Kate Perugini

Kate Perugini. Born Catherine Elizabeth Macready Dickens, she was the daughter of the celebrated novelist Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine Dickens. A painter of some note in Victorian artistic circles, her life was deeply intertwined with the literary and artistic luminaries of her time, including the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Despite the shadow of her famous father, she cultivated her own career and became a respected figure, known for her portraits and genre scenes.

Early life and family

Catherine, known as Katey, was born in London on 29 October 1839, the second daughter and third child of Charles Dickens and Catherine Dickens. Her childhood was spent in the bustling Dickens households at Devonshire Terrace and later Tavistock House, amidst a large family that included her sister Mary Dickens and brothers like Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson Dickens. Her early years were marked by the immense fame of her father and the vibrant social life that surrounded him, with visitors ranging from Wilkie Collins to the actor William Macready, for whom she was named. The family’s life, however, was fractured by her parents' acrimonious separation in 1858, an event that profoundly affected her. Following the split, she and her siblings remained with their father, while her mother lived separately.

Marriage and children

Katey's first marriage was in 1860 to painter and writer Charles Allston Collins, the brother of Wilkie Collins and a close associate of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The marriage, which was reportedly unconsummated, lasted until Collins's death in 1873. Shortly after being widowed, she married the Italian-born painter Carlo Perugini in 1873, with whom she had a son, Leonard Ralph Dickens Perugini, who died in infancy. Her marriage to Perugini, a protégé of Frederic Leighton, was a happy and artistically collaborative partnership that lasted until his death in 1918. They moved in elite artistic circles, counting John Everett Millais and George Frederic Watts among their friends.

Artistic career

Trained initially by her first husband and later studying at the Heatherley School of Fine Art, Kate Perugini established herself as a professional painter. She exhibited regularly at prestigious institutions, including the Royal Academy of Arts and the Grosvenor Gallery. Her work primarily consisted of portraits and sentimental genre scenes, often focusing on women and children, which were popular with Victorian audiences. Notable works include portraits of her father and a well-known depiction of the young Winston Churchill. She was an active participant in the artistic community of London, and her studio was a meeting place for figures from the worlds of literature and art.

Relationship with Charles Dickens

Kate Perugini had a complex and ultimately close relationship with her father, Charles Dickens. In her youth, she was a favorite of Dickens, who described her as having "the spirit of [his] determination." She served as an informal secretary and companion, even acting in his famous amateur theatrical productions. However, she was deeply critical of his treatment of her mother during the separation. In later life, she became a key source for biographers, providing candid and invaluable insights into Dickens's character, his domestic life, and his work habits. She defended his legacy while also acknowledging his flaws, offering a nuanced perspective that contrasted with the purely heroic public image.

Later life and death

After the death of her third husband, Carlo Perugini, in 1918, Kate Perugini continued to live in London, maintaining her connections to the artistic and literary establishment. She outlived almost all of her siblings and became a revered link to the Victorian era and its greatest novelist. In her final years, she collaborated with Gladys Storey on biographical work concerning her father's relationship with Ellen Ternan. Kate Perugini died at her home in Chelsea on 9 May 1929. She was buried at St Nicholas Church, Chiswick, and her death marked the passing of the last surviving child of Charles Dickens.

Category:English painters Category:1839 births Category:1929 deaths Category:Dickens family