Margaret Wrightson

Margaret Wrightson was born at Norton Hall and her father was the politician Sir Thomas Wrightson.^[3] She never married, and had a studio and home in Bedford Gardens in London.^[4] Wrightson's younger sister, Jocelyn Wrightson, was a painter, mainly working in watercolours.^[3]

Wrightson first studied under William Blake Richmond at the Royal College of Art before travelling to Paris to learn from Édouard Lantéri.^[3] From 1901, Wrightson exhibited frequently at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition.^[1] She also exhibited with the Society of Women Artists and at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.^[5]

Wrightson received many commissions throughout her long career.^[5] Theresa, Marchioness of Londonderry, commissioned Wrightson to create a female nude which was completed in 1912 and sold at Christies in 2014 for £68,500.^[6] Wrightson created a sculpture of a woman titled ‘Mechanic, Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps’ in 1917 that was later exhibited at the Royal Academy; the work had been suggested as a war memorial.^[7] In 1925 she created a 'Viking Warrior' for Walter Runciman.^[8] Wrightston's memorial of Admiral Earl Jellicoe stands in St Paul's Cathedral, London.^[9] Other public works include the figure of Saint George on the Cramlington war memorial in Northumberland, created in 1922, and a figure memorialising Charles Lamb, situated in the Inner Temple gardens, London.^[4]

Several of Wrightson's works are in the collection of National Trust's Mount Stewart, including the popular bronze of Lady Mairi as a child.^[10] The work was restored in 2012 after originally being commissioned in 1925, and erected in 1928.^[11]

Wrightson became an Associate member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1929 and a Fellow in 1943.^[1][5][12] She was also a member of the Royal Academy.^[13]