Thread by @mnutty

#Irish artist, Sarah Purser (1848 - 1943) was born #OnThisDay 173 years ago. Her family was prosperous with a background in brewing. Shortly after her birth, her father Benjamin decided to move the family from #Dublin south to Dungarvan in #Waterford

#OTD #BOTD #HERstory

2) Sarah would go to finishing school in #Switzerland where she learned to speak French and began painting. On her return to #Ireland she enrolled in the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art and would go on to attend the Académie Julian in #Paris

3) In the early 1870s Benjamin’s businesses collapsed and Sarah now had to rely on her ability to generate income from art commissions. While she did some landscape and genre painting, portraiture appeared to be her metier

#MaudGonne #WBYeats

4) Sara proved to be highly adept at tapping her network of acquaintances for commissions. She also proved to be a competent investor on #Dublin’s stock exchange turning her income into a significant portfolio of investments which included #Guinness

5) With her financial position secure, Sara would become play an increasingly prominent role in the cultural life of #Dublin city. She established An Túr Gloine, a coop dedicated to stained class and was a prominent advocate for the Hugh Lane Gallery

6) She would continue to work for much of the rest of her long life. Her #Dublin homes at Harcourt Terrace and later at Mespil Road would be opened once a month to host members of the literary and artistic community

7) Sarah Purser would pass away aged 95 on the 7th of August 1943. She is buried in Mount Jerome. She was a giant of the #Irish Artistic community.

For more on her life read @DIB_RIA’s excellent biography at

dib.ie/biography/purs…