Cat on a St Ives Rooftop

Anne Fish was born in Bristol and studied at the London School of Art under Charles Orchardson and John Hassall followed by a time in Paris. In 1918 she married Walton Sefton, an Irish linen merchant, although she always used her maiden name, signing her works “FISH”. A great animal lover, she became particularly well-known for her amusing paintings of cats. She was also a noted caricaturist and social satirist, contributing drawings to Vogue, Vanity Fair and Tatler in the 1920s and 1930s, and writing and illustrating a number of humorous books of her own. After the war the couple moved to St Ives where she painted from her Digey studio and became involved in the management and hanging of the Newlyn Art Gallery.