Underrated and undervalued

Modern Australian Women Artists in the mid-1900s

Being a female artist in the mid-1900s was challenging. Female artists did not get the same opportunities and recognition as male artists. Access to teaching and mentoring was limited; opportunities to travel and study overseas few and far between and in some cases frowned upon. The overarching view was that a woman’s place was minding the home and looking after her husband and children. There are some stand out successes from this period – Grace Cossington Smith, Margaret Olley, Margaret Preston, Grace Crowley, Dorrit Black, Anne Dangar, Clarice Beckett, Joy Hester, Lina Bryans and others who are well represented in Australian public galleries and their works now fetch high prices on auction. But there are also a number of female artists who were very talented and produced excellent work who haven’t received the full recognition they deserve. These include Margo Lewers, Judy Cassab, Ena Joyce, Shay Docking, Phyl Waterhouse, Jean Isherwood, Dora Toovey, Joan Beck and Sheila McDonald among others. In this exhibition we focus on the paintings of these latter artists whose paintings mostly date from the period 1950 – 1980.

Summer fruit - Phyl Waterhouse

Untitled 1958 - Shay Docking

Street in Gulgong - Jean Isherwood

Mines and Docks 1964 - Shay Docking

Blue Windows - Sheila McDonald

Still Life - Jean Isherwood

Untitled (North Queensland) 1974 - Judy Cassab

After the Rain 1968 - Eva Kubbos

Marmalade - Ena Joyce

Street Scene - Judy Cassab

Untitled - Ann Thomson

Untitled - Joan Beck

Fiesole (with Cathedral Tower) - Ena Joyce

A Hunters Hill Lodge - Dorothy Atkins

Morning light Wooloomooloo from Forbes Street - Dora Toovey

Afternoon Towoon Bay 1969 - Dora Toovey

Windsor Church - Ena Joyce

Untitled - Joan Beck

Beachscape - Judy Cassab

Still Life - Judy Cassab

Flower Garden 1973 - Judy Cassab

Untitled 1975 - Judy Cassab

Greek Island 1969 - Judy Cassab