Judith Ackland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Judith Ackland | |
|---|---|
 Judith Ackland, c.1930s | |
| Born | 1892 Bideford, Devon |
| Died | 1971 (aged 78–79) |
| Known for | Landscape painting, dioramas |
| Partner | Mary Stella Edwards |
Judith Ackland (1892–1971) was an English artist, a landscape painter and creator of dioramas.
Judith Agnes Maud Ackland was born at Stowford House on Bideford Strand in 1892, the daughter of Charles Kingsley Ackland, a well-known doctor from Bideford, Devon.[1][2][3][4]
She studied art at the Bideford Art School and then moved to The Regent Street Polytechnic[5] (now part of the University of Westminster) where she met fellow student Mary Stella Edwards (1893–1989).[4] They became life partners and used a tiny cabin, a former fisherman's store, dating from the mid-19th century, at Bucks Mills as their studio from 1924 until Ackland's death in 1971.[6][2] The cabin had initially been rented by Ackland's mother in 1913; Ackland replaced her mother as tenant in 1938 and bought the cabin in 1948 for £625 (£19,648 in 2025 sterling).[3]
.jpg)
Ackland painted watercolours, mostly of the surrounding coast and countryside of Bideford, but they also travelled and worked widely.[7] Together with Edwards, she produced dioramas, Ackland made all the models (she invented a method called "Jackanda" to make the models),[4] and Edwards painted their backdrops.[2] The town of Windsor commissioned these dioramas to celebrate important moments in its history, including a large-scale piece showing scenes of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of George III in 1809 with figures of the royal family whose portraits are based on paintings in the Royal Collection. The dioramas are now at the Windsor's Community Museum.[3]
