My cousin Jemima Pitman (1930-2025) was a person of rare spiritual grace and humanity. Her gentleness and powers of sympathy were almost palpable. She thought more of others than herself, she was never judgmental or stuck up and she was always fun to be with. For many years she had been a faithful follower of the Maharishi, and an influential and much-loved member of his inner circle, known affectionately as ‘Ma’. Though she would never proselytize his teachings unasked, she could inspire a receptive audience with the depth and sincerity of her insights. Throughout her more than sixty-year association with the Transcendental Meditation Movement she was known for her kindness, sound judgement and sense of responsibility.

Her life had not always been easy. She was a shy and nervous child, with an unmaternal mother and an over-emotional father. The Scot’s-born Hugo Pitman was a successful stockbroker, a director of the well-known firm of Rowe and Pitman, an Olympic oarsman who won silver at Stockholm in 1912, and a friend of the Queen Mother from childhood. Jemima’s mother Reine Ormond was a noted beauty and a talented artist, who had studied at the Slade School of Art in London. Jemina’s older sister was Rose, who would later marry the American publisher Larry Hughes and produce four children. The Pitman family resided at the Queen’s House in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, at one time the home of the Pre-Raphaelite painter D.G. Rossetti.

Both of Jemima’s parents were deeply cultured and much involved in the London art world both as patrons and supporters. They amassed a significant collection of early twentieth-century British art, along with paintings inherited from Reine’s uncle John Singer Sargent, and her aunt Emily Sargent. Among their closest friends were Augustus John and his partner Dorelia McNeill. Hugo persuaded John to release Lyric Fantasy, the large, unfinished tableau of his two families (now in the Tate) on the grounds that he (Hugo) had the space to accommodate it in his Wiltshire house, where the painter could complete it. That meant distracting John every time he visited so that he never took up his brushes. The nervous Jemima recalled how intimidated she felt while sitting to John for both a series of paintings and drawings, as did her parents (Lots 1-4).

The Pitman art collection was a distinguished one, and a showcase for Edwardian and contemporary artists. Certain pictures stand out in my memory, Philip Wilson Steer’s delightful Two girls on a pierhead, Augustus John’s full-length portrait of Dorelia before a fence, Gwen John’s Madame Poussepin, Henry Lamb’s Still-life with apples and Edouard Manet’s Study for Le Balcon in oils. This last was from the Sargent side of the family, which included two of his finest works, Javanese Dancer and The Brook. Shown in the current sale are pictures by artists dear to the Pitmans, J.D. Innes (Lots 6 & 7), for example, the colourful Matthew Smith (Lot 20), Henri Le Sidaner (Lot 10), Harold Gilman (Lot 16), Mary Potter (Lots 21-23) and the Irish stained-glass artist Evie Hone (Lots 17-19).

It was not only through their patronage and friendships that the Pitmans supported the arts of their time. Hugo was an influential trustee of the Tate Gallery and he also served on the board of the Contemporary Society, employing his persuasive powers in support of the arts and the artists of the time.

The outbreak of World War II in 1939 had a direct impact on the vulnerable Jemima. With her sister Rose she was evacuated to America, admittedly to a prosperous family well-known to her parents, that of J.P. Morgan Jr. and his wife Jane, but even so it was a disorienting and undermining experience. Family, friends and the familiarities of London were exchanged for new guardians and an alien culture. Jemima returned to England before the war ended and was sent off to boarding school, at Downe House, another test of her resilience. She survived it but did not go on to university, claiming that she was not clever enough.

As a young woman Jemima was both attractive and personable, and it is perhaps surprising that she never married. She had no aversion to marriage and always hoped that one eligible bachelor, to whom she had taken a shine, would pop the question but he never did. Her shyness may have been a contributing factor to her continuing spinsterhood.

Jemima did not embrace a professional career, although she did help to arrange classical concerts in the early 1960s with the Austrian-born Lies Askonas; this included international performers such as Claudio Abbado and Zubin Mehta. Her life, however, was to be transformed when she fell under the spell of the Maharishi, as Transcendental Meditation and his teachings gave her purpose and peace of mind. She followed him to India, helped to set up a centre in Britain (at one time located in the Rothschild house at Mentmore in the Home counties), and ended with her moving to Europe.

Jemima did not cut herself off from her family and friends. Before moving to Europe in the 1990s, she owned a charming house in Kensington full of the works of art and furnishings largely inherited from her parents. She was proud of her collection, to which on occasion she added new items, and very conscious of her legacy. She was an ardent Sargent fan, and with the help of a friend unearthed a forgotten trunk of watercolours by Emily Sargent. These demonstrated what a prolific and gifted artist Emily had been, denied a professional career by the conventions of the time.

Jemima’s family and friends enjoyed hospitality and outings with her while she was in London. These continued after her move to Europe. She travelled to London on a regular basis, staying at the Goring Hotel as a much cherished guest, attending concerts and entertaining all of us. We are quite a large family and in recent times she joined the circle of senior members at a weekly zoom on Sundays. Almost the last time we all met up in person was in Antwerp, where we enjoyed an entertaining and amusing weekend, never, alas, to be repeated.

View page turning catalogue

Auction Details

Tuesday 7 July 2026, 3pm BST
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

Bidding is available in person at our salerooms, online, by telephone or you can leave commission (absentee) bids.

Browse the auction
Sign up to email alerts

VIEWING:

• Viewing at Dreweatts London: 16-17 Pall Mall, SW1Y 5LU
  • Tuesday 16 June: 10am-4pm
  • Wednesday 17 June: 10am-7pm
  • Thursday 18 June: 10am-4pm
  • Viewing is also available by appointment from 19 June - 2 July at Dreweatts London. Please contact the department for further details: pictures@dreweatts.com
• Viewing at Dreweatts Newbury: Donnington Priory, RG14 2JE
  • Saturday 4 July: 10am-3pm
  • Sunday 5 July 10am-3pm
  • Monday 6 July: 10am-4pm
  • Tuesday 7 July: 10am-3pm
• Dreweatts 360 Virtual Auction Tour | Available from Friday 19 June
• Dreweatts Remote Viewing Service | Available from Saturday 4 July

Further Information: 
General enquiries: + 44 (0) 1635 553 553 | pictures@dreweatts.com
Press enquiries: press@dreweatts.com