Interior with figures

1895–1898

Student life with her brother Augustus and friends

She shared living quarters with her younger brother Augustus, who had enrolled at the Slade in 1894, and to cut their expenses they subsisted on a diet of nuts and fruit. She grew close to Ida Nettleship, the future wife of her brother, and had an unhappy relationship with another of his friends, Ambrose McEvoy; good friends included Ursula Tyrwhitt and Gwen Salmond.

1897–1898

The Melvill Nettleship Prize for Figure Composition

In her final year at the Slade she won the Melvill Nettleship Prize for Figure Composition.

1898

First visit to Paris: Whistler’s school

In 1898 she made her first visit to Paris with two friends from the Slade and studied under James McNeill Whistler at his school, the Académie Carmen. She returned to London in 1899.

1900

Debut at the New English Art Club

In 1900 she exhibited her work for the first time, at the New English Art Club (NEAC) in London.

late 1900 – c. 1903

McEvoy’s engagement and an awkward time in Bayswater

At the end of 1900 Ambrose McEvoy became engaged to Mary Edwards, and an awkward period ensued: Gwen went on living at the McEvoy family home in Bayswater until Ambrose and Mary moved to Shrivenham in Oxfordshire in around 1903.