My Mother

Fanny Sugars 1856 - 1933

Summary

Head and shoulders frontal portrait of the artist's mother, an elderly lady wearing a dark cap edged in white and a plain dark dress with white collars and a simple brooch at the neck.

Display Label

My Mother date unknown Fanny Sugars 1856-1933 Oil on canvas Hannah, Curator: Did we choose it because it complicates the picture of Manchester’s 19th-century artists? Fanny Sugars is hardly remembered, although she exhibited with the Manchester Society of Women Painters and shared a studio with other women artists. She’s one of the unknowns. But really didn’t it go to our hearts because it’s her mother? Kate, Curator: I think those are both great reasons! A public collection ensures objects continue to exist. Only by being displayed can they be known and then have a hope of being remembered. So hopefully Fanny Sugars can be an unknown no more! Many portraits serve to commemorate or immortalise the sitter. This painting feels more private and personal. It reminds me how much I miss my mum. Gift of the artist’s brother and sister after her death. 1933.17