The Decoy
© the copyright holder. Image credit: National Galleries of Scotland

The Decoy 1948

Edith Rimmington (1902–1986)

National Galleries of Scotland

Surrealist painter, mainly in watercolour, relatively neglected in her lifetime. Born in Leicester, she studied at Brighton School of Art, and was married for a time to the fellow-artist and teacher John Baxter. In 1937 she moved from Manchester to London and through the intervention of Gordon Onslow Ford was accepted enthusiastically into the Surrealist circle around the formidable dealer E L T Mesens. Was much admired and encouraged by better-known artists such as Edward Burra and her close friend John Banting. Her work is delicate and precise yet poetic, notable elements being sex, death and the sea. Died at Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex.

Text source: 'Artists in Britain Since 1945' by David Buckman (Art Dictionaries Ltd, part of Sansom & Company)

Artworks by Edith Rimmington

  • The Decoy
    The Decoy Edith Rimmington (1902–1986)
    National Galleries of Scotland: Modern

Stories

Find out more

Edith Rimmington attended the Brighton School of Art (1919– 22) where she met fellow artist Leslie Robert Baxter (1893–1986) whom she married in 1926. She joined the British Surrealist Group on relocating to London from Manchester in 1937, and despite being one of its only female members, became a key figure in the movement – showing works at the Surrealist Objects exhibition at the London Gallery (1937) and the International Surrealist Exhibition at the Galerie Maeght in Paris (1947).

Much of her work from this time is recognisable for its focus on strange figures and dreams, such as The Oneiroscopist (1947).

When the British Surrealist Group disbanded in 1947, Rimmington moved increasingly away from painting to explore Surrealist ideas through automatic poetry and experimental photography.

Biography from Liss Llewellyn

Venues

Do you know someone who would love this resource?
Tell them about it...