Jessica HAYLLAR (1858-1940) ✿

Jessica Ellen Hayllar (16 September 1858 – 7 November 1940) was a British artist and painter, sister of the painters Mary Hayllar (1863-1950) Edith Hayllar (1860-1948) and Kate Hayllar (1883-1900).

Hayllar was born in London and was the eldest daughter of the nine children born to Ellen Phoebe Cavell (1827-1899) and her husband painter James Hayllar (1829-1920). Hayllar and her four sisters attended a day school in Gower Street and all were given art lessons by their father, who was himself a well-regarded painter.

Jessica Hayllar became the most prolific artist among the Hayllar offspring, although her sister Edith also achieved some recognition. Jessica Hayllar exhibited at the Royal Academy in London regularly between 1879 and 1915 and also had works shown at the Society of British Artists, with the Institute of Painters in Oil Colours and at the Royal Manchester Institution.

She often painted domestic scenes, local villagers and depicted family occasions and gatherings. Windows and doorways were another frequent theme in her work. Ill health as a result of being knocked down by a carriage in 1900 greatly reduced her output in her later years when she was living in Bournemouth with her father. In her final years she mostly concentrated on painting flower pieces.

Jessica Hayllar may have been influenced early on by her neighbor, artist George Dunlop Leslie, who moved next door to the Hayllars in 1883. Just as she often modelled for her father, Hayllar may have been a model for Leslie as well. Leslie had a clear stylistic influence on Jessica’s sister Mary, but his own tendency to paint domestic scenes may have influenced Jessica Hayllar as well.