Irene Mary Browne Explained

Irene Mary F.C. Browne (14 September 1881 – 27 June 1977) was a British artist known for her sculptures and pottery.

Biography

Browne was born in Fulham in London in September 1881.^{[1] [2]} She attended the Croydon School of Art and the Westminster Technical Institute before studying model making at Chelsea Polytechnic from 1906 to 1911.^[3] During her time at Chelsea, Browne won several prizes for her drawing and figure work and had, in 1908, her first work exhibited at the Royal Academy in London.^[3] Browne produced figures, medallions and statuettes in bronze and plaster and, after taking a pottery course at the Putney School of Art in 1919, began producing earthenware figures.^{[4] [3]} These she had fired at the Fulham Pottery until she eventually bought her own kiln.^[3]

Browne continued to exhibit at the Royal Academy and elsewhere, notably in Manchester and Glasgow with the Royal Hibernian Academy and the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts.^{[4] [1]} She was elected a member of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers in 1929 and a member of the Society of Women Artists in 1930.^[3] Browne lived at Richmond in Surrey and later in East Sussex where she died in 1977.^{[5] [1] [6]} The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Manchester Art Gallery and Aberystwyth University hold examples of her work.^{[3] [7]}

Notes and References

1. Book: Sara Gray. Dark River. 2019. British Women Artists. A Biographical Dictionary of 1000 Women Artists in the British Decorative Arts . 978 1 911121 63 3.
2. England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007 at Ancestry.co.uk.
3. Web site: University of Glasgow History of Art / HATII. Miss Irene Mary Browne . 2011. 22 January 2020. Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain & Ireland 1851–1951.
4. Book: James Mackay. Antique Collectors' Club. 1977. The Dictionary of Western Sculptors in Bronze .
5. Book: Grant M. Waters. Eastbourne Fine Art. 1975. Dictionary of British Artists Working 1900–1950.
6. Probate records at https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk.
7. Web site: Search the Collection;- Figure, Irene M. Browne . 22 January 2020. Victoria and Albert Museum.