Lost in the Bushfires

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

Evensong ca. 1900 - 1914 Clara Southern

Tragically, only a small number of paintings by Australian Impressionist, Clara Southern (1860-1940) are still in existence today. Southern was a well-known artist, teacher, and promoter of the professional rights of women in the arts. Her list of achievements is long and includes many “firsts” — first woman member of the Australian Artists’ Association, election to the Buonarotti Society and election to the Council of the Victorian Artists’ Society, among others.

Her passion for painting began as a child and grew through her time studying with prominent artists, Madame Blanche Mouchette (founder of the Alliance Française in Victoria), and Walter Withers in Heidelberg. She went on to study at the National Gallery of Victoria. Her work was exhibited in the First Exhibition of Australian Women’s Work in Melbourne in 1907, a solo exhibition at the Athenaeum Gallery in 1914, and was selected for the Panama Pacific Expositi…