Nicolette Macnamara (1911–1987) – The Bathers, Watercolour and pencil
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Nicolette was the sister of Catlin Thomas (Dylan Thomas’s wife) Nicolette was a British artist and author.
Born on February 1, 1911, Nicolette was the eldest of four children of Francis Macnamara, a free-spirited Irish poet, and Mary Yvonne Majolier, who had Anglo-Irish and French roots.
Her early life was marked by upheaval after her father left the family in 1916, pursuing various political and cultural endeavors. The family faced financial struggles and moved frequently, spending time in France before settling in the New Forest in 1923.
Despite little formal education and only learning to read at twelve, Nicolette gained an early appreciation for art and nature, largely influenced by the bohemian community around artist Augustus John, who taught her to paint.
She enrolled in the Slade School of Fine Art at sixteen. She flourished at the Slade, where she met artists such as William Coldstream, Rodrigo Moynihan, and Anthony Devas, whom she married in 1931.
Throughout the 1930s, Macnamara exhibited her art at the New English Art Club and the Royal Academy.
As an author her first novel, Bonfire, was published in 1958 to positive reviews, and her autobiographical work, Two Flamboyant Fathers, became her most successful book.
In 1958, after the death of Anthony Devas, Nicolette remarried artist Rupert Shephard. Their home in Chelsea became a lively meeting place for artists.
Nicolette remained active in the arts and was a prominent member of English PEN and PEN International. She died in 1987, leaving behind a legacy of creativity and literary achievement.
In 1987 Macnamara’s artwork featured in an exhibition of works by former Slade students held at Sally Hunter Fine Art.
