Painters of Wallingford - Kate Hayllar
Kate Hayllar
Kate Hayllar was the daughter of James Hayllar. Like her siblings, she
exhibited at the Royal Academy, from 1885 to 1898, but unlike them she chose
mainly to illustrate flower pictures and still-life. Her first picture
exhibited at the Royal Academy, A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever, was
bought by the Princess of Wales, later Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward
VII. It is not difficult to see how she could have attracted such an important
patron. The composition, is satisfying, and the execution superb. Kate Hayllar
has assembled items then currently fashionable in every house of advanced
aesthetic taste: a copy of Raphael's Madonna della Sedia is placed above an oak
cabinet, beside an azalea in an imari vase. The exoticism of the east is
conveyed through the vivid imperial yellow of the walls, while the chair is
also upholstered with material featuring Japanese motifs.
Like her sister Jessica, Kate remained unmarried, and like her sister Edith
she also gave up painting around 1900 when her family left Castle Priory,
Wallingford, which had provided them with such a contented family life, and the
inspiration for many of their paintings. She later became a nurse.
Works by Kate Hayllar include the following.
A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever, The
Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection. 
