Self portrait. circa 1920s. Image: Mercer Gallery.
The portrait artist, Eva Leigh (1895 -1981), was born in Bradford. Her birth was recorded as Eva Mary Walker, but she later adopted the name Eva Leigh – the maiden name of her paternal grandmother – for her professional work.
Her parents were Samuel Leigh Walker, a Woollen Buyer, and her mother, Florence. Eva was the only daughter and the oldest of four children. The family lived at Wightman Street, off Otley Road, in the Undercliffe district of the city.
It is believed that Eva attended Bradford Art School in her late teens; her brother, Richard, had also attended evening classes and worked in the emerging aviation industry as a draughtsman.
By 1921 Eva had left Bradford to live in Harrogate and recorded her occupation as ‘Artist’ in the census of that year. She established a small studio, titled ‘Silhouette’, above the Grosvenor Galleries on Crescent Road, Harrogate, and promoted a portrait painting and silhouette portrait service. However, her silhouette portraits did not involve cutting black paper to match the profile of the sitter, as was usual at that time. Instead she drew detailed profiles of the sitter in India ink.
Silhouette of unknown woman. Image: Mercer Gallery/Whone Family Collection.
Harrogate attracted many wealthy visitors, as well as residents, and Eva began to receive commissions for portraits. These included Lady Dickens, daughter-in-law of Charles Dickins; the conductor, Sir John Barbirolli; Caroline Ingilby from Ripley Castle; and HRH Princes Victoria. She used pastel and pencil for her portraits and her artwork captures a sense of the affluent lifestyles of men, women and children in early to mid-twentieth century Britain – and particularly the dress and hair fashions of those times.
Portrait of an unknown sitter. Image: Mercer Gallery.
She is known to have exhibited work at shows of the Royal Academy, which would have enhanced her reputation in Harrogate. However, inevitably commissions were irregular, so her financial situation was always unstable. Her family reported that she had few financial reserves, and she often used inexpensive and recycled paper for her artwork. Although her work was predominantly centred around portrait work – as a means of making a living – she also painted flower studies, landscapes and tree studies on occasions.
She had a strong and lifelong interest in spirituality and religious belief, particularly the teachings of Buddhism and Hinduism, and was a follower of the Theosophy Movement. In later life she also became a friend of the artist, Henry Whone, who collected her work. She remained single all her life and died in 1981, aged 85, at Scotton Banks Hospital, Harrogate.
Colonel de Pentheny O’Kelly. Image: Mercer Gallery
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It is likely that the memory of Eva would have faded away had it not been for members of the volunteer team at the Mercer Gallery, Harrogate.
After her death, a box of Eva’s unmounted portraits had been donated to the gallery by the Whone family. In 2023 the volunteer team, conducting an inventory of artwork in the Gallery archives, came across the collection. Impressed by the quality of the artwork, the Gallery found there was little biographical information about the artist.
After an appeal on social media for more information about the artist, Dr. Fiona Young, a local historian, began to research the life and work of Eva Leigh. The profile of the artist, summarised here, gratefully acknowledges and draws heavily on the work of Dr. Young.
With the Friends of the Mercer Art Gallery providing the funding, an exhibition of the recently discovered portraits, plus additional work loaned by the Whone family, was mounted during the summer 2024 at the Mercer Gallery.
Additional Reading. Booklet: ‘Finding Eva Leigh. Rediscovering a Harrogate Artist’, published by the Mercer Art Gallery, 2024.