Partner Ethel Moorhead

Queer Places:
4 King St, Dundee DD1 2JB, UK

Janet Mary Oliphant (1865–1954) was a Scottish artist and the niece of the prominent novelist Margaret Oliphant. Based in Lochee, Dundee, she developed her practice as a painter and exhibited her work with organizations such as the Aberdeen Artists' Society.

To further her artistic education, Oliphant trained in Paris in her late twenties under Alphonse Mucha and later studied in James Abbott McNeill Whistler's studio, the Atelier Carmen, between October 1898 and April 1901. During her time in Paris, she was accompanied by fellow Dundee painter Ethel Moorhead. Upon returning to Scotland, Oliphant and Moorhead established a shared portrait studio at The Arcade, 4 King Street in Dundee, where they worked together for fifteen years. Both artists participated actively in the local art scene through the Dundee Graphic Art Association, where Oliphant served as an associate member and Moorhead served as an ordinary member until 1909.

Beyond their artistic partnership, Oliphant and Moorhead maintained close personal and community ties, including involvement in local social reform and volunteer efforts in Dundee. Oliphant served on the management committee of the Lochee Day Nursery alongside Moorhead, and both women volunteered at the Grey Lodge Settlement at Hilltown to support local social services and young mothers. Their long-term artistic, professional, and personal connection as partners forms a significant link to early 20th-century Scottish LGBTQ history through their life and work together in Dundee.

References:

• National Galleries of Scotland: Maintains biographical records and holdings for Janet Mary Oliphant, including artwork such as her portrait of her aunt, Margaret Oliphant.
• Dundee Graphic Art Association Archives: Historical exhibition catalogs and membership rosters recording Oliphant's associate membership alongside Ethel Moorhead.
• Grey Lodge Settlement & Lochee Day Nursery Records: Community and administrative archives documenting Oliphant and Moorhead's work on the management committee and local volunteer support services in Dundee.
• The Dundee Women's Trail Project: Documented research regarding female artists and activists operating in Dundee, detailing the shared portrait studio at The Arcade, 4 King Street.
• Biographies of Margaret Oliphant: Literary reference works and family trees detailing the family history of novelist Margaret Oliphant and her niece, Janet.
• Ethel Moorhead Biographical Studies: Academic and biographical publications on painter and suffragette Ethel Moorhead, which document her relationship, shared Paris training (under Alphonse Mucha and at Whistler's Atelier Carmen), and fifteen-year studio partnership with Janet Oliphant.

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