In the course of my study of the war I began looking at the organized political activism in England of the time and discovered the efforts of E.D. Morel and Roger Casement fighting against the genocide of the people of the Congo at the hands of King Leopold of Belgium. In 1903 Morel started his own publication, The West African Mail to report the true facts and figures of the genocide in Africa. Concurrent to this, in1903 the militant Women’s Social and Political Union was founded by the Pankhurst family. Its motto was “Deeds not Words”. In 1906 the Daily Mail newspaper gave them the name Suffragettes. Over a period of 11 years up until the outbreak of WW1 thousands of women members went to prison. The majority was sent to jail for minor charges and a small percent for more violent action. There were many other women rights organizations in England that had existed prior to and along with the Suffragettes but none were as radical in their methods. It was researching this organization and looking closely at related photographs that led to my next series of paintings.
The Suffragettes represent an homage to and reflection of the public demonstration and ‘mediatization’ of civic dissent in the Modern age and the development of social discourse about inequality within and across social communities. As with the paintings from the after 1914 series, The Suffragettes are based on historical photographs, in this instance taken from the archive at the Museum of London. I reframed the compositions on canvas selectively, leaving out the many, myriad details recorded by the camera so to focus on the individuals at the center of action. Additionally, I have added colour to the original black and white recordings, and sought dramatic points of intersection between subjects and the spaces within which they are found. In particular, I’m interested in the faces caught in the photographs: faces that express enthusiasm, collective resolve and, most of all, shared passion for an idea. In crowd scenes I look at the faces of the audience and find a range of expressions, from focused attention to curiosity to bemusement. I look for faces showing self-consciousness for the camera in the form of shyness to mild posturing, and I look for sadness and anger.
Nostalgia and romanticism are by-passed as are attempts at making masterful paintings. This series of paintings is not a comprehensive survey of the Suffragette movement but rather a partial study of the emotional complexity of bearing witness to historical events.
Emmeline Pankhurst, Socialist and Labour Party Supporter and advocate for Women’s Suffrage married to Richard Pankhurst 1893, acrylic on canvas, 12”x12”, 2020Richard Pankhurst, Socialist, Labour Party candidate and supporter of Women’s Suffrage married to Emmeline Pankhurst 1879, acrylic on canvas, 11”x 11”, 2020Sylvia Pankhurst WSPU Organiser, Socialist, Artist, Writer, Founder of the East London Federation of Suffragettes Advisor and Mistress to Keir Hardy 1909, acrylic on canvas, “12x 12”, 2018Christabel Pankhurst WSPU Co-Founder, Chief Administrator and Activist 1908, acrylic on canvas, 10”x11”, 2019Christabel Pankhurst WSPU Co-Founder, Chief Administrator and Militant 1911, acrylic on canvas, 9”x 9”, 2016Adela Pankhurst, WSPU Organiser 1909, acrylic on canvas, 10”x12”, 2018Teresa Billington-Greig, Author, WSPU activist and Labour Party Organiser 1904-1907, acrylic on canvas, 9”x 9”, 2019WSPU Activists promoting Self Denial Week Campaign, Bristol 1910, acrylic on canvas, 18”x 20”, 2012Una Dugdale WSPU Activist in Newcastle 1908, acrylic on canvas, 14”x 16”, 2012Sylvia Pankhurst Socialist Activist and founder of the East London Federation of Suffragettes, under police arrest 1914, acrylic on canvas, 8”x 8”, 2014WSPU Activists promote Hyde Park Rally London 1908, acrylic on canvas, 11”x 11”, 2011WSPU Activists at Rally for Women’s Suffrage at Hyde Park London 1908 (1), acrylic on canvas, 9”x 9”, 2011Olive Walton WSPU Activist, arrested by police at Dundee 1914, acrylic on canvas, 12”x 15”, 2013Millicent Fawcett, Author, Public Speaker and President of England’s National Union of Suffrage Societies 1910, acrylic on canvas, 10”x 12”, 2020
Mary Leigh, WSPU Activist at Criminal Court 1908, acrylic on wood, 12”x 20”, 2011
Mary Leigh, WSPU Militant, Drum Major for the Women’s Drum and Fife Band 1909, acrylic on canvas, 14”x 16”, 2014WSPU Activists, Margaret Scott, Jane Short, May McFarlane, Olive Hocken, detained at Holloway Prison acrylic on canvas, 18”x 20”, 2012
Patricia Woodlock WSPU Militant speaks at St. George Place Liverpool 1908, acrylic on canvas, 14”x 14”, 2014Mabel Capper and Patricia Woodlock, WSPU Activists, Manchester 1908, acrylic on canvas, 16”x 18” 2012Louise Michelle, Militant participant at the Paris Commune 1871, acrylic on canvas, 10”x 11”, 2019Lady Constance Lytton, Author, WSPU Activist 1914, acrylic on canvas, 9”x 9”, 2019Keir Hardie, Scottish Trade Unionist, Socialist, Founder of the Labour Party, Labour MP 1902, acrylic on canvas, 12”x 12”, 2018Lillias Hardie, Advisor married to Keir Hardie at “Lochnorris” Scotland 1908, acrylic on canvas, 10”x 14”, 2019Henri Rochefort, Journalist and agitator for the Paris Commune 1871, acrylic on canvas, 9”x 9”, 2019
Grace Macron WSPU Activist Detained at Holloway Prison 1912, acrylic on canvas, 12”x 16”, 2013Flora Drummond WSPU Organiser and Activist at rally for Irish Home Rule, London 1914, acrylic on canvas, 12” 12”, 2015Flora Drummond WSPU Organiser and Activist at rally for Irish Home Rule, London 1914, acrylic on canvas, 12” 12”, 2015Emmeline Pankhurst WSPU Co-Founder, Chief Administrator and Militant with bodyguards 1914, acrylic on canvas, 12”x 12”, 2016 Emmeline Pankhurst WSPU Co-Founder, Chief Administrator and Militant, under arrest 1914, 9’x 11”, 2015Emmeline and Frederick Pethick -Lawrence, Socialists, Labour Party supporters, Publishers, WSPU primary Patrons and Executives 1910, acrylic on canvas, 12”x 15”, 2016Emily Wilding Davison WSPU Militant 1910, acrylic on canvas, 12”x 20”, 2016Emily Wilding Davison WSPU Militant fatally Injured protesting on the track at Epson Derby 1913, acrylic on canvas, 9”x 12”, 2020Eleanor ‘Tussy’ Marx, Socialist and supporter of Women’s Suffrage 1883, acrylic on canvas, 10”x 11”, 2020Edith New, WSPU Activist at Criminal Court 1908, acrylic on wood, 12” x 20”, 2011Annie Kenney, WSPU Organiser l909, acrylic on canvas, 9”x 9”, 2020Annie Kenney, WSPU Organiser 1905, acrylic on canvas, 12”x 12”, 2016Emmeline Pankhurst WSPU Co-Founder, Chief Administrator and Militant, under arrest 1914, 9’x 11”, 2015
