Nina Hosali was born to a dual-heritage family - an Indian father and a Scottish mother - in St John's Wood, London, England, in 1898. Hosali spent her formative years in Glasgow, Scotland, returning to London at the age of 11 and settling back into life in London with her mother. She subsequently pursued her passions in scientific academia, abstract painting, travel and poetry, and as a philanthropist, supporting child and animal welfare projects.
Painter and poet Nina Hosali was born in St John's Wood, London, England, in 1898, to an Indian father and a Scottish mother, Frances Kate Hosali, who was known as Kate. Kate suffered the tragic, premature death of her husband shortly after Hosali's birth and subsequently took her daughter back to Scotland, where Hosali spent her formative years in Glasgow. In 1909, aged 11, Hosali and her mother moved from Scotland to England to continue Nina's education. Hosali was an extremely bright pupil and gained a place to study for a BSc in Maths at University College London, followed by attaining a Master's degree in seismology. Further achievements included a scholarly article titled 'A note describing models illustrating crystalline form and symmetry', which presented Hosali's experimental findings on the behaviour of seismic waves on rock formations, and which was published by the Royal Society of London in 1923. Hosali's venture into the creative arts was not entirely at odds with her mathematical interests; her scientific models were effectively three-dimensional sculptures that pointed the way for her later artistic growth. One of Hosali's 1920 models, highlighted in Geological Curator in 1998, was described by the author as a 'planar glass cube with coloured silk threads showing crystal forms,' and as 'Perhaps the most beautiful […] Using exterior envelopes of plane glass whose shape is of a simple crystal form,' (Tandy, 1998, pp. 337-338). The sculptural model featured a series of colourful threads that had the appearance of numerous spiders' webs, set inside an openwork cube, a precursor to her later artistic trajectory.
In 1921, Hosali, left England with her mother to travel to North Africa; whilst there, they were appalled by the intense suffering of working animals and abandoned strays. Their mission was then to establish places of refuge by opening animal clinics and embarking on educational initiatives. In 1923, Hosali and Kate founded the Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad (SPANA) (McClellan, 2022, p. 133), which developed alongside Hosali's artistic career. By the 1950s, Hosali had returned to England, living in Biggin Hill, Kent. She was an active member of the Kent art community and made an impact with her artwork of North African scenes; proceeds from her art sales and funds from her lectures went to her charitable causes. Hosali's intense work ethic enabled her to develop her painting skills independently, becoming a well-known figure amongst Biggin Hill artists. Hosali was also secretary and an established member of the Free Painters and Sculptors (FPA), which enabled her to exhibit in solo and group exhibitions at local and National galleries.
Hosali's body of work included vivid, colourful landscapes and scenes of North Africa, as well as surreal abstract art, which was her passion. Hosali's vibrant portrayals of her travels in Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco are vividly captured and enhanced by her personal adaptations of the region. In her landscape piece, Bedouin Camp (c. 1920s), Hosali captures the harshness of the desert light, using varying shades of yellow, with the scorching environment highlighted in the earthy brown tones. In one of Hosali's abstract works,Movement 3, Dance at Sunrise (1957, Leicester Museum and Art Gallery), her brushstrokes form sharp, angular arrangements: a cacophony of tailed and winged forms, eratically fluttering across the canvas, her textural marks amplify the sense of immediacy.
Nina Hosali was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and was involved in establishing the London Artists' Group, which later became the Free Painters and Sculptors (FPA). Hosali also engaged in community activism, served as secretary of the London National School of Health, and consistently raised funds for SPANA, FPS, the London Nature Clinic, and the Margaret Morris Dance Movement. Hosali combined her paintings with poetry from her earliest ventures in North Africa, notably in her book Children of Allah: Poems of North Africa (1946). Respect for Hosali by other artists culminated in a portrait bust of Hosali by a fellow Biggin Hill artist and sculptor, Lilian Antonides, titled Character Study of a Contemporary Artist (1964), selected for the Royal Institute Galleries' summer show in 1964. Hosali exhibited at various London venues with the FPA; with the Drian Gallery in Porchester Place, Marble Arch (established by Polish emigre, Halima Nalecz); The Women's International Art Club (WIAC) at the Whitechapel Art Gallery (Rasmussen, 2008, n.p); the Loggia Gallery and St John's Wood Library. Hosali was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 1976 for her dedication to SPANA.
Nina Hosali died in Bromley, Kent, England on 14 January 1987. A generous supporter of the arts, the FPA established the Nina Hosali Prize in her memory in honour of her unwavering dedication to the group. In the UK public domain, Hosali's artwork is held in the collection of Leicester Museum and Art Gallery,while ephemeral material is held by Tate archives.
Joy Onyejiako
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Nina Hosali]
Publications related to [Nina Hosali] in the Ben Uri Library