Isabel Codrington

Codrington was born in Bydown, near Barnstaple in Devon. Her father was the local squire and an amateur playwright and her mother was a writer and painter.^[1] Aged 15, Codrington was enrolled in the Royal Academy School in London where she was awarded two medals.^[2] In October 1901 she married the art critic P.G. Konody (1872–1933), who was then the editor of an art magazine and also wrote regularly for several newspapers.^[3] The couple had two daughters during the following five years, one of whom, Pauline Konody, would also become a painter.^[1] Codrington continued to paint, and a watercolour by her won a medal at the 1907 Exposition International d'Arte in Barcelonia.^[3] The Konodys lived in London and enjoyed a social scene that featured many artists, poets and writers. In 2015 an unpublished poem written to Codrington in 1909 by Ezra Pound emerged and was sold at auction in Edinburgh.^[4][3] The Konodys divorced in 1912 and Codrington continued her artistic career. In due course she married Gustavus Mayer, a partner in the Bond Street art dealers Colnaghi & Co.^[5]

In 1919 the Imperial War Museum acquired a large oil painting, Cantine Franco-Britannique, Vitry-le-François, by Codrington of a World War One canteen for French troops.^[6] During the 1920s she was a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy and the Fine Art Society in London and also had works shown in Paris, both at the Knoedler Galleries and at the Paris Salon.^[3][7] In 1923 a work by Codrington received an honourable mention at the Salon des Artistes Francais.^[8]

Between 1928 and 1932 Codrington was a regular exhibitor in Scotland frequently showing at the Royal Scottish Academy, the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts and the Royal Hibernian Academy.^[9] Codrington also exhibited with the Royal West of England Academy.^[2] A solo exhibition of her flower paintings was held in 1935 and 1936 at the Rembrandt Gallery in Vigo Street in London.^[9] Manchester City Art Gallery and the Ferens Art Gallery in Hull also hold examples of her work.^[5] For most of her adult life, Codrington lived in Woldingham in Surrey.^[5]

• 8 artworks by or after Isabel Codrington at the Art UK site
• Media related to Isabel Codrington at Wikimedia Commons