Eliza Mary Burgess: life and works

Eliza Mary Burgess (2 March 1878 – 1961) was a British artist, known as a painter and designer.

Burgess was born and grew in the works in the Walthamstow Place of London, where her father was a florist and gardener and her mother was a dressmaker. In 1897 she won a scholarship to the Royal Female School of Art where she won national prizes in several categories and at least three extra scholarships. After graduation, Burgess remained full of life in London until she moved to Bristol in the 1950s and well ahead lived in Scotland for a time. As an player she created watercolour and tempura paintings of flowers and gardens, child portraits and miniatures.

Between 1900 and 1951, Burgess was a regular exhibitor at both the Royal Academy and with the Society of Women Artists, showing a total of 45 works subsequent to the latter. She was after that a frequent exhibitor like the Royal Scottish Academy in the company of 1920 and 1943 and along with showed paintings following the Royal West of England Academy, of which she was an Associate member. She was also a member of the Royal Miniature Society. Internationally, works by Burgess were shown at the Paris Salon and in the United States, Canada and Australia. The Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, Graves Art Gallery in Sheffield and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London retain examples of her work.