Eminent Local Artist Anthea Craigmyle Dies

Simon Rodway remembers a prolific painter with a long association with Chiswick

Anthea Craigmyle died at her home in Chiswick Mall on 30 June aged 83. She was highly respected in the art world and was a prolific painter of “quaint” pictures in oil and gouache. Her subjects were usually local scenes or ones of Scotland including people carrying out various activities.

Her childhood was spent in the Old Vicarage in Chiswick Mall where her father was the Vicar. At the onset of the Blitz she was moved back and forth between the country and London. During her school years one of her art teachers was Henry Moore's wife, Irina. At the age of 17 she left school to go to the Chelsea School of Art. Two of her teachers were Ceri Richardson and Julian Trevelyan. After Chelsea she went to India for a year and on her return she married Donald Craigmyle (Lord Craigmyle) in 1955. In 1956 they both converted to the Catholic Church. They had four sons and three daughters.

Originally she had a studio in Hampstead, but after the death of her husband in 1998, Anthea moved to Chiswick near to where she had lived as a child. She retained her house in the West Highlands and made frequent visits there, painting the landscape, often with Biblical figures.

Anthea exhibited in many shows in Zurich and in London. She had one-man shows at the New Grafton Gallery and later at the Russell Gallery in Putney and Thompson's of Marylebone. She was always extremely generous in giving pictures to charities and she never minded my asking her for these. She became very friendly with the famous artist, Mary Fedden, who lived opposite her. When Mary's husband, Julian Trevelyan, died she helped to look after Mary and frequently cooked meals for her. She supported Mary and Julian in starting “Artists at Home” and her shows every year were a feature of the neighbourhood.

In 2013 Anthea collated letters sent to and from her mother during WW2 by an Austrian refugee and published a book in which she included many unusual and fascinating illustrations she had produced specially for it.

Another aspect of Anthea's generosity was the friendship she offered people and the joy she gave to many of us. When my friend and I walked our dogs by the river, she would often see us and call us in for a drink and much meaningful conversation. We have many pictures by her and one of the most precious is one she insisted on painting and giving to us, of my friend and me, with our 2 dogs having a drink in her riverside garden.

There are many people in Chiswick and elsewhere who knew and loved Anthea. She had a strong Christian faith which helped her face her final illness with incredible courage.

Simon Rodway

Anthea gave an interview to chiswickw4.com editor Anne Flaherty when she published her book which you can read here

July 4, 2016