| Mary McEvoy | |
| Birth Name: | Mary Spencer Edwards |
| Birth Date: | 22 October 1870 |
| Birth Place: | Freshford, Somerset, England |
| Death Place: | Freshford, Somerset |
| Nationality: | British |
| Known For: | Painting |
| Spouse: | Ambrose McEvoy (m.1902-1927, his death) |
Mary Augusta McEvoy née Spencer Edwards (22 October 1870 - 4 November 1941) was a British artist known for her paintings of portraits, interiors and flowers.[1] [2]
McEvoy was born in Freshford in Somerset and studied at the Slade School of Art in London.[3] [4] [5] Between 1900 and 1906 she was a regular exhibitor with the New English Art Club.[3] [6] In 1902 she married the artist Ambrose McEvoy and in due course gave up a full-time art career although she worked with her husband on at least one major project. In 1909 Ambrose McEvoy was commissioned to paint a series of decorations for St Columba's Church, Long Tower in Derry which were to consist of three original works and twenty-two copies of bible scenes as depicted by Old Masters.[7] While Ambrose created the three original pieces, it is believed that Mary worked on the twenty-two copies, finding suitable sources, making cartoons and then painting enlarged versions onto copper panels for the church.[7]
After Ambrose died in 1927 Mary resumed painting and began exhibiting her work again.[3] Between 1928 and 1938 she exhibited twelve works at the Royal Academy in London and also had works shown at the Paris Salon.[6] During the 1930s Knoedlers Gallery in London showed a series of, mostly female, portraits by McEvoy.[7] [4] The Tate collection holds her 1901 painting Interior: Girl Reading and also a bust of her by the sculptor Jacob Epstein.[8] [9] Both the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art in Dublin and the Southampton City Art Gallery hold examples of her later works.[2]