Studio portrait, Chelsea, 1915 by Norah Simpson ::

Details

Other Title

Self portrait 1911

Place where the work was made

Chelsea → London → England

Date

(1915)

Media category

Painting

Materials used

oil on canvas

Dimensions

50.8 x 40.7 cm stretcher; 62.7 x 52.7 x 5.0 cm frame

Signature & date

Not signed. (Not dated?).

Credit

Purchased 1960

Location

South Building, ground level, 20th-century galleries

Accession number

OA22.1960

Copyright

Reproduction requests

Artist information

Norah Simpson

Works in the collection

1

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About

Norah Simpson is credited with playing an important role in the introduction of post-impressionism to Australia, although she is an unfamiliar figure in Australia – she moved permanently to Europe in 1915 and subsequently ceased painting.

On a prior visit to London in 1912, she had met members of the Camden Town Group – a group of post-impressionist artists – and saw first-hand in Paris works by Cézanne, Matisse, van Gogh and Picasso. On her return to Australia in 1913, she brought reproductions and books dealing with post-impressionist and cubist work to her art classes with Italian artist–teacher Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo, where they had a powerful effect on Simpson’s fellow students Roland Wakelin, Grace Cossington Smith and Roy de Maistre – particularly influencing their use of colour.

Exhibition history

Shown in 6 exhibitions

Purchases and Acquisitions for 1960, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 22 Mar 1961–23 Apr 1961
Australian women artists: one hundred years, 1840-1940, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 10 Oct 1975–02 Nov 1975
Australian Painters Seeing Cézanne, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 28 Nov 1998–17 Jan 1999
The Edwardians: Secrets and Desire, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 12 Mar 2004–13 Jun 2004

The Edwardians: Secrets and Desire, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 09 Jul 2004–12 Sep 2004
Sydney Moderns, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 06 Jul 2013–07 Oct 2013
20th-Century galleries, ground level (rehang), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 20 Aug 2022–2023

Bibliography

Referenced in 18 publications

Janine Burke, Australian women artists 1840-1940, Collingwood, 1980, 42, 43, 140 (colour illus.), 178. plate no. 67
Jasmin Dessmann and Deborah Edwards, Sydney moderns: art for a new world, 'The lost moderns: Tempe Manning, Niel A Gren and Norah Simpson', pg. 38-41, Sydney, 2013, 38, 41 (colour illus.), 315.
Deborah Edwards, Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Moderns', pg. 103-104, Sydney, 2000, 103, 112 (colour illus.), 302.
Anna Gray, The Cambridge companion to Australian Art, 'Australian artists within a wider world 1900-1930', pg. 84-96, Port Melbourne, 2011, 89.
Anne Gray, The Edwardians: secrets and desires, 'The Edwardians', pg. 10-71, Canberra, 2004, 29, 227 (colour illus.). cat.no. 127
Lesley Harding, Art and Australia (Vol. 36, No. 4), 'Tempe Manning: the lost modernist', pg. 532-537, Sydney, 1999, 532 (colour illus.).
Bruce James, Grace Cossington Smith, 'The knitter', pg. 26-36, Sydney, 1990, 29, 30 (colour illus.). plate no. 3
Ursula Prunster (Curator), Australian painters; Seeing Cézanne, Sydney, 1998, 31. cat.no. 34
Bernard William Smith and Terry Smith, Australian painting 1788-1990, 'Leviticus 1913-32', pg. 167-204, South Melbourne, 1991, 171, 172 (illus.), 560. illus. no. 98
Susannah Smith, Look, 'Women's work: their diverse and significant contribution to the modernist art scene', pg. 13-15, Sydney, Aug 2013, 14, 15 (colour illus.).
Virginia Spate, Art Monthly Australia, 'Amazing Grace: Thoughts inspired by the Grace Cossington Smith exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra', pg. 22-30, Canberra, Aug 2005, 23.
Catherine Stuart and Paul Finucane, Odd roads to be walking: 156 women who shaped Australian art, Cork, 2019, 182 (colour illus.).
Daniel Thomas, Art Gallery of New South Wales Quarterly, 'Grace Cossington Smith', pg. 510-521, Sydney, Jan 1970, 512 (illus.).
Daniel Thomas, Grace Cossington Smith, 'Modernity and inwards', pg. 102-107, Canberra, 2005, 103.
Roland Wakelin, Art Gallery of New South Wales Quarterly, 'Post Impressionism in Sydney: Some personal recollections', pg. 91-95, Sydney, Jan 1962, 91, 92 (illus.).
Donald Williams, In our own image: the story of Australian art, Sydney, 2002, 90, 91 (colour illus.).
Donald Williams, In our own image: the story of Australian art, Sydney, 1995, 99 (colour illus.).
J.F. Williams', Art and Australia, 'Modernism & the lost generation', pg. 52-57, Sydney, Spring 1991, 56 (colour illus.).