Anna Airy
Encyclopedia
Anna Airy was an oil painter, pastel artist and etcher, working in Britain.
She was born in Greenwich
, London
, daughter of engineer Wilfrid Airy and Anna née Listing, and granddaughter of Astronomer Royal
George Biddell Airy
.
She attended the Slade School of Fine Art
in London, where she was taught by Henry Tonks
and Philip Wilson Steer
.
She drew her subject matter from London criminals and 'lowlife'.
She published The Art of Pastel.
Anna Airy was one of the first women officially commissioned as a war artist
. In June 1918 the Munitions Committee of the Imperial War Museum
commissioned four paintings by Airy representing typical scenes in four munitions factories. These include A Shell Forge at a National Projectile Factory, Hackney Marshes, London (1918),
featured in the Museum's 2011-2012 exhibition Women War Artists.
She was born in Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, daughter of engineer Wilfrid Airy and Anna née Listing, and granddaughter of Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the second is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834....
George Biddell Airy
George Biddell Airy
Sir George Biddell Airy PRS KCB was an English mathematician and astronomer, Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881...
.
She attended the Slade School of Fine Art
Slade School of Fine Art
The Slade School of Fine Art is a world-renownedart school in London, United Kingdom, and a department of University College London...
in London, where she was taught by Henry Tonks
Henry Tonks
Henry Tonks, FRCS was a British draughtsman and painter of figure subjects, chiefly interiors, and a caricaturist...
and Philip Wilson Steer
Philip Wilson Steer
Philip Wilson Steer OM was a British painter of landscape and occasional portraits and figure studies. He was a leading figure in the Impressionist movement in Britain.-Life and work:...
.
She drew her subject matter from London criminals and 'lowlife'.
She published The Art of Pastel.
Anna Airy was one of the first women officially commissioned as a war artist
War artist
A war artist depicts some aspect of war through art; this might be a pictorial record or it might commemorate how "war shapes lives." War artists have explored a visual and sensory dimension of war which is often absent in written histories or other accounts of warfare.- Definition and context:A...
. In June 1918 the Munitions Committee of the Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
commissioned four paintings by Airy representing typical scenes in four munitions factories. These include A Shell Forge at a National Projectile Factory, Hackney Marshes, London (1918),
featured in the Museum's 2011-2012 exhibition Women War Artists.