Betty Paterson

Betty Paterson
MBE
Paterson in 1946
Born
Elizabeth Deans Paterson

1894 (1894)
Carlton, Victoria, Australia
Died5 July 1970(1970-07-05) (aged 75–76)
Middle Park, Victoria, Victoria, Australia
Known forCartoon, book illustration, children's portraiture

Elizabeth Deans Paterson MBE (1894 – 5 July 1970) was an Australian commercial artist, cartoonist and illustrator. She was best known as Betty Paterson and for her pictures of babies and young children, but also wrote poetry and short stories for children, sometimes as 'Blue Ribbon'.[1]

Early life and education

Elizabeth Deans Paterson was born in Carlton, Victoria in 1894, daughter of Elizabeth Leslie (née Deans) and artist Hugh Paterson,[2] who encouraged her interest in art. Her older sister Esther Paterson (1892–1971) was also a commercial artist, illustrator and cartoonist.[3] Their uncle was Scottish-born landscape painter John Ford Paterson.[4]

Educated to a secondary level in St Kilda at European-style finishing school Oberwyl, formerly Etloe Hall, in Burnett Street,[5] run by Swiss art patron Madame Elise Pfund,[6] Paterson studied painting beside William Beckwith McInnes at the National Gallery of Victoria art school over 1907–12 under Bernard Hall and Frederick McCubbin,[7] who was a neighbour of her family.[8]

Paterson sent her first drawing to The Bulletin in response to a bet by cartoonist David Low. Her drawing was published, she won the bet and began her career contributing illustrations to magazines.[9]

At the time of her first marriage in 1923 to Kenneth Fossie Newman, Paterson had already made a name for herself for her drawings and portraits of children.[10] She was divorced by her husband in 1931 and given custody of their daughter, Barbara, who later became an artist.[11][12]

Commercial artist

By the mid-1920s Paterson and her sister Esther had established themselves as commercial artists who were "the cleverest designers in Australia" of posters, illustrated books, calendars and Christmas cards.[13] In 1922 they held a joint exhibition in Queen's Hall, Melbourne which was opened by Prime Minister Billy Hughes. Her drawings of young children were noted for their "fetching impertinence".[14] Her 1931 solo exhibition was opened by the Melbourne lord mayor, Harold Gengoult Smith,[15] while in 1935 the lady mayoress, Mrs A. G. Wales, did the honours.[16]

Portraits

Paterson's work was published in many magazines, including The Australian Home Beautiful,[17] The Australian Woman's Mirror,[18] The New Triad,[19] and The Bulletin.[20] In the 1935 The Australian Woman's Mirror awarded an original drawing by Paterson each week to the person who made the best original contribution to the magazine.[21]

Paterson competed in 1938 for the Archibald Prize with her painting The yellow gloves of sister Esther, purchased by art patron Howard Hinton, and which is amongst a collection bequeathed by him to the New England Regional Art Museum.[8] A portrait of Paterson by her former art school colleague WB McInnes,[22] held in the Art Gallery of NSW, was one of four entries by McInnes in the 1926 Archibald Prize and the fifth of his paintings to win it; while others by her sister Esther were finalists for the Archibald Prize in 1938 and 1939.[23]

Later life

In 1952 Paterson married Albion Wiltshire.[24] Paterson died on 5 July 1970 at Middle Park in Victoria.[25]

Honours

Paterson was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1966 for her service to art and the community.[26]

Collections

References

  1. ^ "Betty Paterson". AustLit. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
  2. ^ Birth record of Elizabeth Deans Paterson, Registration number 9972/1894, Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria
  3. ^ "Esther Paterson". Design and Art Australia Online. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  4. ^ "Paterson, Elizabeth Deans (Betty)". The Australian Women's Register. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  5. ^ "Oberwyl (Formerly Etloe Hall)". www.skhs.org.au. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  6. ^ "Oberwyl (Extant) 35 Burnett Street". stkildahistory.org.au. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  7. ^ Frame, Tom (1996). "Paterson, Esther (1892–1971)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 14. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, Melbourne University Press.
  8. ^ a b "Archibald Prize Archibald 1938 work: Miss Betty Paterson by Esther Paterson". www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  9. ^ "Artist's Career Began With Wager". The Courier-Mail. No. 1570. Queensland, Australia. 13 September 1938. p. 1 (Second Section.). Retrieved 22 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "Marriages, Mr. Kenneth Fossie Newman to Miss Elizabeth D. Paterson". Prahran Telegraph. Vol. 63, no. 3204. Victoria, Australia. 6 July 1923. p. 4. Retrieved 22 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "Betty Paterson Divorced". The Herald. No. 17, 002. Victoria, Australia. 13 November 1931. p. 1. Retrieved 23 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ Paterson family; Paterson, John Ford; Paterson, Hugh; Paterson, Esther; Paterson, Betty; Gill, G. Hermon; Moore, William (1884). Papers of the Paterson family, 1884–1973.
  13. ^ "Women and Commercial Art", The Australian Woman's Mirror, 2 (8), The Bulletin Newspaper, 19 January 1926, retrieved 23 March 2022
  14. ^ "Melbourne Chatter", The Bulletin, 43 (2213), John Haynes and J.F. Archibald: 42, 13 July 1922, ISSN 0007-4039
  15. ^ "The Woman's World". The Herald. No. 17, 029. Victoria, Australia. 15 December 1931. p. 17. Retrieved 22 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ^ "The Herald Health Group". The Herald. No. 18, 255. Victoria, Australia. 18 November 1935. p. 14. Retrieved 22 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ^ "The Australian Home Beautiful", The Australian Home Beautiful, 12 (5), United Press: 1, 1 May 1934, ISSN 0004-928X
  18. ^ "The Two Better Patersons", The Australian Woman's Mirror, 12 (2), The Bulletin Newspaper, 3 December 1935, retrieved 23 March 2022
  19. ^ "A Fairy Lost Her Slipper", The New Triad, 2 (2), [s.n.], 1 February 1928, retrieved 23 March 2022
  20. ^ "Shadow Shows", The Bulletin, 56 (2912), John Haynes and J.F. Archibald: 40, 4 December 1935, ISSN 0007-4039
  21. ^ "A Short Story with a Wireless Touch: Miss Milligan and the Downward Path", The Australian Woman's Mirror, 11 (10), The Bulletin Newspaper, 29 January 1935, retrieved 23 March 2022
  22. ^ "Archibald Prize Archibald 1926 work: Silk and lace (Miss Esther Paterson) by W B McInnes". www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  23. ^ "Archibald Prize Archibald 1939 work: Miss Betty Paterson by Esther Paterson". www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  24. ^ "Social News and Gossip". The Sunday Herald (Sydney). No. 202. New South Wales, Australia. 7 December 1952. p. 27. Retrieved 22 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  25. ^ "Betty Paterson". Design and Art Australia Online. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  26. ^ "Mrs Elizabeth Deans Wiltshire". It's an Honour. 1 January 1966. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  27. ^ "Esher Paterson". National Gallery of Victoria. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
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