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Helen Lempriere

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Helen Lempriere
Lempriere in 1926
Born
Helen Dora Lempriere

(1907-12-12)12 December 1907
Malvern, Victoria, Australia
Died5 November 1991(1991-11-05) (aged 83)
Mona Vale, New South Wales, Australia
Memorial(s)Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award
Helen Lempriere Travelling Art Scholarship

Helen Dora Lempriere (12 December 1907 – 5 November 1991) was an Australian painter, sculptor and printmaker. She is particularly known for incorporating pictorial motifs, beliefs, and Aboriginal myths into her artworks.

Biography

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Born in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern on 12 December 1907, she was the only child of Charles Algernon Lempriere (brother of businessman Geoffrey Lemprière) and Dora Elizabeth Octavia, née Mitchell (daughter of builder David Mitchell and younger sister of singer Nellie Melba).[1] Helen Lempriere grew up in a very privileged environment, which provided her with financial stability throughout her life.

Additionally, her family was very supportive of the arts: the Lempriere family, especially Dora Lempriere, took on a patron role with local artists, particularly through commissioning portraits.[2]

She was educated at Toorak Ladies' College (1925) and then received tuition in art first from A. D. Colquhoun and later from Justus Jorgensen, two painters belonging to the Australian tonalism movement. Subsequently, Helen Lempriere helped Jorgensen to establish Montsalvat, an artists' colony near Melbourne dedicated to artistic freedom.[3] She moved there in 1935 and stayed for ten years, until 1945 when she married Keith Wood.[4]

Conception totenism, a 1956 painting employing Aboriginal themes, is held in the Art Gallery of New South Wales.[5] Other similar paintings and also prints donated by her husband after her death are in the collection of National Gallery of Australia[6] and in the Grainger Museum at the University of Melbourne.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Hetherington, Les, "Lempriere, Helen Dora (1907–1991)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 30 August 2021
  2. ^ Hetherington, Les (2016). ""Lempriere, Helen Dora (1907–1991)"People Australia, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University".
  3. ^ Teichmann, Max (1996). "« Justus Jorgensen (1893–1975) », in Australian Dictionary of Biography, 18 vol., Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University".
  4. ^ KERR Joan, Helen Lempriere, 1907-1991: retrospective exhibition part 1 : paintings from 1930’s-50’s, Woolloomooloo Gallery , 1993.
  5. ^ "Conception totemism, 1956 by Helen Lempriere". www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Search the Collection: Helen Lempriere". National Gallery of Australia. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  7. ^ Gamboz, Gloria (June 2018). "Helen Lempriere: Mid-20th century representation of Aboriginal themes" (PDF). University of Melbourne Collections (22): 66–74.
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