Mary Edwell-Burke

Mary Edwell-Burke
Self-portrait, 1936
Born
Mary Edwards

(1894-06-19)19 June 1894
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died19 January 1988(1988-01-19) (aged 93)
Fiji
Known forPainting, Sculpture

Mary Edwell-Burke (1894–1988), was an Australian painter and carver.

Biography

Edwell-Burke was born in Sydney on 19 June 1894.[1] She was the half-sister of Bernice E. Edwell.[2] She studied at the East Sydney Technical College.

In the 1920s, she exhibited with the Royal Art Society as Mary Edwards, and was a finalist for the Archibald Prize in 1921 and 1922.[3][4] From 1935-1945, she exhibited with the Australian Watercolour Institute as Mary Edwards.[1]

In 1944, Edwell-Burke, along with Joseph Wolinski, brought an unsuccessful legal action to overturn William Dobell's 1943 Archibald prize for his portrait, Mr Joshua Smith, claiming the image was more a caricature than a portrait.[5]

In 1945, her portrait of Dame Enid Lyons, was rejected as "unsatisfactory" by the Federal Government’s Historic Memorials Committee. Edwell-Burke subsequently moved to Fiji and changed her name from Mary Edwards to Mary Edwell-Burke.[1]

Edwell-Burke died in Fiji on 19 January 1988.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Candice, Bruce. "Mary Edwards b. 1894". Design & Art Australia Online (DAAO). Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  2. ^ Kerr, Joan. "Bernice E. Edwell b. 11 May 1880". Design & Art Australia Online (DAAO). Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  3. ^ "1921". Archibald Prize. Art Gallery of New South Wales. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  4. ^ "1922". Archibald Prize. Art Gallery of New South Wales. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  5. ^ Eagle, Mary. "Dobell, Sir William (1899–1970)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 3 April 2018.