Amazing Grace

Next up is Australian artist Grace Cossington-Smith, (1892-1984), whose early works showing the domestic life of Australia during the first World War brought her to prominence.

From a family photograph taken in 1915

Post WWI her bold use of colour shone in such works as The Laquer Room, 1936.

Cossington Smith is remembered for her light filled domestic interiors that became a feature of her later years.

Grace Cossington Smith, 1937 detail from a family photo, Art Gallery of New South Wales collection.

She had a major retrospective at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in the early 1970’s, then ceased painting. She died in 1984.

Cossington Smith captured by a street photographer, c. 1930-40. Collection of the Australian War Memorial.

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