Ethel Sands (1873-1962)
Artist, Member of the Fitzroy Street Group & the London Group
She was born at "Fairlawn" in Newport, Rhode Island, the summer home of her mother's uncle, U.S. Vice-President Levi P. Morton. In the following year (1874), her American parents settled permanently in England, having been persuaded to do so by their friend, the Prince of Wales, but it wouldn't be until 1916 that she became a naturalised British citizen. Encouraged by John Singer Sargent (a friend of her parents' and who painted her mother in 1893), she studied art in Paris from 1894 under Eugène Carrière and it was then that she met her life partner, "Nan" Anna Hope Hudson. As an artist, she painted still-lifes and interior scenes, influenced by Edouard Vuillard and Walter Sickert. In London, she was a member of the Fitzroy Street Group and the London Group, and her works are now in several museums, notably the National Portrait Gallery.
She and Nan lived between London and the Château d'Auppegard at Offranville in Normandy. She established a hospital in France during World War I and nursed soldiers during both wars. Her private wealth allowed her to collect art and support other artists, and, affiliated with the Bloomsbury Group, she became best-known as "one of the leading artist hostesses of her time". Her friends included Henry James, Virginia Woolf, Roger Fry, Augustus John, Edith Wharton, and many other writers and artists of her era.
She and Nan lived between London and the Château d'Auppegard at Offranville in Normandy. She established a hospital in France during World War I and nursed soldiers during both wars. Her private wealth allowed her to collect art and support other artists, and, affiliated with the Bloomsbury Group, she became best-known as "one of the leading artist hostesses of her time". Her friends included Henry James, Virginia Woolf, Roger Fry, Augustus John, Edith Wharton, and many other writers and artists of her era.
