Miss Anna Airy . . . is an artist of exceptional interest. In addition to her considerable reputation as a painter, she is pre-eminent as a pastellist. We hardly know of another artist whose handling of that difficult medium is so instinctive. Lately she has turned to etching, and some exquisite plates in the manner of the fine tinted drawing of tree form which we reproduce are the result. We are inclined to think that the gifted artist has not quite found herself, as the saying is; she seems embarrassed by her versatility. But we can only think of about one other contemporary English woman artist with the same resource of technique. When Miss Airy has the confidence to make it the vehicle for intimations of a more personal character, this gift of expression will place her as an artist very high. Her art is almost studiously impersonal at present; she is passing through the stage with which all great executants begin, in which problems are chosen for their very difficulty as much as for any other reason. . . .
Miss Airy, who is a grand-daughter of Sir George Biddell Airy, K.C.B., Astronomer-Royal, was educated in painting at the Slade School of Art, entering in 1899 and leaving in 1903. She obtained the Slade Scholarship and all the Slade prizes in succession. She has been a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy from 1905 onwards. In 1906 she was elected a member of the Pastel Society, and in 1907 associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers. An exhibition of her work was held at the Carfax Gallery in 1907, and at Paterson's Gallery in 1911. The drawing Willow Pattern, after being well placed at the Royal Academy, was shown at the Franco-British Exhibition, and invited to Rome. Purchases were made from her etchings by the Liverpool Corporation in 1908. — 1913 International Studio
Works
Bibliography
“Studio-Talk.” International Studio. 48 (1913): 51-54. Hathi Digital Library Trust internet version of a copy in the Cornell University Library. Web. 7 October 2017.
“Studio-Talk.” International Studio. 55 (1915): 51-53. Hathi Digital Library Trust internet version of a copy in the Cornell University Library. Web. 10 October 2017.
W.,T. “The Watercolour Drawings of Anna Airy.” International Studio. 48 (1912-1913): . Hathi Digital Library Trust internet version of a copy in the Cornell University Library. Web. 10 October 2017. [complete text in the Victorian Web]
Last modified 10 October 2017