Who was the Glasgow Girl who painted the Glasgow Boy, E.A. Hornel?
Bessie MacNicol was the subject of the talk by Sandra Walsh at the May meeting of the Stewartry U3A during which she gave a fascinating insight into her relationship with Hornel largely based on letters which Bessie MacNicol had written to Hornel and which were kept by him.
Bessie MacNicol was born in 1869 in the Anderston district of Glasgow at a time when Glasgow was not only flourishing as the second city of the Empire but was also a centre of cultural activities. She was from a solid working-class background; her father graduated from Glasgow University after she was born and became headmaster of Anderston School. She enrolled as one of the first women to do so at the Glasgow School of Art in 1887 when many famous Scottish artists were also there. After graduation in 1892 she went to study in Paris but did not enjoy her time there.
In 1895, she exhibited her painting entitled “Cottage Girl” but later cut in down and renamed it the “Green Hat”. In 1896, she met Hornel, possibly through George Henry, when she travelled to Kirkcudbright at the time when there were several other artists living in the town. In 1896, she painted her well known portrait of Hornel. By then Hornel was a very successful artist and could have selected any member of the Academy to paint his portrait. Sandra suggested that it was surely the idea of Bessie and an indication of her friendship with Hornel that she undertook the portrait. This was at the time when it was unusual for a woman artist to paint a man while unchaperoned. When the portrait was exhibited in Glasgow some said that it was a reasonable likeness but others were disparaging even commenting on the fact that it was by a woman artist!
After leaving Kirkcudbright Bessie MacNicol wrote to Hornel asking about his life in Kirkcudbright and requesting a photograph of him. She also commented in her letters about other artists. In later letters, she expressed concern about insinuations made by other artists about their relationship and it was possibly this which led to her feeling betrayed by Hornel.
In 1899, she married Alexander Frew and lived in Hillhead, Glasgow and continued to paint and exhibit. She died prematurely during childbirth in 1904. Frew remarried in 1907 but committed suicide a few months later. Soon afterwards Frew’s wife sold Bessie MacNicol’s paintings.