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| Australian
Women's Art in the National Library's Collections |
Helen Maxwell Crear (c.1827-60)Bishopsbourne, Tasmania c.1855pencil and charcoal drawing T2380 NK6900/B Rex Nan Kivell Collection |
Thomas Ham
(1821-70) lithographer
Steam flour mill on the Onkaparinga River 1859
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The artist was the youngest daughter of Sir John Hindmarsh, first Governor of South Australia, and she began painting scenes of the early Adelaide settlement in 1836. Mary Milner Stephen lived and painted in South Australia, Victoria, England, Heligoland (a small island off the German coast) and Sydney. This print is particularly interesting because it was lithographed in Australia rather than being sent to England. Very few images by women artists were printed in Australia prior to the 1880s. |
Augusta M. DrummondBrowns River near Hobart Town c.1870watercolour R4915 |
This watercolour was presented to the Library in 1970. Details about the artist are unknown. |
Constance Frederica Gordon Cumming (1837-1924)The Ginindarra [ie Ginninderra] Creek, looking toMurrumbidgee Hills, County Murray, N.S. Wales, 30th Aug. 1875 watercolour on paper on canvas R10299 |
This very large watercolour is inscribed with 16 names of early settlers of Canberra. The names include Marrianne Campbell and Sophia Ives Campbell both residents of Duntroon, the Campbell family home established in 1825. Constance Cumming was a visitor to Duntroon in 1875. Born in Scotland, she was an inveterate traveller, particularly in Asia and the Pacific region. She subsequently published a number of books based on her travel journals and letters home, including At home in Fiji (1881), A lady's cruise in a French man-of-war (1882), Fire fountains of Hawaii (1883) and Wanderings in China (1886). |
Jessie E. ScarvellWaterfall in the bush 1875oil on academy board T364 NK826/D Rex Nan Kivell Collection |
Jessie Scarvell lived in New South Wales and was a landscape painter in oil and watercolour. This work is typical of her oeuvre as she was particularly fond of water scenes. The details of her life are unknown but we do know she was active in painting circles from 1875 to 1898. This oil was purchased by Rex Nan Kivell in the United Kingdom and subsequently sold to the National Library of Australia. In the Rex Nan Kivell Collection there are many works by women artists but few oil paintings. Jessie Scarvell's paintings are among the earliest oils by a woman artist held in the Library's collection. |
Molly D. BambergerWhen shades of evening fall c.1930bromoil P726 |
Molly Bamberger was considered a talented amateur photographer and won a major prize with the Photographic Society of New South Wales in 1942. Her photographs are very much in the Pictorialist style with their soft lighting and blurred edges. |
Elsie Tudor (1905-75)Dawn on the Mitchell River, Victoria 1930sgelatin silver (printed 1978) P675/14 |
Elsie Tudor worked as a photographer's retoucher at the Burlington Studios in Melbourne during the 1920s. Using a Folding Pocket Kodak Camera, she concentrated on rural and coastal scenery near Melbourne. A number of her photographs were awarded prizes in the landscape photography sections at the Royal Melbourne Show between 1927 and 1935. Her career ceased after her marriage in 1933. |
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Sally Morgan (b.1951)Wanamurraganya 1989screenprint artist's proof R10983 |
This print shows the twin influences of Sally Morgan's formal training and Aboriginal background. It is a good example of her technique and imagination. Her art has been exhibited widely in Australia and overseas. In 1993 she was commissioned by the United Nations to produce an image for their Human Rights Stamp Series. |
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Introduction![]()
Section 1. Over the Back Fence![]()
Section 2. Distant Views![]()
Section 3. Childrens Lives![]()
Section 4. Artists Books![]()
Section 5. Gardens, Plants and Bird![]()
Section 6. Self and Others
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