Bendall was the youngest child of the English merchant, Manley Forbes Bendall. She trained as a painter from 1910-1914 at the atelier of Felix Carme and gained the respect of Henri Matisse and Albert Marquet with her strong, grounded drawing technique. Under Matisse’s guidance, Bendall became a key component in the Avant-Garde Group in Bordeaux. Bendall socialised with the most respected artists and in 1928 she helped found the ‘Artists Independants Bordelais’ where names such as Matisse, Braque and Picasso all contributed yearly to its exhibitions.

Bendall worked hard to further the artistic movements and in 1929 she successfully became a member of ‘Le Studio’ and helped provide life-drawing classes in Bordeaux. She exhibited her works alongside Max Jacobs and Raoul Dufy and in 1937 the Musee National d’Art Moderne in Paris bought her work ‘Bouquet a la table ronde’. She continued working in her unique style, employing a mixture of Fauvism and Expressionism, until her death in 1977.