RANKIN, Stella

1915 - 2009

As Stella Winifred Bartlett, she was born at Willesden, London on 7 January 1915, daughter of William Benjamin Edward Bartlett (11 November 1878-11 July 1969), a shopkeeper, and his wife Mabel née Johnstone, who married at Christ Church, Mitcham on 15 February 1913. Stella studied at St Martin's School of Art, London 1956-1958, and Goldsmiths College 1958-1961. As Stella von Noehlsen, she married secondly at Woolwich in 1948 Arthur Christian Rankin (9 May 1902-1995), a schoolteacher, and she painted under the name of Stella Rankin. A member of Free Painters and Sculptors and of the West Wales Artists’ and Designers’ Group. Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), Naum Gabo (1890-1977) and Kazmir Malevich (1879-1935) were all influences on Rankin’s work which latterly alternated between the abstract and semi-realistic with a Surrealist touch. She exhibited at the Royal Festival Hall; the London Group of Artists; Gallerie Internationale, New York; The Crypt, St-Martin-in-the-Fields and locally at Smiths Row Art Gallery, Bury St Edmund's; Halesworth Gallery, Chappel Galleries, Aldeburgh Cinema Gallery, Digby Gallery at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester and at Braintree, Saffron Walden, Westcliff on Sea and elsewhere. Stella Winifred Rankin lived at 7 Constitution Hill, Sudbury, Suffolk and died on 29 January 2009.

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Works by This Artist