The Market Concarneau

Phyllis Mary Legge

Very little is found on the career or life of artist Phyllis Mary Legge. painter, printmaker, art and teacher. Her father was artist Arthur J. Legge, member of the Royal British Academy and himself a teacher. Phyllis taught at Saint Martin’s School for Art in London, and her work was published by The Studio magazine, a leading periodical of British and European artists at the time, covering both fine and decorative art. It’s therefore assumed that she must have been a relatively well connected artist, but for one reason or another, did not build a market for her work that lasted into current records.

Despite this, “The Market Concarneau” shows an experienced and gifted artist’s sensitivity of line, and a deft ability to capture a mood in a small format. The seated elderly Breton woman wears an expression of weary calm that has settled into her features. Her fresh vegetables are on display in baskets at her feet, save for a small pumpkin in her hands. Legge captures her subject with dignity.