This year we’re putting the spotlight back on local artist Madeline Green.

A modernist figurative artist, Madeline Green grew up and lived most of her life in Ealing – where she helped to found the Ealing Art Guild, known today as the Ealing Art Group. From 1906 she studied at the prestigious drawing and painting schools at the Royal Academy of Arts, at a time when John Singer Sargent, John William Waterhouse and George Clausen were visiting teachers, and where she twice won awards for her exceptionally life-like sketches.

A versatile artist across 2D media, Green was well received by contemporaries, exhibiting at 18 galleries across the UK, Dublin, Venice and Paris, including 24 times at the Royal Academy. Green’s work is once again growing in popularity, and we hope this intimate exhibition will create a new generation of admirers.

This exhibition highlights the wide range and styles of pieces Green produced during her lifetime, including uncompromising self-portraits, anatomical studies of animals, and dreamy renderings of early 20th-century parties, mimes and theatrical costume.

The exhibition is free to visit, and will be open Thursday - Sunday, 12 - 4pm.

One highlight of the exhibition is Green’s self-portrait, entitled ‘Holland Smock’. This oil on canvas was completed in 1914 and was exhibited at the Royal Academy and in the Paris salons, amongst others. Green has depicted herself wearing her artist’s smock and clutching a bunch of tulips. She is in a forward-facing pose, directly engaging with the viewer, leaving a bold and lasting impression.

Green experiments with gender roles and sexuality in her practice. Non-traditional poses, ranging from the playful to the more severe are featured throughout her works, while her choice of costumes further suggests Green was trying to provoke a reaction from the viewer. This is clearly shown in one of the paintings in the exhibition, ‘The Costers’, where Green has depicted herself in a conventional dress while her sister, Gladys, is dressed as a male costermonger (fruit and vegetable seller). ‘The Costers’ was first exhibited at The Society for Women Artists in 1923 and it would have certainly raised questions about the sisters’ depiction, if not a few eyebrows..