Shrewsbury exhibition to reveal artist's amazing tale
A major new exhibition telling the untold story of one of the great female artists of the early 20th century will come to Shrewsbury this autumn.
Margaret Agnes Rope, who was born in 1882, produced stained glass that can be found in churches and cathedrals on three continents, and which is now also collected by American museums.
But she is now largely forgotten here in the UK – and even in her home town of Shrewsbury.
Now an exhibition of her work, some of which can be seen in Shrewsbury Cathedral where she created the Great West window, will be staged at Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery from September 12 to January 15.
Marga, as she was called, was an instinctive rebel, known for smoking cheroot cigars, riding a motorbike and wearing her hair short in an era when women were largely suppressed.
Without backing from a patron, rich family or husband, she made her own way in her career, one of a new generation of artists as much at home in a workshop as in a drawing-studio.
Her work, which was influenced by the Arts & Crafts style, soon became well-known for its jewelled dazzling colours as well as its personal touches, nod to modernism, and its sense of vibrancy.
Yet, within barely a decade of her first success, she chose to become a Catholic nun, moving into an 'enclosed' convent. However, even now, shut away from the world, she continued to work, in a small studio provided by the other nuns.
An intensely private person, she left barely any records behind her, and even asked that some of her remaining works be destroyed after her death.
As a result of this she has become marginalised by art historians due to a lack of information.
Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery is now in the process of creating a special project. The work is being carried out by a group of volunteer archivists who are not only re-researching her life and works, but also mounting a major exhibition bringing together works and artefacts from all over the country. Many of these works have never been seen in public before. A state-of-the-art projection system will screen giant images of her finest stained-glass windows.
Meanwhile, across her home-town, complementary activities will run alongside the exhibition from lectures, walks and concerts to new books about her life and times.
Stuart West, Shropshire Council's cabinet member for culture and leisure, said: "Margaret Rope was one of the greatest stained-glass artists of the early twentieth century, and her works can be seen all over the world.
"Despite her obvious genius, her name is hardly remembered at all.
"The Rope family were prominent in Shrewsbury before the Second World War, and many local people may have knowledge, or even memories, of Doctor Rope and his wife and six children – of whom 'Marga' was one.
"So, as we prepare and build up to the exhibition, there will be a lot of research and archive studies into her life and works."
Anyone with any memories or information about Margaret Rope can email rope2016@gmail.com
