May Vale
May Vale | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 18 November 1862 Ballarat, Victoria, Australia |
| Died | 6 August 1945 (aged 82) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Known for | Painting, Enamelling |
| Movement | Australian Impressionism |
| Spouse |
Alexander Gilfillan
(m. 1908–1940) |
May Vale (1862–1945), was an Australian painter. She was reportedly the first women to be elected a member of the Buonarotti Society.[1]
Biography[edit]
Vale was born in Ballarat on 18 November 1862.[2] Her family moved to Melbourne 1872. Her family then moved to London, England in 1874.[3]
Vale attended the Royal College of Art in London, Then in 1879, after returning to Melbourne she attended the National Gallery Art Schools,[3] studying under Oswald Rose Campbell,[1] George Folingsby and Frederick McCubbin.[3][4] Her colleagues at the school included Jane Sutherland and Clara Southern.[1]
In 1893 she also opened a studio at 119 Swanston Street where she gave art lessons and worked as a commissioned portrait painter.[3][1] In 1895 she set up an art school at Flinders Buildings, where she taught plein air painting. One of her students was Alice Marian Ellen Bale.[1]
She was said to be the first woman to join the Buonarotti Society,[1] but there are other claimants including Alice Cherry (née Brotherton) in 1883.[5]
In 1906 Vale returned to London where she studied enamelling at the Chelsea Polytechnic Institute.[3]
Vale exhibited her painting and her enamels throughout her life at venues including the Victorian Artists Society, the Women's Art Club, and the Athenaeum.[3]
She had a one-woman show in 1927 at Queens Hall.[1]
She was a member of the Buonarotti Club, the Victorian Artists Society, and the Yarra Sculptors' Society.[1]
Vale died on 6 August 1945 in Melbourne.[3]
Legacy[edit]
Vale's works are in the collections of the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of New South Wales.[3]
Gallery[edit]
-
Faith learning her lesson, 1898 -
-
The Orchard (Spring at Mayfield), c. 1904 -
Girl Reading
_Faith_learning_her_lesson,_1898.jpg)
_Portrait_of_David_Syme,_c.1892.jpg)
,_c._1904.jpg)
_Girl_reading.jpg)
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "May Vale Biography". In the Artist's Footsteps. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
- ^ "May Vale". National Gallery of Victoria. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h McGrath, Joyce. "Vale, May (1862–1945)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
- ^ "WOMEN ARTISTS OF VICTORIA: MISS MAY VALE". Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946). 18 May 1895. p. 23. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- ^ Mead, Stephen F. "The Search for Artistic Professionalism in Melbourne: the activities of the Buonarotti Club, 1883 -1887 - No 88 December 2011". latrobejournal.slv.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
External links[edit]
- images of May Vale's paintings on Australian Art Auction Records
- Women of the Heidelberg School, by Andrew MacKenzie, sponsored by the Victorian Government
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