Frieze Masters: Ethel Walker | Modern Woman

Dame Ethel Walker was one of only four women artists to be awarded a damehood in the twentieth century. Her primary subject was other women, both clothed and unclothed, though she also painted still lifes and seascapes. Piano Nobile’s stand focused on Walker’s depiction of women and included portraits, nudes and significant examples of her allegorical work. Many of these paintings have not been shown in public since the artist’s death.

In her lifetime Walker enjoyed an international reputation and was frequently described in the press as ‘one of Britain’s greatest living woman painters’. Her work was included in the Carnegie Institute’s International Exhibition and acquired by national museums in the UK and internationally. In recent years she has begun to be reassessed by queer art history, with her work selected for exhibitions in the UK and Europe including Tate Britain’s Queer British Art 1861-1967 (2017) and IVAM’s Moral Dis/order (2021).