Nellie Tenison Cuneo


Nellie Marion Tenison Cuneo was an illustrator and painter who trained in London and Paris. She was married to the American painter and illustrator Cyrus Cuneo and their youngest son was the English painter Terence Cuneo RGI FGRA, known for using a mouse as his signature.

Early life

Tenison was born in Hammersmith, London, on 25 August 1869. She was the second child of her parents, Irish doctor Edward Tenison Ryan Tenison and his second wife, Frances Sally Testelin. Edward's first wife Fanny Hutton died between the birth of their third son Alfred on 25 October 1865 and his baptism on 1 February 1866, leaving three sons, Edward, Arthur, Alfred, who were half-brothers to Tenison.
Her full brother Adolf Heron, studied at Cambridge, trained as a doctor and settled at Hayle, Cornwall, in 1947.

Education and marriage

The 1881 census shows Tenison as the only child at home with her parents, apparently under the care of Annie Florence Robinson, a governess. She studied at the Chiswick School of Art from 1884 – 1886 and then, without the support of her family, at Sir Arthur Stockdale Cope's School of Art in South Kensington. By the time of the 1891 census, the Tenisons had moved to 215 Uxbridge Road, which was to remain the family both for Tenison's parents, and for Tenison's husband and children, Cyrus Cuneo's death in 1916.
She then worked as a freelance illustrator, on publications like the Ludgate Magazine. By 1899 she had saved up enough money to go to Paris to study art, and she enrolled in the Académie Colarossi to train under Whistler, where she met Cyrus Cuneo. They returned to London to marry on in the last quarter of 1903. As Cuneo was an American citizen, Tenison ceased to be a British Subject on her marriage under the UK's 1870 Naturalisation Act. She did not automatically gain US citizenship by marriage, as this was subject to her being eligible to naturalization. Thus, British women who married aliens from 1870 to 1933, when the law changed could become stateless persons. Tenison may not have been aware of this as she recorded her nationality as English in the 1911 census. After the death of her husband, Tenison applied for naturalisation, and was re-admitted as a British subject on 27 July 1917.
The couple had two sons: Desmond, who became a mining engineer., and Terence, who became a noted English painter.

Work

Both Tenison and her husband worked as illustrators. She was devastated when Cyrus died unexpectedly from blood poisoning in 1916. Tenison left what had been the family home and moved first to 152 Holland Park in Kensington. She was there in 1918 for the Electoral Register and again in 1920. She moved to Dartmoor, then to Cornwall, living first at Halsetown and then in St. Ives, where she bought Down-along House, which she restored, and it became The Copper Kettle.
Her son Terence was prosecuted for dangerous driving in St. Ives in June 1928, and they were already living at Down-along House. Tenison became a member of the St. Ives Society of Artists in 1928 and remained a member until c. 1945. By 1931 The electoral register shows her living with both her sons at 29 Flanders Road in Chiswick. By 1934 all three had moved to 2 Gainsborough Road, Chiswick, which was to remain Tenison's London residence until her death.
Tenison continued to paint. She became a member of the Society of Women Artists in 1918 and was a frequent exhibitor there. She also exhibited at the Royal Academy.

Later life

Her son Desmond was living with her at 2 Gainsborough Road in 1949, as was Lucie Newmann. Tenison died on 23 May 1953. She was living at 2 Gainsborough Road, Chiswick, London at the time. Her estate was valued at £10,776 8s. 1d. She did not nominate either of her sons as her executors.

Assessment

Peppin and Micklethwait said that ''She was a capable illustrator, often working in full colour or halftone in a style that had much in common with that of her husband.''

Illustration work

Magazine illustration

She continued to illustrate journals including

Book illustration

Tenison also illustrated a number of children's books for authors including;

Example of book illustration

The following illustrations by Tenison were prepared for The Girl Crusoes: A story of the South Seas by Mrs Herbert Strang. While it is certain the illustrations are by Tenison, it is only probably that the cover is.