Gwen Barringer
Gwen Barringer (29 July 1882 – 26 August 1960) was a South Australian artist, known for her watercolours.
Gwen was born Gwendoline L'Avance Adamson, a daughter of Adam and Kate E. Adamson (1861 – 27 December 1941) in the inner Adelaide suburb of Harrowville, Adelaide. Her grandfather was a brother of James Hazel Adamson, a prominent artist of early South Australia. She studied at the South Australian School of Arts and Crafts under H. P. Gill, Archibald Collins and Hans Heysen. She was a council member of the South Australian Society of Arts for over 30 years, and was also well known as a teacher.
She was noted for watercolours of flowers and landscapes, to which she invested a fairyland-like glamour[1] and remained immune to trends and changing fashions. In 1928 following an extensive sketching tour of Europe[2] she held a solo exhibition in Adelaide which achieved a near record sale (over £1000) for an Australian woman.[3] She died in Adelaide on 26 August 1960 after a long illness. She is represented in the State galleries of South Australia and Victoria, and the National Gallery, Canberra.[4]
Selected works
- Port Adelaide (ca. 1920) Carrick Hill collection.[5]
Family
Gwen married Herbert Barringer (also a watercolourist) on 18 November 1810. In 1930, she sought unsuccessfully to divorce him on grounds of cruelty.[6] Herbert's sister Ethel Barringer was an artist of some note.
References
- ^ "Glamor in Painting Exhibits". The News. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 5 June 1951. p. 7. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
- ^ "Women's Page". The Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 10 January 1928. p. 4. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
- ^ "Australian Artists - Gwendoline L'avance Barringer". Australian Art and Prints. 1960-08-26. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
- ^ McCulloch, Alan Encyclopedia of Australian Art Hutchinson of London First Edition, 1968 ISBN 0-09-081420-7
- ^ "Pandora Archive". Pandora.nla.gov.au. 2006-08-23. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
- ^ "Divorce Cases". The Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 13 November 1930. p. 7. Retrieved 2 November 2013.