BENEDICTINE ART DECO

 

In my Blog on Pentecost I used a painting by a Benedictine nun from Stanbrook Abbey in England and was curious to find more of her life.

DAME WERBURG WELSH  was born in 1894, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.  She grew up in an artistic family and attended school in Kidderminster run by nuns exiled from France. Her father, John, had been raised Protestant, but converted to Catholicism after reading Cardinal Newman's works.

Her mother was an Irish Catholic from Dublin and through her, the family met Desmond Chute, future artist, priest and follower of Eric Gill. He encouraged the talented girl in her artistic endeavors. She would go on to study at Bournemouth and Bristol art schools, where she excelled in life drawing.

However, by age 20, she felt called to a spiritual life and joined the Benedictine nuns at Stanbrook Abbey in Worcester.

She had expected to give up art but was actually encouraged to continue it as an expression of her faith, and her talent flourished across a range of forms paintings and woodcuts to designing priests’ vestments.

The abbey also ran a printing press, producing prayer cards, service booklets, book plates and theological publications, largely decorated by Dame Werburg, which gave needed income to the Abbey.

 As an enclosed order, access to the outside world was limited, concentrating instead on a life of prayer and contemplation. Through Desmond, she had connections with the Ditchling Community, a Roman Catholic group of artists and craftsmen founded by Eric Gill. In 1921, she met Eric when he visited Stanbrook with Desmond to learn about Gregorian plainchant. Recognizing her talent, Gill furnished Dame Werburg with appropriate wood carving tools and both men corresponded with her over a number of years about contemporary engraving techniques. 

While Gill’s influence is evident, she also developed her own distinctive variation of the Art Deco style. Echoes of Byzantine art, her favorite artistic period, are also visible as is the influence of Ernst Barlach, the German Expressionist sculptor (who is my favorite modern sculptor).

 Her art was displayed in Catholic journals between the 1920s and 1940s. However, it was only ever attributed to “A Benedictine at Stanbrook” because Dame Werburg was not seeking notoriety. In those days this was the acceptable monastic method. Even our mother Abbey in Connecticut did this with art and writings.

During World War II, she took on the role of managing orchards, becoming an expert on fruit trees, a hobby she carried on until her 80s. She was the sub-prioress of Stanbrook Abbey from 1956 until 1968. 

Dame Werburg continued to be a prolific artist into old age. She was clearly an extraordinary woman. She suffered a severe stroke in November 1989 and died February 1990 at Stanbrook Abbey.

N.B.  St. Werburg- Anglo-Saxon 7th Century saint and patron saint of Chester