Airy, Anna (1882-1964)

English artist, etcher, and writer. London's riverside criminal haunts were the main source of her inspiration, recurrent themes being cockfighting, gambling, and boxing. Her paintings of munitions factories were commissioned by the Imperial War Museum in 1918.

Airy was born in Greenwich, London, and studied at the Slade School of Art, winning the Melville-Nettleship prize for three consecutive years. She was an occasional inspector in art to the Board of Education, and became a member of the Royal Society of Painters and Etchers and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters. Her written works include The Art of Pastel.