Clare Atwood

British (1866-1922)

Clare or ‘Tony’ Atwood was born Clara Atwood in 1866 in Richmond, London. Atwood was known for her portraits, still lifes, landscapes and interiors. She also designed props and painted scenery for theater productions. She studied at the Westminster School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art and exhibited at the New English Art Club, the Women’s International Art Club and the Royal Academy. She was one of the few female artists to make official paintings of the Great War, receiving commissions during the war from the Canadian Government and the Imperial War Museum. In 1920 four of her paintings depicting the various contributions by women to the war effort were acquired by the Imperial War Museum.

After the war Atwood focused her attention on the theater, working for the director and producer Edith Craig at Smallhythe Place in Tenterden, Kent. Now owned by the National Trust, many of Atwood’s paintings can be seen there, as well as in the collections at the Tate and the Victoria and Albert Museum