Historic Retford Park welcomes a new female-led summertime exhibition.
This exhibition of exquisite works from trailblazing artists such as Margaret Preston, Ethel Carrick Fox, Clarice Beckett, Jessie Scarvell, Portia Geach, Thea Proctor, Ethleen Palmer, Vera Blackburn, Gladys Gibbons, Ailsa Lee Brown, Jessie Mackintosh, Eileen Mayo, Adelaide Perry and Ethel Spowers, complements Clarice Beckett: Paintings from the National Collection on show at the adjacent Ngununggula.
Born between 1862 and 1911 the 17 women artists in Trailblazers represent two generations of artists – the first emerging from the post-Colonial era to form an Australian Impressionism school and the second who were at the forefront of modernism.
The art world was long dominated by the heroic landscapes by male artists yet some of the most extraordinary innovations in Australian art were quietly being created by women. Their determination to study and create art in an environment that was skewed to the men defined the post-World War 1 era with works that sill appear fresh as they did over 100 years ago.
Jessie Scarvell (b1862), a little-known artist managed to achieve acclaim at exhibitions in Sydney and London before disappearing into marriage and motherhood, a reality that many women faced. Others such as Portia Geach pursued their art careers and championed women’s rights as they felt the sting of sexism by being overlooked by their male peers.
