Intrepid Women: Australian women artists in Paris 1900-1950

Overview

A new summer exhibition at S.H. Ervin Gallery showcases 30 female Australian artists who travelled to Paris for study, work and inspiration. Featuring works from renowned artists including Dorrit Black, Margaret Preston, Grace Crowley, Stella Bowen and Margaret Olley, Intrepid Women celebrates the creative expansion and freedom from convention gained from time spent in the rich Parisian milieu.

Highlighting both the courage and determination required to make such a move during the first half the 20th century (it took South Australian artist Marie Tuck ten solid years of working and saving before she was able to travel) the exhibition explores the impact Paris had on the careers of these women as they studied, exhibited in Paris salons and left bank galleries, and won awards, with some – like Dorrit Black – returning home to Australia to shake up the local scene with their first-hand understanding of the modernist movement.

Head along for an inspirational show celebrating 30 truly intrepid women.

Image: Dorrit Black, Nude with cigarette [cropped], 1930, oil on canvas on board, Private Collection, Sydney.