Walter Armiger Bowring Miss Isabel Fidler, BA

This portrait of academic Isabel Margaret Fidler (1869–1952) was presented to the University of Sydney, after the Archibald Prize exhibition in honour of her contributions to the university, by a group of subscribers who raised funds to buy the work.

Fidler graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts in 1898 with first-class honours in English, French and Latin. She became a tutor to, and improved conditions for, women students at the university, and served as president of the Sydney University Women’s Association (Union).

Walter Armiger Bowring (1874–1931) was born and educated in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. A talented illustrator, he also exhibited landscapes and portraits with the Canterbury Society of Arts, later studying with renowned portraitists William Orpen and Augustus John in London. Arriving in Sydney in 1925, he exhibited with the Royal Society of NSW from 1926. Fourteen of Bowring’s portraits were hung in Archibald exhibitions between 1926 and 1930.

This portrait is now in the collection of the University of Sydney Union.