Hermione Carline, a textile designer who later became a painter, has died aged 74. She was part of a distinguished artistic lineage stretching back to the 19th century, and her career spanned both commercial fabric design and fine art.
Artistic Heritage and Early Life
Born in London, Hermione grew up in Hampstead in a house filled with old books, furniture, and paintings by generations of Carlines. She described it as "more like a museum than a house," which left her "craving the modern world." Despite her early talent for animal drawings and miniature books, she initially resisted following her parents, painters Richard Carline and Nancy Carline (née Higgins), into fine art.
After attending Hampstead School for Girls, she studied fine art at Camberwell School of Art, followed by an MA in textile design at the Royal College of Art from 1974 to 1979.
Career in Textile Design
In 1979, she took a job at the Bodansky and Dickinson studio, and in the early 1980s co-founded The Collection, a fabric design company. Her designs were sold to Nicole Farhi in London, Dior and Ungaro in Paris, and Donna Karan in New York, requiring her to travel worldwide for sales. During this period, she met Philip Hunter; they married in 1981 and had three children.
According to the obituary, Hermione was proud of her family history. When the journalist met her in 2022 for an interview, it was for a feature on the exhibition "Those Remarkable Carlines" at Burgh House, Hampstead. The show featured four generations of the family, including Hermione and two of her daughters, Madeleine and Josie. The title came from Henry Lamb's description of the Carline siblings—Sydney, Hilda, and Richard—who attended the Slade School in the early 20th century, and whose Hampstead home was a gathering place for artists after World War I, including Lamb, Stanley Spencer, and Paul and John Nash.
Teaching and Return to Painting
Hermione shared her father's passion for travel and was a dedicated teacher. She gave art classes from her south London home from when her children were small, at one point running six children's and two adult classes weekly. Those classes continue today, taught by two of her daughters and a former pupil.
In 2004, she returned to oil painting, developing a style where veils of colour evoke various light effects, blending abstraction and representation while retaining a textile-like structure and fluidity. She exhibited widely, including with Turps Art School and the UNPRIMED Collective, and worked on projects with Claridge's Hotel and Visto Images.
Hermione Carline is survived by her husband Philip, daughters Madeleine, Josie, and Isabel, and grandsons Freddie and Theo.
