Artistic associations abound in Downshire Hill

Happy New Year to you all!

Now that the crazy (but fun) Christmas and new year period is over, it is well and truly time that I told you about another house history. The house I’ve chosen was one I completed a short while ago, but it was so full of history that I just had to blog about it.

No.47 Downshire Hill has had so many associations with artists that it is near impossible to fit it all in to an overview, so for the full history, please go here – The History of No.47 Downshire Hill

Downshire Hill garden

No.47 Downshire Hill was completed in 1820 at a time when the area was already popular with prominent residents, including the poet, John Keats and artists, John Constable and Dante Gabriel Rosetti.

Among the many notable residents in the house was Italian artist and mosaicist, Gaetano Meo. Gaetano Meo started his artistic career as a sought after model for artists such as Dante Gabriel Rosetti, Alma Tadema and Lord Leighton. However, Meo was an artist in his own right and exhibited paintings at the Royal Academy, but it was for his mosaics that he is most remembered. He is most noted for his mosaics in the Dome of St Paul’s Cathedral and St Andrew’s Chapel in Westminster Cathedral. 

It was during the early 20th century that No.47 Downshire Hill once again became the home of artists, but in this case it was an entire family of artists – the Carline family. In particular, it was three children within the Carline family who acquired the most fame as artists - Sydney, Richard and Hilda. Along side the family, the house was also open to many of their friends who came for the friendship and hospitality, but also for the critical debate and inspiration when they gathered together. The artists became known as ‘The Hampstead Circle’ and exhibited predominately in the New English Art Club and The London Group.

Gathering on the Terrace at 47 Downshire Hill by Richard Carline

This painting by Richard Carline features artists who regularly visited the house; Stanley Spencer, James Wood, Kate Foster, Richard Hartley, Henry Lamb, and Annie, Hilda and Sydney Carline.

After World War II No.47 Downshire Hill once again became a house associated with artists. This time it was Fred and Diana Uhlman, who setup the Free German League of Culture and the Artists’ Refuge Committee with the prime goal of helping artists escape Nazi occupied Europe. In particular, they welcomed controversial artist, John Heartfield, who escaped persecution in Nazi Germany in 1938. Heartfield is attributed with creating the photomontage art form that was later made famous by the punk scene in the 1980s.

Adolph The Superman (1932) by John Heartfield

John Heartfield was honoured with an English Heritage blue plaque for his residence at No.47 Downshire Hill in 2004.

For much more on the history of No.47 Downshire Hill and more details of the artists who have called it home, go to – The History of No.47 Downshire Hill