Dixon, Edna Myfanwy

Person

Dixon, Edna Myfanwy

Edna Myfanwy Dixon (later Lindsay), born 07/09/1894, attended The Glasgow School of Art and studied Drawing and Painting as an afternoon student from 1908-1910, a day student from 1911-1921, and an evening student from 1926-1928. From 1908-192 Dixon's occupation is noted in the register as 'art student', but by her later studies in 1926 her occupation is 'artist'. The registers of The Glasgow School of Art occasionally provide additional details relating to a student's education. As a result we know that Dixon spent at least one semester studying under Alexander Musgrove (see 'Sources' below for biography of Musgrove), that in 1916-17 she studied life drawing, in 1917-18 she took classes in costume and modelling, and that in the 1916-17 session she studied 'Black and White Processes'.

When Dixon started The Glasgow School of Art she is listed as living in Albion Crescent. From 1912 onward she resided in Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow. These addresses allow us to link her to T. O. Dixon, listed at the same addresses in the Glasgow Post Office Directories. According to a thesis written by Patricia Cusack in 1981, T. O. Dixon was a British engineer and an agent for L.G. Mouchel. He granted licenses allowing construction projects to use (historically significant) reinforced concrete systems developed by Mouchel and/or F. Hennebique. T. O. Dixon worked in Southampton prior to moving to Glasgow. This goes a little way toward explaining an oddity in The Glasgow School of Art registers, where in the 1908-09 session Dixon's address is listed as Albion Crescent (Glasgow) but her local authority is listed as 'Southampton'.

In January 1915 she helped with Stall 2 in the Belgian Market, part of the Belgium Tryst at The Glasgow School of Art. This was a two-day event with exhibitions, music and shows, organised by students to raise funds for Belgians suffering from the impact of the First World War.

Dixon exhibited at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts in 1919, 1921, 1932-33, and each year from 1937-1951. The pieces were watercolours or miniatures, and in the main part portraits, with a few paintings of flowers, landscapes etc. A dictionary of exhibitors at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts lists these works. It also shows us that Dixon moved to West Regent Street sometime between 1927-1932, to Dowanside Road sometime between1933-1937, then to 'The Studio' in Clarkston in 1938/39. It is at this point that Dixon's name changes to 'Mrs Lindsay'. In 1919 the piece exhibited by Dixon is a miniature entitled 'T. O. Dixon, Esq.'

Please note that for the 1917-1918 session Dixon appears in The Glasgow School of Art General Register under the surname 'Dick'.

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Sources: Baile de Laperriere, Charles - Royal Scottish Academy Exhibitors 1826-1990 Vo1 1 A-D; Cusack, Patricia - Reinforced Concrete in Britain 1897-1908 (direct link to PDF available through google search); Musgrove, Alexander; Post Office Directories at the Internet Archive starting 1912-13: https://archive.org/stream/postofficean191213glas#page/210/mode/2up; The Glasgow School of Art Archives and Collections: General and Alphabetical Registers

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