Hamnett, Nina, 1890-1956

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English author and artist associated with the Bloomsbury Group.

From the description of Nina Hamnett letter, undated. (Washington State University). WorldCat record id: 68194765

English author and artist associated with Bloomsbury Group.

From the description of Nina Hamnett papers, 1900-1953. (Washington State University). WorldCat record id: 29853049

Nina Hamnett was born February 14, 1890 in Tenby, South Wales. She attended the Royal School in Bath, and then studied at the Dublin School of Art, the Pelham Art School and the London School of Art. Primarily a portrait and landscape painter, Hamnett exhibited at the New English Art Club, the Royal Academy and the London Group in England, and at the Salon d’Automne in Paris. She taught at the Westminster Technical Institute from 1917 to 1918.

A distinguished artist for nearly forty years, Hamnett’s greatest acclaim derived from her association with Bloomsbury artist Roger Fry during the first three decades of the twentieth century. One of the first artists to get paid for work at Fry’s Omega Workshops in Fitzroy Square, Hamnett assisted in the avant-garde productions of fabrics, clothes, murals, furniture, rugs, etc. Shortly after she joined the workshop in 1913, her paintings were featured in several group exhibits of contributing Omega artists, which included Vanessa Bell, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and Duncan Grant, among others. She also illustrated The People’s Album of London Statues (1928) by Osbert Sitwell and The Silent Queen (1927) by Seymour Leslie.

In 1932 she published Laughing Torso, reminiscences of her bohemian life, which become a bestseller in England and America. Is She a Lady?, a sequential autobiographical account, appeared 1955.

Hamnett lived in London and Paris most of her life. She was briefly married in 1914 to Roald Kristian, also known as Count Edgar de Bergen. She died December 16, 1956.

From the guide to the Nina Hamnett Papers, 1914-1953, (Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Hamnett, Nina, 1890-1956. Constable Correspondence, Letters-Legal Documents, 1932-1935. Temple University Libraries, Paley Library
referencedIn Constable (Firm). Directors' Files, Records, 1899-1959. Temple University Libraries, Paley Library
creatorOf HAMNETT, NINA. Artist file : miscellaneous uncataloged material. Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
creatorOf Nina Hamnett Papers, 1914-1953 Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
referencedIn Susan Groag Bell's, An Annotated bibliography of British Women's autobiographies, 1790-1950 :, research and reference materials, 1986-1998 Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
creatorOf Lambert, Constant, 1905-1951. Autograph postcards and postal cards signed (9), and Valentine cards signed (2), dated : [London, Marseille, Toulon and Paris, 1919-1931] and [n.p., n.d.], to Nina Hamnett, 1919-1931, 1929 Dec. 21 and 1930 Apr. 20 andn.d. Pierpont Morgan Library.
creatorOf Hamnett, Nina, 1890-1956. Nina Hamnett letter, undated. Washington State University, Holland and Terrell Libraries
creatorOf Hamnett, Nina, 1890-1956. Nina Hamnett papers, 1900-1953. Washington State University, Holland and Terrell Libraries
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Bell, Clive, 1881-1964. person
associatedWith Bell, Susan G. person
associatedWith Bell, Susan Groag person
associatedWith Bloomsbury group corporateBody
associatedWith Chiswick Press. corporateBody
associatedWith Constable (Firm) corporateBody
associatedWith Crowley, Aleister, 1875-1947. person
associatedWith Cunard, Nancy, 1896-1965. person
associatedWith Lambert, Constant, 1905-1951. person
associatedWith Sitwell, Sacheverell, 1897-1988. person
associatedWith Waterhouse & Co. corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Great Britain
England
England
Subject
Publishers and publishing
Artists
Arts and Humanities
Authors, English
Bloomsbury group
Literature
Trials (Libel)
Occupation
Artists
Authors, English
Activity

Person

Birth 1890-02-14

Death 1956-12-16

Britons

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