Janina Forbes-Robertson (née Flamm) was born into a well-established Jewish family in Warsaw, Russian Empire (now Poland) in 1875. She was educated in Paris and immigrated to the UK around 1898 after marrying an Englishman. Forbes-Robertson is primarily remembered for her portraits, where those of suffragettes particularly stand out.
Painter Janina Forbes-Robertson (née Flamm) was born into a well-established Jewish family in Warsaw, Russian Empire (now Poland) in 1875. Her father, Filip Flamm, was a distinguished lawyer and publisher, known particularly for the publication, Gazeta Sądowa. He was recognised as a perceptive legal theorist and a respected authority on the Polish language. In the early 1890s, Forbes-Robertson began her artistic education at Ludwik Wiesiołowski’s private drawing school for women in Warsaw. She later moved to France to further her studies at the Académie Julian in Paris, where she trained from 1894 to 1897, and where she met her future husband, the British figurative and landscape painter, Eric Forbes-Robertson, brother of the acclaimed actor, Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson, and who was connected to the Pont-Aven circle and Paul Gauguin on the Island of Jersey. During her time at the Academie she was joined by fellow Polish artist and friend, Stanisława de Karłowska, who enrolled in 1895, and who also met her future spouse there, the English painter, Robert Bevan. Forbes-Robertson continued to show her work in her homeland during this period, participating in the annual Polish Zachęta Salon exhibitions (National Gallery of Art, Warsaw) between 1894 and 1896. On 17 July 1897, she married Forbe-Robertson at St Helier Town Church on the Island of Jersey, the church wedding also suggesting a conversion to Christianity. It was at the wedding that Karłowska (who was a bridesmaid) met Bevan, who was a close associate of the groom.
After a period living in France, Forbes-Robertson and her husband relocated to the UK with their son Philippe, born in 1898, eventually settling in London. They later had two daughters, Cecilia (born 1900) and Ida (born 1902). Forbes-Robertson continued to participate in exhibitions in both Poland and Britain, returning to show at the Zachęta Salon in 1906 and contributing to the Allied Artists Association (AAA) exhibitions at the Royal Albert Hall in 1909 and 1911. For the second AAA exhibition her works were highlighted in notable company in the Illustrated London News: ‘The Allied Artists’ Association can boast a number of sales at the Albert Hall. Oils by Mr. Harold Gilman, Miss Janina Forbes Robertson, and thirty other exhibitors have found buyers’ (E.C., 1911, p. 356). She also exhibited with her husband in a joint show in August 1911 at the Esperantist Vagabond Club in London.
Forbes-Robertson’s style blends academic training with an evolving modernist sensibility, often depicting strong female sitters with a stylistic tenderness. Her work demonstrates a strong command of traditional techniques, particularly in the rendering of flesh and fabric, while exploring emotional depth through intimate, often introspective subjects. The palette leans towards warm, expressive tones, and there is a consistent emphasis on mood, character, and psychological presence. Her brushwork ranges from precise to loosely textured, revealing a shift from academic realism to a more painterly, expressive approach. Among her notable works is a portrait of suffragette, Barbara Duval, who was involved in some of the most significant demonstrations for women's voting rights in Parliament. The painting depicts Duval seated in an armchair with a book resting in her hands. On 29 October 1908, aged just 17, she and her mother joined a demonstration outside the Palace of Westminster, which led to both being taken into custody. Tragically, the younger Duval died at the age of 28, before she had the opportunity to cast a vote she had fought so tirelessly to secure.
Janina Forbes-Robertson died of cancer in London, England in 1922, at the age of 47, just a year after the death of her daughter, Cecilia, who had been studying at the Royal Academy Schools and who also succumbed to cancer at the age of 21. Forbes-Robertson’s works are held in the UK public domain, including in the collection of Nottingham City Museums & Galleries, which holds her 1910 portrait of her daughter Cecilia and in the British Parliament Art Collection, which acquired the Barbara Duval portrait in 2022, as part of a growing suffragist collection. In Poland her works are represented in the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw and in several private collections.