George and Eileen
The Soper Family
A family dedicated to revealing the life and wonder of the British countryside.
In 1989, ‘Wildings’, the lifetime home of Eva and Eileen Soper in Hertfordshire, was visited by Robert Gillmor MBE, the celebrated bird artist, following the sisters’ hospitalisation. In this sequestered house, claimed by the wildlife that had gradually found its home within the walls, a mass of art treasure was to be found.
Thousands of drawings, sketches, illustrations, landscapes, watercolour works and prints were piled within the walls, the artwork of a mysterious and reclusive family: George Soper and his two daughters, Eva and Eileen.
Spanning over 100 years of creative art, the Soper family dedicated their lives to depicting the life, colour, atmosphere and vitality of the British countryside.
Their art reflects a true and honest account of the animals, plants and people who shared these beautiful natural spaces.
Ada, who became the loving, caring, devoted wife and mother, known to the family as “Blossom”, or “Bloss”. Without her, where would they have been? Who else has been courted in such exquisite, enduring manner? Who else but she could have been so uplifted by her family’s artistic outpouring and achievement?
Eva
George, Eva and Eileen and Robin the dog in the family motor car
In their father’s footsteps
It was the talent of George Soper that set the course for what would be a family united in a love for art and nature in its purest form. A renowned etcher, schooled under the watchful eye of Sir Frank Short at the South Kensington School of Art, George rose to critical acclaim.
His illustrations, landscapes, watercolours and etchings afforded him a long and successful career. As his daughters grew, he answered his new calling by educating them in the techniques and talents of his form.
Eileen and Eva did not attend art school but developed their skills under the unfaltering tuition of their father, one of the best naturalist artists of his generation. Over the coming years, the family would become more and more reclusive, fuelled by their fear of disease and infection, and so their dedication to their art grew. Each sister would rise to acclaim herself and continue to contribute to one of the most abundant, beautiful, and yet little known, collections celebrating the British countryside.