|
Patricia Preece (January 1894 – June 1966), born Ruby Vivian Preece,〔(Preece Family History and One Name Study (1894–1895) ), accessed 2 June 2011〕 was an English artist associated with the Bloomsbury Group and the second wife of painter Stanley Spencer, for whom she modelled. As a teenager, in 1911, Preece was involved in the death of dramatist W. S. Gilbert. While swimming in his lake, she lost her footing and called out; the 74-year-old Gilbert dived in to assist her, dying of a heart attack. She soon adopted the name Patricia and became engaged, but her progressive views displeased her fiancé, who terminated their engagement. In 1918, Preece met her lifelong lover, Dorothy Hepworth, at the Slade School of Fine Art. After further studies in Paris, the two returned to Britain. In 1928, they moved to Cookham and befriended the artist Stanley Spencer. Spencer became obsessed with the flirtatious Preece, and he showered her with gifts. She persuaded him to divorce his first wife and to sign his house over to her. Preece married Spencer in 1937, but she did not leave Hepworth and refused to have sexual relations with Spencer. She eventually evicted Spencer from the house, and would not grant him a divorce, but continued to receive payments from him. After he was knighted in 1959, she insisted on being styled Lady Spencer and claimed a pension as his widow. Throughout their lives, the gregarious Preece exhibited and sold the shy Hepworth's paintings under her own name, causing the artist Augustus John to declare Preece one of the six greatest women artists in England. In later years, Preece traded in antiques. The Preece-Spencer relationship was dramatised in the 1996 Olivier Award-winning play ''Stanley''. ==Early life; death of Gilbert== Preece was born in Kensington in London to an Army officer, James Duncan Preece (1866–1940), and Ada Maude Webb (1865–1936), who married in 1891 in Kensington. She had an elder sister, Sibyl Duncan Preece (1892–1991), and a younger brother, Graham Duncan Preece (1899–1975). By 1911, Preece and her brother were boarding at a school at 76 Weldon Crescent, Harrow on the Hill.〔"76 Weldon Crescent, Harrow", UK 1911 Census〕 The school was run by two young women, Rebbie Freuer Wright (b. 1886) and Winifred Isabel Emery (1890–1972), the niece of the actors Cyril Maude and Winifred Emery.〔Dark, Sidney and Rowland Grey. ''W. S. Gilbert: His Life and Letters'', Methuen & Co Ltd, London (1923) pp. 222–223〕〔(Biography ) of David Gascoyne, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', accessed 2 June 2011〕 Dramatist W. S. Gilbert, a friend of the Emery family, had an estate nearby called Grim's Dyke, on which there was a lake some distance from the house. On 29 May 1911, the 74-year-old Gilbert had arranged to give a swimming lesson in the lake to Preece and Emery.〔Ford, Tom. ("G&S: the Lennon/McCartney of the 19th century" ). ''Limelight Magazine'', Haymarket Media Ltd., 8 June 2011〕〔Crowther, Andrew. (''The Life of W. S. Gilbert'' ). The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, accessed 1 June 2011〕 The three met at about 4 pm that day, and the young women entered the water before Gilbert. At the subsequent coroner's inquest, Preece stated, "I found that I could not stand and called out and Sir William swam to me. I put my hand on his shoulder and I felt him suddenly sink. I thought he would come up again. My feet were on the mud then. Miss Emery called for help and the gardeners came with the boat." The family doctor, Dr W.W. Shackleton, and Dr Daniel Wilson of nearby Bushey Heath Cottage Hospital, certified that Gilbert had died at about 4:20 pm that afternoon of syncope (heart failure) brought on by excessive exertion. The coroner's jury, meeting on 31 May 1911, recorded a verdict of accidental death.〔Goodman (''Grim's Dyke''), pp. 17–18〕 The incident is described in the documentary Metro-land. Newspapers printed verbatim the statement that Preece had given at the inquest, and they described her as a "fair-haired seventeen-year-old schoolgirl." Her father was a named mourner at Gilbert's funeral.〔Pople, Kenneth. ("The Quest for New Cookham-feelings: The Lovers or the Dustman, 1934" ). ''The Art and Vision of Stanley Spencer'', accessed 3 June 2011〕 A year later, Preece had changed her first name to Patricia. She was at a finishing school in Lytham St Annes and became engaged to an officer in the Royal Naval Reserve. She returned to London during World War I and lived in Kensington with her mother and sister while her father was serving in the war. She sketched fashion illustrations for periodicals, drove ambulances and became involved with the suffragette movement. Her fiancé ended their engagement.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Patricia Preece」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|