Girl Reading

May Guinness (1863-1955), was born in County Dublin and through her father was a descendent of Arthur Guinness, founder of the Guinness brewery. She began a long association with the Water Colour Society of Ireland in 1892. After two years of exhibiting, she travelled with fellow artist Mildred Anne Butler in 1894 to Newlyn, Cornwall and studied under Norman Garstin. After spending time travelling to Florence and Paris, May’s oeuvre developed further Fauvism characteristics. She enlisted as a nurse during the First World War and was awarded the Croix de Guerre for her bravery during the Battle of Verdun. During the 1920s, she studied under Andre Lhoté in Paris and had a solo show at Galerie Visconti in 1925.