Daisy Frances Christina Osborn (27 April 1888 – 3 May 1957) was a New Zealand painter, illustrator and jewellery designer.

Family and education

Daisy Frances Christina Osborn was born in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand, the only child of Emily Jane Turvey, an Englishwoman, and Alfred Patterson Osborn, an Australian engraver. She attended Christchurch Girls' High School and studied art at

Canterbury College School of Art The Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury was founded in 1882 as the Canterbury College School of Art. The school became a full department of the university in the 1950s, and was the first department to move to the suburban Ilam ...

intermittently over fifteen years (1906–11, 1913, 1919–21). She won a scholarship and numerous prizes at the school and began to exhibit in 1913. Johnson went on to teach part-time at the Canterbury College School of Art (1921–27), giving instruction in painting, metalwork, design, and embroidery.

Art career

Osborn worked as an illustrator of children's literature, mainly in pen and watercolour, and she designed modernist jewelry in silver with enamel or

cloisonné Cloisonné () is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects with colored material held in place or separated by metal strips or wire, normally of gold. In recent centuries, vitreous enamel has been used, but inlays of cut gemstones, ...

decoration. However, she is now best known as a painter of portraits, Christchurch cityscapes, still lifes, and floral studies. There is also a group of religious paintings with pacifist themes from the 1930s, influenced in part by her interest in

Theosophy Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

. The sentimentality of her illustration work stands in stark contrast to the crisp contours and bold coloring of her mature paintings, such her 1936 portrait of fellow artist

Rose Zeller Rose Margaret Zeller (13 April 1891 – 1 December 1975) was a New Zealand artist. Biography Zeller was born at the family home at 325 Cashel Street, Christchurch, New Zealand, where she lived until her death. Her parents were Hubert Andrew ...

. She continued to paint and exhibit until the year before she died, showing regularly at the

New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts The New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts (also referred to as the Wellington Art Society) was founded in Wellington in July 1882 as The Fine Arts Association of New Zealand. Founding artists included painters William Beetham (first president of the Ass ...

and in the 1940 National Centennial Exhibition of New Zealand Art in Wellington. Her work is in many private collections, and some of her work is held by the

Christchurch Art Gallery The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, commonly known as the Christchurch Art Gallery, is the public art gallery of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It has its own substantial art collection and also presents a programme of New ...

. She was included in the 1993 exhibition ''White Camellias: A Century of Art Making by Canterbury Women''.

Books illustrated

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osborn, Daisy Frances Christina 1888 births 1957 deaths 20th-century New Zealand women artists 20th-century New Zealand artists Ilam School of Fine Arts alumni New Zealand jewellery designers New Zealand illustrators New Zealand women illustrators People educated at Christchurch Girls' High School People from Christchurch Women jewellers