Annie’s paintings have been the subject of special, dedicated exhibitions on five occasions:
- 1923 – Manchester Art Gallery – Paintings by Mrs. Swynnerton, A.R.A.
- 1924 – Manchester Art Gallery – Portraits by Mrs Swynnerton.
- 1956 – The Alpine Club, London – Paintings by Mancini, McEvoy, A. L. Swynnerton.
- 2018-2019 – Manchester Art Gallery – Painting Light and Hope.
- 2022-2023 – Tate Britain, London – Spotlights: Annie Swynnerton.
Jul 2023 – Paintings by Mrs. Swynnerton, A.R.A. (Manchester Art Gallery).
Images: Manchester Art Gallery.
Full details HERE.
1924 – Portraits by Mrs. Swynnerton (Manchester Art Gallery).
No information.
Mar 1956 – Paintings by Mancici, McEvoy, A. L. Swynnerton (The Alpine Club, London).
This exhibition was held at The Alpine Club, 74 South Audley St., Mayfair, London W1.
The Alpine Club was a venue for hire, often by art dealers. Mr R. E. A. Wilson was such a dealer and acquainted with the three artists involved in the 1920s. After his death, works by some of these people remained in his widow’s possession.
Catalogue scans: Art Gallery of New South Wales.*
The catalogue has a copy of the ‘An Image of Desire‘, showing the full extent of the unknown canvas. Transcription with notes:
PAINTINGS BY ANNIE L. SWYNNERTON, A.R.A. (1844 – 1933)
22. ELIZABETH FEEDING THE PEACOCK; 17 ins. by 11 ins.
23. THE LATE MRS. CHARLES HUNTER; unfinished; 42 ins. by 40 ins. Lent by Sylvia, Lady Grant Lawson.
24. THE STRIPED PINAFORE; 19 ins. by 15½ ins. Exhibited at the Exhibition of British Painting at the National Gallery, 1940. Signed, Annie L. Robinson.
25. LISTENING TO MUSIC [PORTRAIT OF LOUISE GARRETT]; 32 ins. by 32 ins. A ‘Portrait of Miss Louisa Garrett Anderson, C.B.E., seated at a table reading a book,’ 31 x 32 inches, is listed in the posthumous studio sale catalogue.
26. W.H.W. AND PONY AT HILL HALL [1910]; 24 ins. by 30 ins. Lent by Miss Williamson.
27. HEAD OF W.H.W. [1910]; 24 ins. by 27 ins.
28. THE RESTIVE HORSE [ISLE OF MAN]; 18 ins. by 20 ins.
29. THE FIG TREE AND LAKE; 19 ins. by 27 ins. Not The Barren Figtree, which is 500 x 290 mm, but interesting to see that another picture of the same subject existed.
30. HEAD OF E.M.W. [1907]; 21 ins. by 18 ins. Lent by Miss Williamson … a study for the painting in the Tate Gallery. The study of the head of Elizabeth Williamson donated to the Tate in 2013 is a smaller work, 14 x 12½ inches.
31. THE WHITE DRESS; 72 ins. by 40 ins. Signed, before the artist’s marriage, Annie L. Robinson.
32. STUDY FOR “VENUS RISING FROM THE SEA”; 20 ins. by 21 ins. Two studies for “Venus Rising from the Sea” are listed in the posthumous studio sale catalogue, lots 126 and 128.
33. TRYING ON HER MOTHER’S HAT; 14½ ins. by 8 ins. Lent by Mrs. Hugh Thomas.
34. THE PORTRAIT OF MRS. A. M. WARREN AS A CHILD [1872]; 29 ins. by 24 ins. Lent by Mrs. Warren.
35. THE PINK FROCK; 21 ins. by 26 ins. Lent by Miss Craies..
36. STUDY FOR A PAINTING; 20 ins. by 18 ins.
37. A CHILD IN A BLUE FROCK; 17½ ins. diam.
38. A LITTLE GIRL, SEATED ON THE GROUND; 24 ins. by 26 ins. Lent by Miss Turner.
40. THE WHITE PINAFORE; 24 ins. by 26 ins. Lent by Miss Turner.
41. PETER ON GREY DAWN; 96 ins. by 60 ins. Lent by Sylvia, Lady Grant Lawson.
26 Feb 2018 to 6 Jan 2019 – Annie Swynnerton: Painting Light and Hope (Manchester Art Gallery, 26 Feb 2018 to 6 Jan 2019).
This exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery ran from 26 February 2018 to 6 January 2019 with 28 paintings on continuous display, several of them on loan from private collections.
The works on continuous display, in clockwise order around the exhibition space, were:
- Italian Mother and Child.
- Jebsa.
- Portrait of Susan Isabel Dacre.
- Portrait of The Reverend William Gaskell.
- The Tryst.
- The Letter.
- The Town of Siena.
- Through the Orchard.
- The Dreamer.
- The Convalescent.
- Cupid and Psyche.
- Oreads.
- Oceanid.
- Illusions.
- The Sense of Sight (1895).
- New-risen Hope (Tate).
- The Debutante.
- Portrait of Geoffrey and Christopher Herringham (The Young Gardeners).
- Portrait of Count Zouboff.
- Portrait of Margaret and Chrystian Guthrie.
- Portrait of Mrs A. Scott-Elliot and Children.
- The Southing of the Sun.
- The Barren Figtree.
- Capri.
- Suviaco from Scholastica.
- The Olive Gatherers.
- Portrait of Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett.
- Montagna Mia.
There was in addition a pencil drawing, The head of a young man, in a cabinet, and The Vagrant was temporarily on display during the earlier part of the exhibition.
Two pieces by Susan Isable Dacre were also included, A View in Venice and Portrait of Lydia Becker. A further work by Dacre, Two Italian Mothers, is on permanent display in another room in the gallery.
Gwenny Griffith’s Portrait of Annie L. Swynnerton was also displayed.
31 Oct 2022 to 24 Sep 2023 – Spotlights: Annie Swynnerton (Tate Britain).
Nine works in a single room, along with pieces by John Singer Sargent, Gillian Wearing and Mary Lowndes.
- New-risen Hope (Tate).
- The Convalescent.
- Portrait of Geoffrey and Christopher Herringham.
- Elizabeth at Wemmergill / Equestrian Portrait of Elizabeth Williamson.
- Portrait of Elizabeth Williamson.
- Portrait of Dame Millicent Fawcett.
- Portrait of Susan Isabel Dacre.
- Portrait of Count Zouboff.
- Oreads.
Accompanying Annie’s works were the following:
- Sylvia Pankhurst (1882-1960).
- John Singer Sargent (1856-1925): Val d’Aosta.
- Gillian Wearing: Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett, a maquette (small trial piece) for the statue now in Paliament Square, London.
- Mary Lowndes (1856-1929):
- Banner – Mary Moser R.A.
- Banner – Womens Suffrage.
Thanks to R. L. at the library of the Art Gallery of New South Wales for the scans of the 1956 catalogue, Grant M. Waters for information on the staging of the 1956 exhibition, and curators at the Tate for their kind words regarding this web site.
Page last updated 21 Nov 2025.
ANNIE LOUISA SWYNNERTON (1844-1933) 