Mary Gow

Possibly London, Royal Academy, 1911, no. 886 (as Jeanne)

Mary Lightbody Gow was born in London on the 25 December 1851, the daughter of artist James Gow, who painted genre and historical subjects. She studied at the Heatherley School of Fine Art and started exhibiting at the Royal Society of British Artists from 1869 and the Royal Academy from 1873. On the 4 August 1906 at All Saints Church, Finchley Road, St. John’s Wood, Gow married Sydney Prior Hall who was also an artist. In the 1911 census and when the present work was executed, she and Sydney were living at 36 Grove End Road, St. John’s Wood. They also lived with Charles Gow, Mary’s brother who was a widowed bank manager. Between 1910 and 1916 they were also recorded as having a home at 7B Elm Tree Road, St. John’s Wood.