Helen Allingham
1848–1926 · Victorian watercolourist and illustrator from England
Helen Allingham (née Paterson), born in Swadlincote in 1848 and died in Haslemere in 1926, was an English watercolourist and illustrator of the Victorian era. Her work, focused on the rural landscape and on the farms, cottages and gardens of southern England, made her one of the most popular artists of her time.
The daughter of a doctor, she grew up in Cheshire and later in Birmingham, after her father and a sister died of diphtheria during an epidemic in 1862. Her talent had family precedents in her grandmother and aunt, both recognised artists. She studied at the Birmingham School of Design and in London, where Frederick Walker encouraged her to work in watercolour. While training, she worked as an illustrator for children's and adult books and for periodicals such as The Graphic. A notable commission was twelve illustrations for the serialisation of Thomas Hardy's novel Far from the Madding Crowd in the Cornhill Magazine in 1874. At that time she signed her work as H. Paterson or H. Allingham. She formed a lasting friendship with Kate Greenaway.
In 1874 she married the Irish poet William Allingham, editor of Fraser's Magazine and much older than she was. After the wedding she gave up illustration and devoted herself to watercolour. In 1881 the family moved to Witley, in Surrey. She painted farms, cottages and gardens in Surrey and Sussex with close attention to detail, avoiding any hint of hardship. After her husband's death in 1889, she increased her output to support their three young children. Her watercolours became very popular, although some critics found them excessively sentimental and conservative. In 1890 she became the first woman admitted as a full member of the Royal Watercolour Society. She also painted in Middlesex, Kent, the Isle of Wight and Venice, and made portraits, including one of Thomas Carlyle. She illustrated books such as Six to Sixteen (1876) and Happy England (1903).
Her legacy lies mainly in popularising watercolours of English rural scenes. It has been suggested that Vincent van Gogh, while studying English illustrated magazines, was struck by her work for The Graphic, which shows how far her reputation reached among artists of her day.