Code | DS/UK/15301 |
Name | Blacker; Thetis (13 December 1927-18 December 2006); English painter and contralto singer |
Variations of Name | Ann Thetis Blacker |
Dates | 13 December 1927-18 December 2006 |
Gender | Female (cisgender) |
Place of Birth/Origin | Holmbury St Mary, Surrey, England (born) |
Relationships | Daughter of Carlos Paton Blacker (psychiatrist) Granddaughter of Carlos Blacker (friend of Oscar Wilde) |
Biography | Thetis Blacker was an English painter and singer. She was noted for her richly coloured pictures, especially using the batik wax-resist fabric dyeing process.
Blacker intended to be a singer and studied with the German mezzo-soprano singer Elena Gerhardt in London. She appeared in the chorus at Glyndebourne opera in the 1950s and sang the role of "Mother Goose" in The Rake's Progress by Igor Stravinsky. When her singing career was cut short by vocal issues in the mid-1950s, Blacker turned her focus to painting. |