Martha Darley Mutrie

Martha Darley Mutrie (24 August 1824 - 30 December 1885) was an English painter. Her paintings consisted mostly of fruit and flowers. She grew up in Manchester, England, and studied at the Manchester School of Design. Mutrie's works were shown at the Royal Academy of Arts, Royal Manchester Institution and other national and international exhibitions. Her works are among the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum.

Personal life

Martha Mutrie, was born in Ardwick on 24 August 1824, and was the oldest daughter of Robert Mutrie, a cotton trader from Rothesay, Bute, Scotland. She had one younger sister, Annie Feray Mutrie, born on 6 March 1826 in Manchester. Her family soon settled in Manchester. Martha Mutrie moved to London in 1854, and died in Kensington, England on 30 December 1885. Her sister, Annie died on 28 September 1893 in Brighton.

Education and career

Mutrie studied under George Wallis at the Manchester School of Design between the years of 1844 to 1846. She continued her education at Wallis' private academy. Mutrie exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts, the Royal Manchester Institution, and other English and international exhibitions. Fruit and Spring Flowers were shown at the Royal Academy in 1853 and 1854, respectively. John Ruskin appreciated her works, Primulas and Geraniums, at the Academy's 1856 exhibition and commented upon them in his "Notes on some of the Principal Pictures in the Royal Academy." Mutrie has a painting in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum.