Dorothy Hepworth and Patricia Preece: An Untold Story
Dorothy Hepworth and Patricia Preece: An Untold Story
27 March – 8 September 2024
Charleston in Lewes
Southover Road, Lewes, BN7 1FB, UK
Dorothy Hepworth and Patricia Preece – a duo whose secret artistic collaboration and lifelong romantic partnership remained hidden for decades. This exhibition unveil the untold story of a remarkable duo, exploring their life through paintings and drawings, works which were created by Hepworth but exhibited under the signature of her lifelong partner, Preece. Here, the artists are recognised as collaborators and co-conspirators for the first time.
[The copyright of the video above remains with the original holder and it is used here for the purpose of education, comparison and criticism only.]
Patricia Preece
Patricia Preece (22 January 1894 – 19 May 1966), was an artist who exhibited widely during her lifetime, she was well known in Bloomsbury circles, and enjoyed London and Paris’s artistic and cultural life in 1910s and 1920s, she was described by Augustus John in Vogue as one of the six greatest women artists in England. After her death in 1966 it was discovered that nearly all of the art exhibited and sold under her name was painted by her lifelong partner Dorothy Hepworth.
Dorothy Hepworth
Dorothy Hepworth (30 September 1894 – 9 September 1978) was a Slade graduate who made prolific work as an artist for most of her life. She showed her work at a couple of small-scale exhibitions during her early years studying at the Slade, where she garnered a Distinction and considerable admiration for her skills but didn’t exhibit under her own name after 1921. Hepworth signed her life -partner Patricia Preece’s name in her paintings from then on, even after Preece’s death. The women lived and worked together for nearly 50 years and are buried together in Cookham Churchyard.
Video (1:50): Tracing LGBT+ Figures in Family History Records – Dorothy & Patricia’s Story by Findmypast
[The copyright of the video above remains with the original holder and it is used here for the purpose of education, comparison and criticism only.]
Related Link
The Untold Story of Artists and Life Partners Dorothy Hepworth and Patricia Preece. Published by widewalls.ch magazine (2024)