Shell postcard with suffragettes women 'Every Lady Votes Shell Motor Spirit', 1908

Eve Kirk

23 June 2018

In 2018, to mark the centenary of 'Votes for Women,' the Shell Heritage Art Collection highlights female artists who led change in commercial and fine art. These women helped to create change within their industry and society as a whole. Their work reflects the fight for women's suffrage led by another group of strong, inspiring women known as the Suffragettes.

Discover the work of Eve Kirk.

Born in London Eve Kirk studied at the Slade School of Fine Art between 1919 and 1922. She became well known for her oil paintings of metropolitan scenes and urban landscapes of which she created two for Shell, ‘Strand on the Green, Chiswick’ and ‘The Liffey, Dublin’. Although Kirk was also known for painting portraits she chose to paint a still life for the ‘Athletes Prefer Shell’ which was part of the People Prefer lorry bill/poster series.

By 1932, Eve was exhibiting in group exhibitions with John and Paul Nash (both artists in our collection). The Scotsman reviewed the Contemporary Art Society exhibition at Tooth’s in New Bond Street, London and admired her ‘knife-painting of “The Thames, Wapping”‘ alongside work by Ben Nicholson and Sickert.

Painting 'Strand on the Green' by Eve Kirk, 1932, part of the 'You Can Be Sure Of Shell' advertising campaign

In the summer of 1939, Eve exhibited alongside Paul Nash, again at the Tooth Gallery in London. As reported in The Scotsman at the time, ‘Eve Kirk is well enough known for her dexterous paintings of architectural subjects with the palette knife… One marvels that she can depict so much with only a little instrument shaped like a trowel.’

During the Second World War Kirk continued to paint whilst working for the civil defence in London. She exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts her painting ‘Bomb Damage in the City’ as part of the 1945 National War Pictures group exhibition.

In the mid-1950s Kirk emigrated to Italy and ceased to paint, dying in Siena in 1969 at the age of 69.

Works by Eve are held in public collections such as The Tate, The British Council Collection, the Arts Council Collection and Imperial War Museum amongst others.