CONVERSION | Why Did Hone and HvS Become Catholics? (Updated May 19, 2018)

"Evie Hone" by Hilda van Stockum. National
Gallery of Art. Used here by permission of the
Estate of Hilda van Stockum.

May 19, 2018 – My Sister Brigid Marlin Just Told Me:   Nano Reid, another art student in Dublin who went on to a successful career as an artist, was part of the religious discussion that carried HvS and Hone into the Catholic Church. In Reid's case, she remained in the Church of Ireland.

February 2019 – From James Robinson: "I have just read [your] rather interesting note about St John’s, Sandymount. Fr S.R.S.Colquhoun did not become a bishop, in fact he was prosecuted by the Church for High Church Practices. The Church of Ireland definitely did not want reunion with Rome. Many English Anglo-Catholics wanted this. St John's was a miniscule minority of High Church in a generally very low church protestant Church."

Mar 31, 2017: Thank you, James Robinson. I have made the corrections. (Fr Colquhoun must have been in Monsignor garb, not episcopal.) These comments help assemble the full story! I have added my email address at the end of this post.

I have previously noted on this blog site that my mother, Hilda van Stockum, in 1938 followed Evie Hone into the Roman Catholic Church, just as Evie Hone earlier followed Hilda van Stockum into the art world. (Evie asked Hilda, who was already an established artist, what she thought of her art and Hilda was enthusiastic about Evie's first stained-glass attempts and encouraged her to make this her career).

Evie and Hilda were introduced, says my eldest sister Olga, by Fr Colquhoun, as I noted in 2014. 

Now I have a better idea of what might have precipitated the formal conversion of both Evie Hone and Hilda van Stockum to the Roman Catholic Church. 

They must have been outraged at the witch-hunt of Fr Colquhoun for being too High Church for Church of Ireland members of his own St. John's congregation in Sandymount, Dublin.

My interpretation of what happened is that the two of them turned their back on the Church of Ireland and embraced what the witch-hunters most feared, namely an exit to the Church of Rome. HvS took her mother and her children, who would number six (five living as of May 19, 2018), with her...

References: Rev. S. R. S. Colquhoun, of St John's church, Sandymount, Dublin, was suspended. The Sandymount church had long been noted for Its High Church tendencies. Winnipeg Tribune — https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/37434158/ 

The formal name of the Sandymount church was Saint John the Evangelist, Sandymount, Dublin 4. St. John's is a Church of Ireland church. (My mother always told me I was named after St. John the Evangelist, not St. John the Baptist. She may have been naming me after this church!) https://www.facebook.com/Saint-John-the-Evangelist-Sandymount-Dublin-4-249177.

The case against the Read S.R.S. Colquhoun, incumbent since 1930 of St John's, Sandymount, Dublin, began with a petition started in 1934, the year Hilda van Stockum first became famous as a writer, winning one of the two Newbery Honor Roll awards that were given out in 1935 along with the Newbery Medal. It was also the year her first child, Olga E. Marlin, was born in New York City. The E initial in Olga's name is for Emily MacDonnell, HvS's Anglo-Irish grandmother. The Irish Protestant Churches in the Twentieth Century. https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0230288510 A. Megahey.

The vicar of St John's church in Sandymount, Dublin, the Rev SRS Colquhoun, was suspended for six months in 1937 for High Church Practices. (In 1937, that might have been the equivalent of being burned at the stake.) https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/october-30th-1937-1.670455?mode=amp

If you have another piece of this puzzle to add, I can be reached directly at jtmarlin[at]post.harvard.edu.🙏

Related Posts: "The Vocation of Women" http://hildavanstockum.blogspot.com/2012/03/hilda-van-stockum-and-vocation-of-women.html.

HvS ART | Blog Reader Wins Auction for HvS Self-Portrait

Earlier this month we posted on this blog site the Whyte's Auction catalog item at left, a painting by Hilda van Stockum, HRHA (Honorary Fellow of the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin).

The winning bidder at the auction learned of the availability of the painting through that blogpost. The winning price was within the range set by Whyte's, so the auction house knows its market.

HvS art is primarily auctioned in Dublin and primarily by Whyte's. HvS is considered an Irish artist. A record of Hilda van Stockum's auctioned art is kept by AskART; her artist number is 133397. Subscribers (for a fee) to AskART have access to prices. 

Of course, the best of HvS art does not often come onto the auction market. It is retained by families or in museums (like Dublin's National Academy of Art, which has two HvS portraits of Evie Hone in its collection). The likely time for art to come onto the market is upon the death of an owner of her art. Estates often must sell some share of marketable objects to pay legal and accounting fees, taxes, and inheritances where individuals cannot store or do not want any of the decedent's belongings.

HvS ART | NYC Collection–Tepper Marlins

"Apples, Eggs, Daisies" c. 1960.
Oil on board, 20"x26". NFS.

The following inventory of HvS art at our home in New York City is being posted for the following reasons:

1. An Inventory Is Step 1 to a Catalog.  HvS art needs a catalog. The First step is to be inventoried. 

2. A Posted Inventory Extends the Market for HvS Art. By adding, bit bit, over time, reproductions of art in each family's collection, the location of HvS art is established and prices are more readily established. At the moment, HvS art is primarily auctioned in Dublin. HvS is considered an Irish artist. Prices of Hilda van Stockum's auctioned art are listed by AskART; her artist number is 133397. Of course, usually the best art is retained by families or in museums (like Dublin's National Academy of Art, which has two HvS portraits of Evie Hone in its collection) and is not in the marketplace.

"Elisabeth", Geneva.
Oil on Board, c. 1963.
12"x14" NFS

3. An Inventory Defines the Market for Licensing of HvS Art Reproduction. The right to reproduce art for commercial purposes remains with the estate of the artist for 70 years after the artist's death. Rights to reproduce any HvS artwork remain with the estate until 2076. The licensing of the use of HvS art is the responsibility of the Executor, i.e., John Tepper Marlin. This responsibility has been assigned to Boissevain Books LLC, on behalf of the family. Sheila O'Neill is an agent of Boissevain Books in the UK and Kate Bini in the United States and Canada. Phone us at (+1)646-250-4915 or email at teppermarlin(at)aol(dot)com.

4. It Could Help Sustain Boissevain Books.  When artwork is sold through Boissevain Books, half is retained by Boissevain Books and half is payable to the seller; this helps to support the work of Boissevain Books in keeping the interest in HvS's writing and art alive. When rights are sold by Boissevain Books, half the revenue is payable to the owner of the rights. In the case of HvS rights, Boissevain Books is already the owner of record.

"French Canal", c. 1955.
Oil on Board, 12"x19". MAO

The art below is captioned with size (interior, not including the frame), media and an indication if it is for sale. In principle, my own feeling is that all artwork should be for sale, so that it ends up in the place where it is valued most highly. However, sale of art is a family decision and the NFS (Not For Sale) note means that the painting is considered a central part of the collection. It will be for sale over our dead bodies...  The MAO marker means – make an offer.

The art was taken at an angle because it avoids glare. A professionally lit photo of the artwork can be taken square on. My thinking was that the photo is less likely to be useful for an unauthorized commercial  reproduction. But my sister Brigid says, no, I should get proper lighting and retake them all. I will do this in due course...

"Château at La Ferte St. Cyr",
France Water Color on
Paper, c. 1975. 14"x18"
 NFS

"Château at La Ferté St. Cyr" (1975). This painting brings back a lot of memories. It was a small town, originally used for hunting by royalty or the noblesse. There were few houses with telephones when we were there in 1975. A woman ran the telephone switchboard from her nome and we could tell she would listen in on our conversations.

"Irish Europa Stamp, 1993."
3"x7", Paper. MAO. Also: 2 First
Day Cancelled Covers

"Irish Europa Stamp" (1993) displays two stamps and a description of the series. It features the "Bowl of Pears" art of HvS. At the time HvS was called "the world's greatest living still-life painter."

"Dancing Belgian Country Folk". Copy of Breughel?
Each painting 11"x16". c. 1995. MAO (pair).

"House in Robin Hood, Maine", c. 1971.
Oil on Board, 12"x15". MAO.

"Elisabeth in St. Adele", 1949.
Oil on Canvas, 24" x 40". NFS

"John in Chair" c. 1950.
Ink w Brush on Paper , 7"x10", MAO. 

We need a similar inventory of HvS art in other collections, with the title, data, size, related stories and whether or not it is for sale.
- Kianda College landscapes and various triptychs etc. in churches in the Nairobi area.
- Brigid Marlin's collection and the collections of her children.
- Randal Marlin's collection and children's.
- Sheila Marlin's collection and children's.
- Other HvS art owned by Alice and me not in NYC.

"Ste. Adele", Quebec, Canada. c. 1949.
Randal in pantry. Trusty outside.
Oil on Canvas, 20"x26", MAO.

- Lis Paice collection and children's.
- Items auctioned and listed on AskART.  1. The self-portrait below.
- Other HvS art in non-family private collections. Prince Sadruddin Khan in 1963 purchased an HvS still life in Geneva.
- HvS Art in the National Academy of Art in Dublin, Ireland.  Two paintings of Evie Hone in the National Academy.
- HvS Illustration at the Society of Illustrators in Newport, RI. It is one of the illustrations from Kersti and St. Nicholas.
- Art Listed in the Royal Hibernian Academy catalog. This was published in Dublin in 1990. It is on World Cat.
- Illustrations Archived at the University of Minnesota, Andersen Library.
- Illustrations Archived at the University of Mississippi Library, de Grummond Collection, in Hattiesberg, Miss.

"John" c. 1992.
Oil on Board, MAO.

The self-portrait at left is currently up for auction at Whyte's in Dublin:

This self-portrait is being appraised at a low price for a Hilda van Stockum painting. Usually one would expect to see a zero added to the prices, and some of her painting would have two zeroes added.

One reason for a wide range in prices is that HvS did not destroy her less-worked-out art. She respected God's small creatures, and respected her own smaller creations. They all were entitled to live.

OBIT | Mar. 13–Evie Hone (Personal Comments)

Portrait of Evie Hone (1894-1955) by HvS.
Collection of the National Gallery of Ireland.
© by HvS Estate–c/o teppermarlin@aol.com.

Eva Sydney (Evie) Hone died this day in 1955. She was born in Mount Merrion, Dublin on April 22, 1894. She won fame as an Irish artist, especially for her work with stained glass. The Hone family dates back to 1632 in Ireland and her artistic ancestors include:

• Nathaniel Hone (1718-84), a British painter (and founder of the Royal Academy), and
• Nathaniel Hone the Younger 1831-1917),  great-grandnephew of the better-known Nathaniel, and an Irish painter. 

She was the daughter of Joseph Hone, a distiller and founder of Minch and Co., and a director of the Bank of Ireland. Her mother was the daughter of Sir Henry Robinson, a lawyer.

In 1905, Hone suffered partial paralysis after a fall while assisting in Easter decoration for her local Church of Ireland parish.  She required extensive medical treatment and never fully recovered. Visiting Europe with her governess in 1911, she was deeply impressed by the basilica (the Papal Basilica) of St. Francis in Assisi, which helped stir her life-long interest in the relationship between art and Christianity.

Evie Hone's early influences were:
- The British artist Walter Sickert, who taught her at the Westminster Technical School in London in 1914.
- Fellow artist and friend for life Mainie Jellett, whom she met at Westminster Technical School.
- Semi-cubist painter and writer Andre Lhote, and then Albert Gleizes, the abstract cubist painter and theorist, both of whom taught Hone and Jellett in 1920 when they went to Paris together.

After these sorties to the Continent, Hone returned to Ireland to become influential in the 1920s in the modern art movement, through the Irish Exhibition of Living Art.

Her later influences include:
- Wilhelmina Geddes, who taught her stained-glass techniques.
- Hilda van Stockum (1908-2006), who was at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin in 1931-32, after having finished her studies in Amsterdam at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunst. HvS expressed admiration for Hone's earliest experiments with stained glass in 1931–and by Hone's report helped convince her to concentrate on this medium.

Crucifixion (top) and Last Supper
(bottom), Eton College Chapel

From 1931 to her death in 1955 Evie Hone produced many windows in Ireland, England and the United States, including:
- The East Window, created 1949-52, in the Eton College chapel, as shown at right.
- The Healing Arts, in the Washington National Cathedral.
- The Holy Family in St. John the Baptist Church, Blackrock.
- The Rose Window in the Holy Family Church in Ardara, Donegal, financed by a New York City resident who came from the area.
- My Four Green Fields in the Government Buildings in Ireland, originally commissioned for the Irish Government's Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair and located in the CIE Head Office in O'Connell Street 1960-1983.

Originally a devout Anglican, Hone entered an Anglican convent in 1925 but withdrew. She converted to Catholicism in 1937. Evie Hone's religious impulses may have prompted her to try working in stained glass. Initially she worked as a member of the An Túr Gloine stained glass co-operative before setting up a studio of her own in Rathfarnham.

A retrospective 50 years after her death, "Evie Hone - A Pioneering Artist" at the National Gallery of Ireland used one of two well-known portraits of Evie Hone by HvS as the exhibition catalog cover. The other portrait was the subject of a lengthy article by Marie Bourke. Supported by Abbey Stained Glass Studios, the exhibition highlighted the key phases of the artist's career from her early abstract work through to her later stained glass pieces. It brought together some 25 works drawn from public and private collections around Ireland.

The many artists Hone studied with and befriended inform her work–the Continental avant-garde ideas and also Irish Christian art. In the 1930s her style of her compositions became more figurative. Her landscape scenes are noted for their vitality. Her great reputation rests largely on her intense stained-glass creations.

Comments

Evie Hone and Hilda van Stockum were very close both in their art and their religious evolution.  HvS's eldest daughter Olga Marlin says that Hone and van Stockum met through an Anglican priest from a Scottish clan, Fr. Colquhoun, of whom HvS painted a portrait that was prominently displayed in the Marlin house when we were growing up.

One year after Hone  converted to Catholicism in 1937, van Stockum followed her into the Catholic church, suggesting Hone's influence on her.  Possibly both Hone and van Stockum consciously turned away from the blandishments of abstract art as part of their embrace of Roman Catholicism, although van Stockum seems to have been little inclined in that direction as a young artist.

Evie Hone was chosen as godmother to Brigid Marlin, born 1936, who is also an artist. When HvS visited Ireland in 1951-1955, she accompanied Hone on a visit to Lourdes, near the end of Hone's life.

For more information about Hilda van Stockum's conversion to Catholicism, see her autobiographical ghost-post My Life and Religious Evolution.

HvS ART | Evie Hone in 2014 RHA Diary

Portrait of Evie Hone by HvS. (c) by HvS
 Estate. Permissions: teppermarlin@aol.com.

Evie Hone and Studio. (c) by HvS Estate.
Permissions: teppermarlin@aol.com.

The Royal Hibernian Academy of Art publishes a diary every year. A few years ago they included a portrait of Evie Hone in her studio by Hilda van Stockum (see photo at right). This portrait was reviewed at length by Mary Bourke in the Summer 1997 issue of Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, published by the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus. She noted all the items included in HvS's portrait.

The 2014 calendar features her full portrait (see photo at left).

The importance of both portraits is very high because of the dual fame of the two artists as among the 20 greatest Irish artists of the 20th century, and their known close friendship, dating back to 1931. They went to Lourdes together to pray for Hone's health.

HvS studied at the Royal Hibernian Academy after having learned the basic skills at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam, and is claimed as an Irish artist. HvS was born in Rotterdam of Dutch-speaking parents, but her grandmother was Irish-born. The Irish artistic community eagerly claimed HvS whereas the Dutch, disoriented by World War II, did not.

HvS told her children that she once told Evie Hone how good one of her earliest stained glass works was, and Hone told her later than this encouragement helped her decide the path of her career. Hone's work is now in such notable places as the Eton College Chapel and the Washington Cathedral.

A pencil drawing of Evie Hone by Hilda van Stockum was put up for auction by Whyte's with a predicted recommended price of 800-1,200 euros and a starting bid of 600 euros.