Lilian Davidson ARHA (26 January 1879 – 29 March 1954) was an Irish landscape and portrait artist, teacher and writer.
[1] Her mother died in 1888, and it is presumed that Davidson received a private education but as the family were not affluent, the details are unclear.
Whilst at the DMSA, Davidson won prizes in 1895 and 1896, and was awarded a scholarship and free studentship at the Royal Dublin Society in 1897, the year her father died.
Her painting exhibited by the RHA in 1916, The harbour, St Ives, demonstrates an influence from Stanhope Forbes and the Newlyn school, with a bright palette and contrasting illumination, which became characteristic of her work.
In the early 1920s, Davidson travelled to Switzerland, Belgium, and France, producing works such as Fish market, Bruges.
Reproductions of her drawing of Leinster House and Christ Church Cathedral by Bulmer Hobson were included in A book of Dublin (1929).
She continued to paint scenes of rural life, including Cottages – Keel, Achill, which shows an influence from Jack Butler Yeats in her use of space and colour.
[1] The fact that Davidson's family was not wealthy may have influenced her choice of poorer people as her subjects, depicting them in a sympathetic manner.
[4] Davidson's paintings were exhibited at the Contemporary Picture Galleries, Dublin in 1930, alongside Yeats, Evie Hone, and Harry Kernoff.
[1][3] As well as painting, Davidson wrote a number of plays, short stories, and monologues under a pseudonym, "Ulick Burke".