Born: 1883 Le Havre, France
Died: 1950 London, England
Year of Migration to the UK: 1897
Other name/s: Ethel Leontine Gabain, Ethel Gabain
Biography
Painter and printmaker Ethel Léontine Gabain was born in Le Havre, France in 1883, to a French father and a Scottish mother. From the age of fourteen, she boarded at Wycombe Abbey school in Buckinghamshire, England, where her interest in art was encouraged. In 1902 she studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London and the following year attended Raphaël Collin's studio in Paris. In 1904 she returned to London and studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, where she trained as a lithographer under Francis Ernest Jackson. Determined to carry out her own printing, she attended further lithography classes at the Chelsea Polytechnic and learnt how to work a printing press, initially experimenting with colour, but soon focusing on black and white lithographs. Her first exhibition was held at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool in 1906. Two years later, she showed her first portrait at the Royal Academy and, as her portraiture became better-known, began to receive commissions, establishing her studio at 5 Haarlem Mansions in Brook Green, West London.
In 1909 she was invited to become a founder member of the Senefelder Club, meeting fellow artist John Copley (1875–1950), her future husband. The first Senefelder exhibition was held at the Goupil Gallery in London in 1910 with the aim of promoting lithography among artists and collectors and making it as widely accepted as the practice of etching. Gabain and Copley married in 1913, afterwards moving to Longfield, Kent, where their sons, Peter and Christopher, were born in 1915 and 1918, respectively. Gabain's prints were regularly selected for illustration in the publication Fine Prints of the Year, displayed across Europe, USA and Canada, and well received in the press. Between 1906 and 1930 she produced 300 lithographs; and together the couple showed an unrivalled dedication to lithography during a period when etching remained both more fashionable and more lucrative for printmakers. In 1922, Copley was diagnosed with a weak heart and his work ceased, but during his convalescence in Wye, Kent, Gabain sketched the surrounding scenery. Afterwards, they moved to 10 Hampstead Square, London, where they lived for the rest of their lives, apart from a period in Alassio, Italy, in 1925, for the sake of Copley's health, when Gabain painted and gave drawing lessons to the English community. Although they returned to England two years later, following the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the market for contemporary prints collapsed and they struggled financially. Gabain worked additionally in watercolour and oil, receiving numerous portrait commissions, and owing to her son Peter's theatrical career, went on to paint many leading actresses of the era.
After a serious illness and major surgery, however, she lost a kidney, and also suffered badly from arthritis. During the Second World War, following the death of her son Christopher at the age of 21 in 1940, Gabain contacted the Ministry of Information to volunteer as a War Artist. She was commissioned by the War Artists' Advisory Committee to produce lithographs of members of the Women's Voluntary Services and child evacuees and despite her health, travelled widely to source her images, accompanied whenever possible by her husband. She worked throughout the war and when her arthritis made it too painful for her to hold her brush, she strapped it to her wrist and continued to paint. Five years after the end of the war, she died in London in 1950. Her work is held in many UK public collections including the Grosvenor Museum, the Imperial War Museum, Manchester Art Gallery and Rochdale Arts & Heritage Service.
Related books
- Iain Pears, Ethel Gabain: Lithographs (Uppingham: Goldmark, 2011)
- Susan Thomson, The Life and Works of Ethel Gabain (Manchester: Manchester Art Press, 2008)
- Iain Pears, Ethel Gabain 1883–1950. Lithographs (London: The Fine Art Society, 2003)
- John Copley and Ethel Gabain, exhibition catalogue (London: Garton & Cooke, 1985)
- Harold J. L. Wright, The Lithographs of John Copley and Ethel Gabain (Chicago: Albert Roullier Art Galleries, 1924)
- Recent Lithographs by Ethel Gabain and John Copley (London: Colnaghi, 1929)
- Harold J. L. Wright, 'The Lithographs of Ethel Gabain', The Print Collector's Quarterly, No. 10, 1923, pp. 254-287
- Exhibition of Lithographs by John Copley and Ethel Gabain (London: Colnaghi, 1920)
- Exhibition of Lithographs by the Senefelder Club of London (Providence: Rhode Island School of Design, 1916)
- Catalogue of an Exhibition of Lithographs & Drawings by John Copley and Ethel Gabain (London: William Marchant & Co., The Goupil Gallery, 1914)
Public collections
- Aberystwyth University Art Collection, Aberystwyth, Wales
- British Museum, London
- Harvard Art Museums
- Imperial War Museum, London
- Liverpool Museums, Liverpool
- National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh
- Royal Academy of Art, London
- Royal Shakespeare Company Collection
- The British Museum, London
- The Courtauld Gallery, London
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Related organisations
- Slade School of Fine Art (student)
- Central School of Arts and Crafts (student)
- Chelsea Polytechnic (student)
- Senefelder Club (member)
Related web links
Selected exhibitions
- The Copleys of Hampstead: An Exhibition of Prints by John Copley and Ethel Gabain, Gilden's Art Gallery, London (2018)
- Ethel Gabain: Life Studies, The Fine Art Society, London (2017)
- Ethel Gabain: A Distinctive Look, The Fine Art Society, London (2016)
- Elusively Charming: The Art of Ethel Gabain, The Grosvenor Museum, Chester (2011)
- The Lithographs of Ethel Gabain, The Fine Art Society, London (2003)
- John Copley & Ethel Gabain, Garton & Cooke, London (1985)
- Ethel Gabain, Memorial Exhibition, Hove Museum of Art (1951)
- Royal Academy: 181st exhibition (1949), 180th exhibition (1948), 179th exhibition (1947), 178th exhibition (1946), 177th exhibition (1945), 176th exhibition (1944), 175th exhibition (1943), 174th (1942), 173rd exhibition (1941), 172nd exhibition (1940), 171st exhibition (1939), 170th exhibition (1938), 169th exhibition (1937), 168th exhibition (1936), 167th exhibition (1935), 166th exhibition (1934), 163rd exhibition (1931)
- Recent Lithographs by Ethel Gabain and John Copley, Messrs P. & D. Colnaghi & Company, London (1929)
- Royal Academy: 161st exhibition (1929), 157th exhibition (1927), 155th exhibition (1923) and 154th exhibition (1922)
- Lithographs by John Copley and Ethel Gabain (Mrs John Copley), Messrs P. & D. Colnaghi & Company, London (1920)
- Winter Exhibition of Graphic Art in Aid of the Red Cross and St. John Ambulance Society, Royal Academy (1917)
- War Relief Exhibition in Aid of the Red Cross and St. John Ambulance Society and the Artist's General Benevolent Institution, Royal Academy (1915)
- Royal Academy: 144th exhibition (1912), 143rd (1911), 141st (1909), 140th (1908)
