Marjorie Lilly [ 1891 - 1980 ]

 

Born in London, Lilly studied at the Slade, where she was friendly with Wendela Boreel. She met Sickert in 1917, becoming closely associated with his circle, and she often accompanied him on his searches for the perfect interior for one of his paintings.

She would recall in her 1971 book, Sickert: The Painter and his Circle, how, as time went on, Sickert ‘seemed to need a fresh garret for almost every picture, as if each one afforded him a separate sharp experience that must be concentrated on a single canvas … we rapped on endless doors, dived under greasy curtains in narrow halls, [and] climbed rickety stairs to third floor back [rooms].’ Her painting is a classic Camden Town interior, and reveals the clear influence of Sickert in both choice of subject and technique. Sadly, due to the bombing of her house during the war there is unfortunately all too little of her work to be seen today.