Mervyn Lawrence
Born 1868
Died 1961
Active: 1894 - 1931
Country of birth: Ireland
Country of death: Great Britain
Sculptor, painter, teacher
Born in Dublin. He was the son of William Mervyn Lawrence (1840-1931), a Dublin photographer. Mervyn studied in his home city and then at the National Art Training School, South Kensington, followed by further training in Paris. Lawrence went on to teach the life class at Westminster School of Art with Walter Richard Sickert (c.1916) and later became deputy head master under Walter Bayes. Lawrence continued to exhibit in Ireland (at the Royal Hibernian Academy until 1912) as well as showing in Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool and London. In the mid-1920s he was a member of the South London Art Group (see review in 'The Times', 21 December 1927).
This entry contains information supplied by Lawrence's family. There are two portrait photographs by William Mervyn Lawrence in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London, see http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp88768/william-mervyn-lawrence?search=sas&sText=mervyn+lawrence&OConly=true (accessed 9 May 2011)
Works
Dates are usually the year a work was exhibited so may differ from date of production.
New entries have been made each time a work was exhibited. Click here for more information.
Modelled Bust of 'Erina' an Irish Girl
An Old Warrior
1898
A Keener
1899
Thirteen
1899
Mater Dolorosa
1902 (Presumed)
£10 10s.
Recollection of the veldt - Officers in camp
1902 (Presumed)
£12 12s.
Boadicea
1903 (Presumed)
£52
Locations
Address 44 Markham Square Chelsea London England | View on map
1913 (Presumed) - 1925 (Presumed)
Studio located at 1 St. Leonard's Studios St. Leonard's Terrace London SW England | View on map
1899 (Circa) - 1912 (Circa)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at Second Exhibition of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers (London), 1899
'Christabel'
Exhibited at Sixth Exhibition of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers (London), 1906
'The Lonely of Heart'
Exhibited at Eighth Exhibition of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers (London), 1908
'H. J. Dyer, Esq.'
Exhibited at Ninth Exhibition of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers (London), 1909
'La Lutte éternelle'
Exhibited at Tenth Annual Exhibition of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers (London), 1910
'Frederick Beaumont, Esq.'
Exhibited at Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, 1898
'An Old Warrior'
Exhibited at Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, 1899
'A Keener'
Exhibited at Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, 1900
Multiple works
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1899
'Thirteen'
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1900
'Echo'
Exhibited at Corporation of Manchester Art Gallery, Twenty-Second Autumn Exhibition, 1904
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1894 - 1931
Exhibited 14 times between 1894-1910 and then once more in 1931.
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-seventh (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1897
1897
Thirteen - Bust of a Girl (cat. no. 1285, marble, not for sale).
Exhibited at The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Annual Exhibition, 1861-1951
1901 - 1911
Exhibited 5 times (an average of 3 works per show)
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the thirty-first (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1901
1901
Winsomeness (cat. no. 1637, bust, £25, in marble, £85).
Exhibited at Exhibition of the Bristol Academy, Annual Spring Exhibition for the Promotion of the Fine Arts, The Fifty-Seventh, 1902
1902
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of pictures & sculpture: the thirty-second (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1902
1902
St Patrick (cat. no. 1491, plaster statuette, £25, also for sale in bronze £35).
Exhibited at Exhibition of the Bristol Academy, Annual Spring Exhibition for the Promotion of the Fine Arts, The Fifty-Eighth, 1903
1903
Exhibited at International Exhibition, Dublin, 1907
1907
Irish Fine Art Section: Pictures, Drawings, Engravings and Sculpture, by Irish Artists.
Sculpture, Gallery V: 'Mater Dolorosa' (statuette in wood), p. 115 (455), lent by the artist; 'The Prodigal' (bronze statuette), p. 116 (458), lent by the artist (the number '50' annotated alongside perhaps denotes that this item was subsequently sold for £50); 'The Lonely of Heart' (bronze bust), p. 116 (469), lent by the artist (the number '50' annotated alongside perhaps denotes that this item was subsequently sold for £50), lent by the sculptor.
Institutional and Business Connections
Invited to join Royal Society of British Sculptors
2 March 1905 - 3 April 1905
Amongst the suggested second wave of those invited to join 'without further nomination' [2 March 1905, Royal Society of British Sculptors, Minutes of Council Meetings, Vol.I]: but name removed from list following further discussion at next meeting [3 April 1905, Royal Society of British Sculptors, Minutes of Council Meetings, Vol.I].
Member of Irish Art Companions
Member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1906 - 1915
Resigned in 1915, owing to 'other calls upon is resources'.
Member of Art Workers Guild
May 1907 - 1926
Resigned in 1926.
Personal and Professional Connections
Nominated by David McGill
15 January 1906
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Nominator of Frederick Richard Thomas
June 1909
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors [7 June 1909, Royal Society of British Sculptors: Minutes of Council Meetings, no.I]
Seconded by Frank Lynn Jenkins
15 January 1906
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Descriptions of Practice
Listed under Sculptors Post Office London Directory, 1900 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1900
p.2371
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
'Painter, sculptor, artist, teacher'
Sources
A Catalogue of the Pictures, Drawings, Prints and Sculptures in the Eighth Exhibition of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers
1908
p.38, p.40, p.43.
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1901-1912
1907, p.3, p.23; 1912, p.24.
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1913-1933
1913, p.34; 1925, p.31; 1926, p.11.
Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-seventh, 1897 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1897
pp. 44-47.
Autumn exhibition of pictures & sculpture: the thirty-second, 1902 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1902
pp. 42-47.
British Phone Books, 1885-1984
2007
p. 1021
Date: 1932
Area: London L-Z May
Address: 44 Markham Square, London SW3
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1899
1899
Cat. No. 265, pp. 30, 79
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1900
1900
Cat. No. 174, pp. 25, 79
Catalogue of the Twenty-Second Autumn Exhibition, 1904
1904
Cat. No. 297, pp. 48, 57
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
2011
RG14PN9765 RG78PN515 RD189 SD1 ED2 SN39
England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2007
2007
Name: Mervyn Lawrence
Death Registration Month/Year: 1961
Age at death (estimated): 92
Registration district: Croydon
Inferred County: Surrey
Volume: 5g
Page: 82
International Exhibition, Dublin 1907, Fine Art Catalogue
1907
Irish Fine Art Section:
Pictures, Drawings, Engravings and Sculpture, by Irish Artists;
Sculpture [located in] Gallery V.
p. 115, no. 455:'Mater Dolorosa'. Statuette in Wood.
Lent by the artist.
p. 116, no. 458:' The Prodigal'.
Bronze Statuette.
Lent by the artist. *The number '50' annotated alongside - perhaps denoting that this item was subsequently sold for 50-0-0.
p. 116, no. 469:'The Lonely of Heart'. Bronze Bust.
Lent by the artist. *The number '50' annotated alongside - perhaps denoting that this item was subsequently sold for 50-0-0.
List of Members: Royal Society of British Sculptors
2008
Post Office London Directory, 1900 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1900
p.2371
Royal Society of British Sculptors. Minutes of Council Meetings No. 1, 1905-1913
19 May 1913
2 March 1905; 3 April 1905; 15 January 1905; 7 June 1909.
Royal Society of British Sculptors. Minutes of Council Meetings No. 2, 1913-1922
1922 (Presumed)
18 January 1915
Sculpture in 20th-century Britain: A Guide to Sculptors in the Leeds Collections, volume 2
2003
pp. 206-7 (entry by Dr. Paula Murphy)
The Arts and Crafts Movements in Dublin & Edinburgh 1885-1925, 1998
1998
p. 151
The Times Digital Archive 1785-1985
2008
The Times, Wednesday, Dec 21, 1927; pg. 10; Issue 44770; col D
Art Exhibitions. Burlington Fine Arts Club.
Category: Reviews
Citing this record
'Mervyn Lawrence', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib2_1203019160, accessed 24 Sep 2023]
