Mildred Anne Butler — Watercolours of the Irish Countryside

Irish Artist · 1858–1941

Mildred Anne Butler

The woman who painted her own garden — and made a quiet corner of Kilkenny immortal.

Shop the Butler Collection

Part of our full Irish Art Prints collection.

Shades of Evening by Mildred Anne Butler

Shades of Evening — rooks gathering at dusk, painted in her own garden at Kilmurry.

The Story

Most great painters chase the world. Mildred Anne Butler barely left home — and found everything she needed in the garden outside her window. For more than sixty years she painted the birds, the light, the weather and the quiet drama of one Georgian house in Co. Kilkenny, and in doing so she became one of the finest watercolourists Ireland ever produced.

She was born on 11 January 1858 at Kilmurry, a handsome Georgian house near Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny — the youngest daughter of Captain Henry Butler, himself an amateur painter, from whom she likely caught the habit. She studied at the Westminster School of Art in London in the early 1880s, travelled through France, Switzerland and Italy in 1885, and trained under the watercolourist Paul Jacob Naftel, whom she credited for her mastery of the medium. She spent time among the painters of the Newlyn School in Cornwall, absorbing their commitment to painting directly from life, out of doors.

But it was Kilmurry that made her. Where her teacher painted grand landscapes, Butler turned to what was close at hand: doves and hens, cattle in a wet field, rooks wheeling over bare trees, the flowerbeds and rooftops of her own home. She worked en plein air, with astonishing accuracy — she is said to have kept taxidermy birds to get their plumage exactly right — and a tenderness that never tipped into sentimentality.

Recognition came, and it was real. In 1896 her watercolour The Morning Bath was bought for the nation through the Chantrey Bequest and given to the Tate — only the second work by a woman ever to be so honoured. That same year she was elected to the Royal Watercolour Society, becoming a full member in 1937. Her admirers included Queen Mary and the Grand Duke of Hesse.

She never married, and she died on 11 October 1941 in the same house in which she had been born. Her work is a quiet miracle: proof that you do not need to travel the world to paint something that lasts — you need only to look, closely and lovingly, at what is already in front of you.

Timeline

  • 1858 — Born 11 January at Kilmurry, near Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny.
  • early 1880s — Studies at the Westminster School of Art, London.
  • 1885 — Travels through France, Switzerland and Italy.
  • late 1880s — Trains under watercolourist Paul Jacob Naftel; turns to gardens, birds and animals.
  • 1890s — Works among the Newlyn School painters in Cornwall.
  • 1896 — The Morning Bath bought for the nation via the Chantrey Bequest — only the second work by a woman so honoured; elected to the Royal Watercolour Society.
  • 1905 on — Makes regular painting trips to Aix-les-Bains, France.
  • 1937 — Elected a full member of the Royal Watercolour Society.
  • 1941 — Dies 11 October at Kilmurry, the house where she was born.

Where She Painted

Her world was small and deep — the garden at Kilmurry, with the occasional venture south to Kerry. Click a pin to see the work.

Kilmurry, Co. Kilkenny · Co. Kerry — an Irish life painted close to home.

Featured Works

View all Butler prints

Collector's Guide

Start with Shades of Evening — her masterpiece, rooks gathering over bare trees at dusk, and one of the best-loved Irish watercolours of its era. From there, explore her tender studies of birds and garden life, like A Preliminary Investigation and Autumn Days. Her Kilkenny scenes, such as Rooftops, Thomastown, root her art firmly in the place she loved.

The Butler Lover's Gift Guide

Three of her most charming works — perfect for lovers of gardens, birds and the Irish countryside.

Discover Similar Artists

Rose Barton — her friend and fellow watercolourist under the same teacher. · Frederic William Burton — master of the Irish watercolour. · John Lavery — a giant of the same generation.

Or browse the full Irish Art Prints collection.