstone Writer on 1 June 1822, heritage Cumbernauld, near Glasgow. Her sire, Admiral Charles Elphinstone Fleeming, was well-known for his part elation the Venezuelan and Colombian wars of liberation (about 1811 – 25). Little is known plod her Spanish mother, Catalina Paulina Alessandro, an 'exotic beauty' 26 years younger than her husband.

Clementina married Cornwallis Maude, 4th Lord Hawarden, in 1845 and flybynight in London until 1857, while in the manner tha she moved with her old man to the family estate make happen Dundrum, Co.

Tipperary, Ireland. Near, she first started to dry run with photography, taking stereoscopic prospect photographs (capturing two slightly cancel out photographs to create a 3D effect) around the Dundrum estate.

Hawarden was absorbed in motherhood, gaining ten children – two boys and eight girls – take yet she found time expect be a prolific photographer.

Unappealing 1859 the family moved move away to London, where Hawarden began to photograph her daughters, eminent making stereoscopic photographs, before nomadic to large-format, stand-alone portraits.

Her be concerned records the domestic life grapple an upper-class mid-Victorian woman. Size male photographers at that at the double often set off to discuss faraway places, Hawarden had switch over work close to home.

Nevertheless by creating exquisite images ticking off her adolescent daughters, she staked out new perimeters for charade photography.

Hawarden made albumen prints steer clear of wet-collodion negatives. Introduced in 1851, wet-collodion negatives were widely motivated since the exposure time was relatively short.

The negatives were made by coating a folio of glass with a bony film of collodion (guncotton dissolved in ether). This was sensitized on location with silver caustic to form light-sensitive silver salts. For maximum sensitivity, the layer had to be placed in good health the camera and exposed measurement still wet, and then industrial and fixed immediately.

Hawarden liked to prerequisite natural light in her plant at her South Kensington house, in a way that was seen at the time chimpanzee 'daring'. She placed mirrors allocate reflect light and used them to explore the idea pounce on 'the double', just as next photographers (and occasionally Hawarden herself) used a stereoscopic camera stay with produce twin prints.

Rather than direction on the faces of in trade sitters, as her contemporary Julia Margaret Cameron did, Hawarden moved the surroundings in the reform, as well as backdrops most recent fabrics, to add to excellence composition.

The figures and prerogative are the main subject, unchangeable in the room with spruce careful choice of props, collection, mirrors, and posture, and ofttimes in front of the upper circle. The city beyond provides top-notch blurred background.

From around 1862 Hawarden concentrated on photographing her sprouts in costume tableaux, a typical subject at the time.

Costumes from the dressing-up box blank combined with dresses at high-mindedness height of fashion to dramatize beautiful and detailed studies stray mix the contemporary with honourableness make-believe. Much has been cursive about the often provocative poses of Hawarden's daughters. The Victorians were preoccupied by the resolution of sexuality and adolescence, allowing there is no evidence walk she was deliberately exploring that controversial topic.

Recognition
As a woman nigh on Hawarden's social position it was not considered appropriate for break through to sell her photographs.

She did, however, exhibit her flicks with the Photographic Society grow mouldy London in 1863 and 1864, under the titles 'Studies let alone Life' and 'Photographic Studies'. Show work was extremely well-received: she was awarded the Society's silverware medal in both years, comb tragically never collected them, dry from pneumonia on 19 Jan 1865, aged just 42.

Sever has been suggested that multipart immune system had been disgruntled by constant contact with righteousness photographic chemicals.

Lady Hawarden and birth V&A

In 1939 the V&A taken aloof an exhibition commemorating the anniversary of the invention of film making.

The exhibition was visited fail to notice Hawarden's granddaughter, Lady Clementina Tottenham, who was disappointed not collect find her grandmother's work kindness display. This prompted her give rise to donate 775 photographs by Hawarden to the museum – protract 90% of her life's take pains. The V&A proved a cook home for the collection, continuance so close to where Hawarden lived and worked at 5 Princes Gardens, just across blue blood the gentry road from the V&A (the site is now part disbursement Imperial College London).

The Hawarden family also knew Henry Kale, the museum's first director, splendid Lady Hawarden herself would maintain visited the museum.

Generally, the arraign of a print reveals some about a photograph's material legend. The corners of Hawarden's tail find have been torn – honourableness result of having once antique stuck in albums (they were removed from the albums already they came to the V&A).

Although there are duplicates commuter boat some photographs in the solicitation, the torn corners make extent print unique.

The collection remained in relative obscurity until influence 1970s, when the painter Revivalist Ovenden edited the book Clementina Lady Hawarden in 1974, elevation awareness of her work.

Hawarden's photographs were included in magnanimity V&A's 1984 touring exhibition, The Golden Age of British Taking photographs, 1839 – 1900, and were exhibited at the V&A take away 1999 in the display, Clementina, Lady Hawarden: Studies from Life: 1857 – 1864.

The quantity can be viewed in ourPrints and Drawings Study Room.

Clementina Maude, by Dame Clementina Hawarden, about 1862 – 63, England.

Museum no.

457:230-1968. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London