Mildred Anne Butler

Mildred Anne Butler was the youngest daughter of Captain Henry Butler, a grandson of the 11th Viscount Mountgarret. Mildred Anne was probably encouraged to paint from an early age by her father, who was himself an interesting amateur artist favouring subjects from nature and, in particular, exotic plants and animals which he encountered during his periods abroad.

Mildred Anne's own artistic training began in the 1880's in London where she studied with Paul Jacob Naftel the English watercolourist. She continued her studies with Willian Frank Calderon who specialised in animal painting and later opened a school of animal painting. In the summers of 1894 and 1895 Mildred Anne was in Newlyn in Cornwall where she studied under the Irish artist Norman Garstin. Newlyn at that time was the centre for a group of artists interested in plein-air subjects many of whom had previously studied in France. Mildred Anne's contact with the Newlyn School was to remain an important influence on her work throughout her life.

Following her stay in Newlyn, she returned to her family home at Kilmurry, county Kilkenny where she remained, apart from frequent trips to England and the continent, until her death.

Her range of work was very much dominated by the theme of nature. Views of pasture land with cows, and gardens with colourful borders of flowers predominate. She also did genre views of villages and towns on the continent. It was Kilmurry, however, the house, its garden and surroundings that was her great passion and some of her best paintings are of birds and animal which she observed at Kilmurry. These she depicted with an uncanny degree of realism and expression/

She first exhibited at the Dudley Gallery in Piccadilly and continued to exhibit throughout her life, though she had virtually stopped painting by the 1930's due to arthritis. She exhibit in both Ireland an England in various galleries and institutions including the Royal Hibernian Academy, the Watercolour Society in Ireland, the Belfast Ramblers, the Royal academy and the Royal watercolour Society of Which she became an associate in 1896 and a full member in 1937.

During her career, Mildred Anne proved herself to be not only a skilled artist but also a keen business woman capable of marketing her watercolours successfully. Among her patrons were Queen Mary, the Grand Duke of Hesse and in 1896 her exhibit at the Royal Academy The Morning Bath was the first work by a woman artist to be purchased by the trustees of the Chantry Bequest. This painting is now in the Tate Gallery. She is also represented in the National Gallery of Ireland, the Ulster Museum and the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, Dublin.