In Issue 197 we mentioned briefly the recent rediscovery of ground-breaking work by Scottish painter Claire Ritson ('Remarkable but unremarked: Ritson rediscovered'). Below, Glen Ross – who runs Colours Gallery on Dundas Street where her work will show later this month and next – gives a brief biography of this remarkable woman whose artistic achievement – perhaps because of her class or gender – has been largely overlooked until now.
Claire Ritson (pictured right in a self-portrait) was born in Glasgow in 1907 and educated at St Leonard’s School in St Andrews. Her father was a successful and wealthy businessman connected with the tea and import trade. This allowed Claire to make trips with her father to the Far East, especially Ceylon, in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
She attended Edinburgh School of Art in the early 1920s, where she came in contact with the young William Gillies. She was keenly aware of the vibrant state of Scottish painting, as this was the heyday of the Colourists. S.J. Peploe and F.C.B. Cadell were known to Claire and her family, her father being a keen amateur artist and much respected etcher.[img_assist|nid=2006|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=486|height=640]
In the late 1920s she visited Spain, France and Italy (see her Spanish Cottage, right), and for the next 40 years she passed her time between Europe and the UK. In 1934 she moved to London, enrolling at Westminster School of Art.
She already had her own very distinctive style of painting, but at the outbreak of war, her artistic career was put on hold. She joined up as a driver in the 'FANYs' (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry), and two years into the war she married Squadron Leader Pat Burdett. He was killed months after their wedding, shot down over the North Sea. After this, Claire transferred to work at Bletchley Park (the centre of Britain's decisive code-breaking efforts). She was married again in April 1944, this time to Major Vivian 'Teddy' Ritson, but within six months he was killed at Arnhem.
After the war she resumed painting, settling in London where she worked with Hayward Veal at the Heatherley School of Art. Although she had a house in the capital, she would often drive with friends to Europe, especially to Spain. Dr Marian Bohusz-Szyszko (1901–95) was a close friend and passed on to her his love of Georges Seurat, Henri Matisse, Paul Cézanne and Pierre Bonnard. When looking at Claire’s work one can see the strong influence these artists had upon her.
Claire was active in the Society of Women Artists, and was a member of the Women’s International Art Club. She exhibited at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Royal Society of British Artists, the National Society and The Royal Glasgow Institute. She painted until her early 90s and only stopped when her eyesight began failing.
She died in 2005 at the age of 98, virtually unknown in the artistic world of Scotland.
Colours Gallery – at 41 Dundas Street – will exhibit Ritson's works from 27 August–30 September.
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