Clara Birnberg
Encyclopedia
Clara Birnberg was an Anglo-Jewish artist, illustrator, portraitist and sculptor. After her marriage to the artist Stephen Weinstein, they changed their surname to Winsten (with her becoming Clare Winsten) and both became Quaker humanists.
Studying at the Slade School of Fine Art
between 1910 and 1912 with Isaac Rosenberg
and David Bomberg
, she soon became the only female member of their 'Whitechapel Boys
' circle of artists and poets, and was the only female exhibitor at the 1914 post-Impressionist exhibition "Twentieth Century Art: A Review of Modern Movements" at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in which this circle played a major part.
Among her sculptures are one in the Toynbee Hall
in Whitechapel, and one of St. Joan
in the garden of George Bernard Shaw
’s house in Ayot St Lawrence
in Hertfordshire
, where Shaw and the Winstens were neighbours (Stephen already had connections with Shaw). Clare illustrated Shaw's Buoyant Billions : A Comedy of No Manners in Prose (1949), and the posthumously published My Dear Dorothea: A practical system of Moral education for females Embodied in a letter to a young person Of that sex (1956), written when he was 21. In addition to painting Shaw a number of times, she also produced a 1946 bronze sculpture of him, which passed on his death to the Shaw Theatre
and then (on its closure) to the Mayor of Camden. She also made drawings of Shaw, as well as of Dmitri Shostakovich
, Benjamin Britten
and Mahatma Gandhi
.
Their daughter Ruth Harrison
was known as a campaigner for animal rights
. She married Lewis Yocum, a founder of the RSPCA.
Studying at the Slade School of Fine Art
Slade School of Fine Art
The Slade School of Fine Art is a world-renownedart school in London, United Kingdom, and a department of University College London...
between 1910 and 1912 with Isaac Rosenberg
Isaac Rosenberg
Isaac Rosenberg was an English poet of the First World War who was considered to be one of the greatest of all English war poets...
and David Bomberg
David Bomberg
David Garshen Bomberg was an English painter, and one of the Whitechapel Boys.Bomberg was one of the most audacious of the exceptional generation of artists who studied at the Slade School of Art under Henry Tonks, and which included Mark Gertler, Stanley Spencer, C.R.W. Nevinson and Dora Carrington...
, she soon became the only female member of their 'Whitechapel Boys
Whitechapel Boys
The Whitechapel Boys is a name given to a loose group of Anglo-Jewish writers and artists of the early 20th century. It is named after Whitechapel, which contained one of London's main Jewish settlements and from which many of its members came...
' circle of artists and poets, and was the only female exhibitor at the 1914 post-Impressionist exhibition "Twentieth Century Art: A Review of Modern Movements" at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in which this circle played a major part.
Among her sculptures are one in the Toynbee Hall
Toynbee Hall
Toynbee Hall is a building in Tower Hamlets, East London which is the home of a charity working to bridge the gap between people of all social and financial backgrounds, with a focus on eradicating poverty and promoting social inclusion....
in Whitechapel, and one of St. Joan
Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
in the garden of George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
’s house in Ayot St Lawrence
Ayot St Lawrence
Ayot St Lawrence is a small village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, between Harpenden and Welwyn. There are several other Ayots in the area, including Ayot Green and Ayot St Peter....
in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, where Shaw and the Winstens were neighbours (Stephen already had connections with Shaw). Clare illustrated Shaw's Buoyant Billions : A Comedy of No Manners in Prose (1949), and the posthumously published My Dear Dorothea: A practical system of Moral education for females Embodied in a letter to a young person Of that sex (1956), written when he was 21. In addition to painting Shaw a number of times, she also produced a 1946 bronze sculpture of him, which passed on his death to the Shaw Theatre
Shaw Theatre
The Shaw Theatre is a theatre in Somers Town, in the London Borough of Camden. It is located near the Euston Road, beside the British Library and St Pancras Chambers , equidistant from King's Cross station and Euston station....
and then (on its closure) to the Mayor of Camden. She also made drawings of Shaw, as well as of Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
, Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
and Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
.
Their daughter Ruth Harrison
Ruth Harrison
Ruth Harrison was a leading British animal welfare activist and author.In 1964 she published Animal Machines which describes intensive poultry and livestock farming. The book was said to have exposed the whole reality of intensive farming...
was known as a campaigner for animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
. She married Lewis Yocum, a founder of the RSPCA.