Elisabeth Cummings (born 1934, Brisbane) is an Australian artist known for her large abstract paintings and

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed techniq ...

. She has won numerous awards including

Fleurieu Art Prize The Fleurieu Art Prize is a non-acquisitive award, open to Australian visual artists aged 18 years and older. The ''Prize'' encompasses any two- or three-dimensional artwork submissions that follow an annual thematic concept and includes a monet ...

, The Portia Geach Portrait Prize, The

Mosman Art Prize The Mosman Art Prize is an annual art award made by the corporation of Mosman, New South Wales, Mosman, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. It has been running since 1947. Past adjudicators also include notable Australian art figures such as Marg ...

, and The Tattersalls Art Prize. Her work is owned in permanent collections across Australia including

Artbank Artbank is an art rental program established in 1980 by the Australian Government. It supports contemporary Australian artists and encourages a wider appreciation of their work by buying artworks which it then rents to public and private sector c ...

, The

Queensland Art Gallery The Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) is an art museum located in South Bank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The gallery is part of QAGOMA. It complements the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) building, situated only away. The Queensland Art Gallery ...

, The

Gold Coast City Art Gallery The Gold Coast City Art Gallery was a regional Art museum located in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. Opened in 1986, the Gallery was part of HOTA, Home of the Arts (formerly known as the Gold Coast Art Centre) whic ...

and the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

. She is notable for receiving recognition later in her career, considered by the

Australian Art Collector ''Art Collector'', formerly ''Australian Art Collector'', is a quarterly art magazine. It primarily covers Australian contemporary and Indigenous Australian art, and also features New Zealand and international artists. History ''Art Collector' ...

as one of the 50 most collectible Australian Artists.

Early life

Elisabeth Cummings was born on 3 June 1934 in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Cumming’s family evacuated Brisbane and lived in the country before returning to live in Alderley. The family home in Alderley was surrounded by bushlands. The Cummings family owned a holiday home at

Currumbin Currumbin ( ) is a coastal suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Currumbin had a population of 2,920 people. Geography The suburb extends from Currumbin Creek in the north to Wyberba Street in the south. The Pacif ...

on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

where Cummings, as a child, would paint

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

landscapes. Currumbin and the

Australian bush "The bush" is a term mostly used in the English vernacular of Australia and New Zealand where it is largely synonymous with '' backwoods'' or ''hinterland'', referring to a natural undeveloped area. The fauna and flora contained within this ...

are now regular subjects in her landscape paintings. Cummings and her brother, Malcolm, would draw

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

s constructed by their mother, who was a primary school teacher, until her father said "let the kids draw what they want.” Cummings’ father, Robert Cummings, was an architect, a Professor of

Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

at the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

, an art collector and

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

of the

. Cummings would regularly attend paint workshops run by Australian Artist

Vida Lahey Frances Vida Lahey MBE (1882—1968) was a prominent artist in Queensland, Australia. She exhibited widely from 1902 until 1965. Early life Frances Vida Lahey was born on 26 August 1882 at Pimpama, Queensland, the daughter of David Lahey and h ...

at the Queensland Art Gallery.

Education

During her youth, the Cummings home was visited frequently by artists including

Donald Friend Donald Stuart Leslie Friend (6 February 1915 – 16 August 1989) was an Australian artist and diarist who lived much of his life overseas. He has been the subject of controversy since the posthumous publication of diaries in which he wrote of sex ...

, and Len and Kathleen Shillam. Cummings initially wanted to pursue architectural training but decided to enroll in

art school An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-seco ...

after meeting and painting with

Margaret Cilento Phyllis Margaret Cilento (23 December 1923 – 21 November 2006) was an Australian painter and printmaker. Biography Cilento was born in Sydney, Australia on 23 December 1923. She studied at East Sydney Technical College. In 1947, Cilento went ...

. She studied at the

National Art School The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts p ...

, then known as

East Sydney Technical College The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts p ...

, from 1953 to 1957 where she was educated by artists Douglas Dundas, Wallace Thornton, Dorothy Thornhill, Godfrey Miller and Ralph Balson. At art school, Cummings was exposed to the work of fellow young Australian artists which she found to be formative to her practice. The artists Cummings cites as influential during this period include

Grace Cossington Smith Grace Cossington Smith (20 April 189220 December 1984) was an Visual arts of Australia, Australian artist and pioneer of Modernist art, modernist painting in Australia and was instrumental in introducing Post-Impressionism to her home country. ...

Margaret Preston Margaret Rose Preston (29 April 1875 – 28 May 1963) was an Australian painter and printmaker who is regarded as one of Australia's leading modern art, modernists of the early 20th century. In her quest to foster an Australian "national art", ...

, Fred Williams,

Russell Drysdale Sir George Russell Drysdale (7 February 1912 – 29 June 1981), also known as Tass Drysdale, was an Australian artist. He won the prestigious Wynne Prize for ''Sofala'' in 1947, and represented Australia at the Venice Biennale in 1954. He was i ...

Sydney Nolan Sir Sidney Robert Nolan (22 April 191728 November 1992) was one of Australia's leading artists of the 20th century. Working in a wide variety of mediums, his oeuvre is among the most diverse and prolific in all of modern art. He is best known ...

John Olsen John Wayne Olsen, AO (born 7 June 1945) is a former Australian politician, diplomat and football commissioner. He was Premier of South Australia between 28 November 1996 and 22 October 2001. He is now President of the Federal Liberal Party, C ...

and Jimmy Rose. In 1958, Cummings received the NSW Traveling Art Scholarship and in 1960 the Dyason Bequest, both of which facilitated her travel through

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

for the next decade. In 1961 she studied at Kokoschka’s School of Vision run by

Oskar Kokoschka Oskar Kokoschka (1 March 1886 – 22 February 1980) was an Austrian artist, poet, playwright, and teacher best known for his intense Expressionism, expressionistic portraits and landscapes, as well as his theories on vision that influenced the ...

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

before travelling to

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. She spent the next 10 years living and studying between Italy and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In Florence she shared a

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

with other artists, where she met her husband, fellow painting student Jamie Barker. Cumming’s work was informed by European and Australian predecessors such as

Pierre Bonnard Pierre Bonnard (; 3 October 186723 January 1947) was a French painter, illustrator and printmaker, known especially for the stylized decorative qualities of his paintings and his bold use of color. A founding member of the Post-Impressionist ...

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a ...

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

Édouard Vuillard Jean-Édouard Vuillard (; 11 November 186821 June 1940) was a French painter, decorative artist and printmaker. From 1891 through 1900, he was a prominent member of the Nabis, making paintings which assembled areas of pure color, and interior s ...

and

Margaret Olley Margaret Hannah Olley (24 June 192326 July 2011) was an Australian painter. She was the subject of more than ninety solo exhibitions. Early life Margaret Olley was born in Lismore, New South Wales. She was the eldest of three children of Jo ...

. In 1968, she returned to Australia and settled in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. In 1969 she started teaching at

on a part-time basis.

Work

Elisabeth Cummings is a

multi-disciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

artist and celebrated

colourist In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates. Since the late 20th century it is ...

painter, working within

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

and

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

. Inspired by the

, and a sense of place and memory, which are themes in Cumming’s semi-abstract

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of Terrestrial ecoregion, land, its landforms, and how they integrate with Nature, natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionar ...

, interiors and

paintings. Cumming’s starts her paintings by drawing multiple quick sketches of the scene which form the basis for her final full-sized work. John McDonald describes her painting style as " ick, heavily worked, painterly surfaces with complex marks and intense colour". Notable paintings from Cummings body of work include interiors, ''Journey Through The Studio'' painted in 2004 and ''Inside The Yellow Room'', 2005. Her landscape paintings include ''

Arkaroola Arkaroola is the common name for the ''Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary'', a wildlife sanctuary situated on of freehold and pastoral lease land in South Australia. It is located north of the Adelaide city centre in the Northern Flinders Rang ...

landscape,'' 2005, which was rejected from the

Wynne Prize The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. As one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne. Now held concurrently with the Sir John Sulman Prize ...

, ''Edge of the

Simpson Desert The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth-largest Deserts of Australia, Australian desert, with an area of . The desert ...

'', 2011 and Wynne Prize finalist ''Monaro Shadow and Light'', 2015.

Early work

Elisabeth Cummings worked

part-time Part-time can refer to: * Part-time job, a job that has fewer hours a week than a full-time job * Part-time student, a student, usually in higher education, who takes fewer course credits than a full-time student * Part Time Part Time (styliz ...

as an

art teacher Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of what ...

from 1969 to 2001 at multiple art colleges including the City Art Institute,

(1975 to 1987) and the

of Sydney. She continued painting independently during this time, winning awards such as the 1974 Grafton Prize and the 1977 Landscape and Still Life Prizes, RAS. Elisabeth Cummings has lived and worked at her Wedderburn studio residence since 1976.

Later work

Elisabeth Cummings has been called ‘The Invisible Woman of Australian Art’ as she worked quietly and independently in her studio for 43 years with limited recognition. Cummings was unaffected by the lack of coverage of her work, stating "I like anonymity." She held her first

Retrospective Exhibition A retrospective (from Latin ''retrospectare'', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in medicine, software development, popu ...

"Elisabeth Cummings 65-96" at age 62 in Campbelltown Art Gallery,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. In 2012 Cummings exhibited her second Retrospective ‘Luminous: Survey Exhibition Landscapes of Elizabeth Cummings’ at the SH Ervin, Observatory Hill, Sydney. Now, Elisabeth Cumming’s works are a part of many major and regional Australian public collections including the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

; the

; The Queensland Art Gallery and

Campbelltown Arts Centre Campbelltown Arts Centre (C-A-C or CAC) is a multidisciplinary contemporary arts centre located in Campbelltown, New South Wales, south west of Sydney, Australia. It is a cultural facility of Campbelltown City Council, assisted by other governm ...

, Sydney. In 2011 Elisabeth Cummings, at age 77, was awarded the

Order of Australia Medal The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in recognition for her services to the

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

in Australia. In 2018 Cummings was the subject of Noel Thurgate’s portrait ''Elisabeth Cummings in her studio at Wedderburn, 1974 and 2018'', which was a finalist for the 2018 Archibald Portraiture Prize. Cummings is a frequent traveler and has participated in international and national

artist residencies Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

and exhibitions. In 2014, at age 81, participated in an artist residency and exhibition at The Nock Art Foundation in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. In the same year Cummings, in a group of nine Australian artists, held a group exhibition at the

Waiheke Waiheke Island (; Māori language, Māori: ) is the second-largest island (after Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Its ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay at the western end is from the central-city terminal in Auckland. I ...

Arts Centre during their residency in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Cummings was involved in the travelling exhibition ''YOUR FRIEND THE ENEMY'' along with fifteen

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

and

New Zealand Artists New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. The artists were invited to

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

to paint the shores of Anzac Cove.

Printmaking

In 2001 Cummings expanded into

, specifically

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

. She became involved in printmaking through a workshop with Michael Kempson at Cicada Press, a studio associated with

UNSW Art & Design The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

in Sydney. Cummings participated in a program whereby artists print with the assistance of students. Other notable participants include

Reg Mombassa Christopher O'Doherty, also known by the pseudonym Reg Mombassa, is a New Zealand-born Australian artist and musician. He is a founding member of the band Mental As Anything and member of Dog Trumpet (alongside his brother Peter O'Doherty). Ear ...

and

Euan Macleod Euan Macleod (born 1956) is a New Zealand-born artist. Macleod was born in Christchurch, New Zealand and moved to Sydney, Australia in 1981, where he lives and works. He received a Certificate in Graphic Design from Christchurch Technical Col ...

. Cummings has since visited Cicada Press weekly to work with Kempson. Her print work explores similar concerns to her painting, primarily landscape and interiors. Cummings also created

monoprints Monoprinting is a type of printmaking where the intent is to make unique prints, that may explore an image serially. Other methods of printmaking create editioned multiples, the monoprint is editioned as 1 of 1. There are many techniques of mono-pr ...

through Whaling Road Studios. The

Cruthers Collection of Women's Art Cruthers Collection of Women's Art is a collection of more than 700 artworks by Australian women, held at the University of Western Australia. It is the only public collection focused on women's art in Australia. The Cruthers Collection was fo ...

at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

hold three

lithographs Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

, ''Studio'', 1986, ''Dappled bush'', 1995 and ''Windy bush'', 1995'','' and a

silkscreen Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open mesh ...

print ''

Billabong Billabong ( ) is an Australian term for an oxbow lake, an isolated pond left behind after a river changes course. Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end. As a result ...

'', 1999 by Cummings. In 2017 Cummings donated a comprehensive archival collection of 85 of her prints and etchings to the

New England Regional Art Museum New England Regional Art Museum The New England Regional Art Museum, known as NERAM, is a museum of Australian art located in Armidale in the New England region of New South Wales. NERAM's art collections are the second largest and most valuabl ...

Ceramics

Cummings has also explored

and

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

in the form of small-scale interior sets with figures crafted in

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

. These were created together with Lino Alvarez. Cummings has also made small scale figurative sculptures out of

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

. In 2012 she collaborated with Louise Boscacci to make translucent

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...

plates and platters on which Cummings painted. The flat shape of the plates was chosen to reflect the salt encrusted clay pans of

northern Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...

. The project "Cicada Waterfall" was named for the

cicada The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two ...

s that can be heard in the bush at Cummings Wedderburn home. These pieces were exhibited in 2014 at King Street Gallery in Sydney as part of Cummings exhibition ''Elisabeth Cummings: A Still Life''.

Wedderburn

In 1970, Cummings began camping in a tent on

bushland In Australia, bushland is a blanket term for land which supports remnant vegetation or land which is disturbed but still retains a predominance of the original floristics and structure. Human survival in bushland has a whole mythology evolving ...

land owned by Barbara and Nick Romalis at Wedderburn outside Sydney. Ten acres of land was gifted to Cummings by the Romalis to be used for the building of an art studio. Cummings was joined by artists John Peart, Roy Jackson, Joan Brassil, Suzanne Archer and David Fairbairn. The group then purchased another 15 acres. The move to Wedderburn coincided with a move towards

gestural abstraction Action painting, sometimes called "gestural abstraction", is a style of painting in which paint is spontaneously dribbled, splashed or smeared onto the canvas, rather than being carefully applied. The resulting work often emphasizes the physical a ...

in her paintings, with Cummings privileging the painting process over the subject matter. Both Cummings and Peart have been involved in campaigns to protect the environment of Wedderburn from development. In 1994 Cummings a small studio was destroyed by

bushfires A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...

, along with significant amounts of work. Fellow long time resident John Peart died as the result of smoke inhalation as the result of the fire. Following the fire, Cummings built a larger studio attached to her

mud brick A mudbrick or mud-brick is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE, though since 4000 BCE, bricks have also been fi ...

house on the land. Her 2001 painting ''After the Fire, Wedderburn'' depicts the aftermath of the fires.

Collections

, Australia *

, NSW * The Australia Club, NSW * Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, NSW * Campbelltown City Bicentennial Art Gallery, NSW *

Charles Sturt University Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus public university located in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. Established in 1989, it was named in honour of Captain Charles Napier Sturt, a British explorer w ...

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

, NSW *

, QLD *

College of Fine Arts The School of Fine Arts or College of Fine Arts is the official name or part of the name of several schools of fine arts, often as an academic part of a larger university. These include: The Americas North America *Alabama School of Fin ...

University of NSW The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public university, public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight (Australian universities), ...

, Sydney, NSW * Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art, The University of Western Australia, WA * The Drill Hall,

ANU Anu ( akk, , from wikt:𒀭#Sumerian, 𒀭 ''an'' “Sky”, “Heaven”) or Anum, originally An ( sux, ), was the sky father, divine personification of the sky, king of the gods, and ancestor of many of the list of Mesopotamian deities, dei ...

, ACT * Grafton Regional Art Gallery, NSW * The

Hawkesbury Hawkesbury or Hawksbury may refer to: People *Baron Hawkesbury, or Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool (1727-1808), English statesman Places ;Geography *Hawkesbury Island, an island in British Columbia, Canada * Hawkesbury Island, Queensland ...

City Art Collection, NSW * Jackson Smith Solicitors, NSW *

James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cairn ...

, Townsville, QLD * Kedumba Drawing Collection *

Kelvin Grove Teachers College Kelvin Grove Teachers' College was established in 1961 to provide courses in primary and secondary teacher education from its predecessor the Queensland Teachers' Training College. The Queensland Teachers' Training College was established in 19 ...

, Brisbane, QLD * Lismore Regional Art Gallery, NSW * Long Gallery & Art Collection,

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment of ...

, NSW *

Macquarie Bank Macquarie Group Limited () is an Australian global financial services group. Headquartered and listed in Australia (), Macquarie employs more than 17,000 staff in 33 markets, is the world's largest infrastructure asset manager and Australia's ...

Manly Art Gallery and Museum The Manly Art Gallery and Museum (MAGAM), located in Manly, New South Wales, Australia, was the first metropolitan-based regional gallery in New South Wales and holds an extensive collection of Australian ceramics and 130 works by Antonio Dattil ...

, NSW * Maroondah Regional Gallery, Vic. *

Museum of Brisbane Museum of Brisbane (MoB) explores contemporary and historic Brisbane, Australia, and its people through a program of art and social history exhibitions, workshops, talks, tours and children's activities. Located on Level 3, of Brisbane City Hall ...

, QLD * Mosman Art Gallery, NSW *

, ACT *

Newcastle Region Art Gallery The Newcastle Art Gallery (formerly the Newcastle City Art Gallery, Newcastle Region Art Gallery) is a large, public art museum in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. History Founded in 1945 with an art collection consisting of 123 works ...

, NSW *

Ormond College Ormond College is the largest of the residential colleges of the University of Melbourne located in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is home to around 350 undergraduates, 90 graduates and 35 professorial and academic residents. Hi ...

, Vic. * Outback Arts Inc, QLD *

, Brisbane, QLD *

Queensland College of Art The Queensland College of Art (QCA) is a specialist arts and design college located in South Bank, Brisbane, and Southport on the Gold Coast of Queensland in Australia. Founded in 1881, the college is the oldest arts institution in Australia. A ...

Griffith University Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Formally founded in 1971, Griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asian s ...

, Brisbane, QLD * The Redcliffe City Art Gallery, QLD *

Rockhampton Art Gallery Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

, QLD * Shoalhaven City Arts Centre, NSW * State Gallery of NSW * Tamworth, NSW *

University of Queensland Art Museum A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which rou ...

, Brisbane, QLD * Waiheke Art Gallery, NZ

Solo exhibitions

* 2014 A Still Life, King Street Gallery on William, Sydney * 2013 Elisabeth Cummings selection of works 1982-2013 King Street Gallery on William * 2012 Luminous: Survey Exhibition Landscapes of Elisabeth Cummings urated by Jane Watters SH Ervin, Observatory Hill, Sydney Monotypes: Interiors, King Street Gallery on William * 2011 Elisabeth Cummings, New Paintings, King Street Gallery on William * 2010 Paper Trail: 30 Years, King Street Gallery on William * 2008 New Paintings, King Street Gallery on William * 2007 Monotypes, King Street Gallery on Burton, Sydney * 2006 new paintings, King Street Gallery on Burton, Sydney * 2005 Chapman Gallery,

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

* 2004 Painting, King Street Gallery on Burton, Sydney * 2003 Painting, King Street Gallery at Span Galleries, Melbourne paintings, Pandanus Art, Currumbin Beach, Qld * 2002 New Paintings, King Street Gallery on Burton, Sydney Elisabeth Cummings & Clara Hali,

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

Regional Gallery, NSW * 2001 Paintings and Prints, Chapman Gallery, ACT Collaborative Pots, (Barbara Romalis & Elisabeth Cummings), Chapman Gallery * 2000 recent work, King Street Gallery on Burton Works on Paper, Sturt Gallery,

Mittagong Mittagong () is a town located in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. The town acts as the gateway to the Southern Highlands when coming from Sydney. Mittagong is situated at an elevation of . The town ...

, NSW * 1998 recent work, King Street gallery on Burton * 1997 Survey Show (1965-1995),

, Qld, Chapman Gallery, Canberra * 1996 Survey Show (1965-1995), Campbelltown City Bicentennial Art Gallery, NSW recent paintings, King Street Gallery on Burton Sturt Gallery, Mittagong, NSW * 1994 New Work, King Street Gallery on Burton * 1992 Paintings, King Street Gallery on Burton, Schubert Art Gallery, Queensland * 1991 Budds Beach Gallery, Gold Coast, Queensland * 1990 Victor Mace Fine Art Gallery, Brisbane * 1989 Painters Gallery, Sydney

Awards and art residencies

* 2014 Waiheke Community Art Gallery, New Zealand * 2014 The Nock Art Foundations, Hong Kong * 2011 Awarded OAM in recognition of services to the visual arts in Australia * 2005–present Artist in residence,

COFA The School of Fine Arts or College of Fine Arts is the official name or part of the name of several schools of fine arts, often as an academic part of a larger university. These include: The Americas North America *Alabama School of Fin ...

printmaking department,

UNSW The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

, Sydney * 2000

Fleurier Fleurier was a municipality in the district of Val-de-Travers in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. On 1 January 2009, the former municipalities of Boveresse, Buttes, Couvet, Fleurier, Les Bayards, Môtiers, Noiraigue, Saint-Sulpice and ...

Prize for Landscape, S.A. * 1996

, NSW * 1995 Camden Art Prize, NSW * 1992 Tattersall's Club Art Prize, Qld * 1991 Fishers Ghost Prize, Campbelltown City Bicentennial Art Gallery * 1989 Gold Coast Purchase Prize, Qld * 1988 REIQ Bicentennial Art Award, Qld * 1987 Open Section, Camden Art Prize Faber Castell Drawing Prize * 1984 Mervyn Horton Memorial Prize, Berrima, NSW Camden Purchase Prize, NSW Friends of the Campbelltown Art Gallery Purchase * 1983 Lane Cove Purchase Prize, NSW * 1982 Lane Cove Purchase Prize, NSW * 1981

Macquarie Macquarie may refer to: People * Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of the British colony of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821. * Elizabeth Macquarie Campbell, Lachlan Macquarie's second wife Locations * Division of Macquarie, an electoral district in th ...

Towns Purchase Prize, NSW * 1979 Peter Stuyvesant Prize, Shoalhaven Fishers Ghost Prize, Campbelltown City Hall

Gosford Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast region, about north of Sydney and about south of Newcastle. The city centre is situated at the northern extre ...

Purchase Prize, NSW * 1978

Purchase Prize * 1977 Landscape and Still Life Prizes, RAS, Sydney Lismore Prize, NSW Fishers Ghost Prize, Campbelltown City Hall * 1976 Drummoyne Prize, NSW * 1974 Grafton Prize, NSW * 1972 Human Image Prize, RAS, Sydney Cheltenham Prize, NSW Portia Geach Portrait Prize, Sydney * 1971 Gold Coast Purchase Prize, QLD * 1960 Dyason Bequest * 1958 NSW Travelling Art Scholarship * 1957 Le Gay Brereton Prize for Drawing

Selected exhibition catalogues

* Elisabeth Cummings Journeys, 6 November – 1 December 2018, King Street Gallery, Sydney * Raw Wedderburn, 24 June – 5 August 2018, Delmar Gallery, Sydney * Elisabeth Cummings: New Paintings, 2015, King Street Gallery, Sydney * Country and Western: landscape re-imagined, 24 July – 20 September 2015,

perc Tucker Regional Gallery Perc ''(pronounced purse)'' Tucker Regional Gallery is a heritage-listed public art gallery in the Townsville CBD, City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. Located on the corner of Flinders and Denham streets, the Gallery has a collection of o ...

, Townsville * Your Friend the Enemy, 10 April – 17 May 2015,

Drill Hall Gallery The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and i ...

, Canberra * Elisabeth Cummings: A Still Life, 2014, King Street Gallery, Sydney * Elisabeth Cummings selection of works from 1984-2013 King Street Gallery, Sydney * Monotypes: Interiors, 2012, King Street Gallery, Sydney * Elisabeth Cummings, 2011, King Street Gallery, Sydney * Paper Trail: 30 Years, 2010, King Street Gallery, Sydney * Monotypes, 10 January – 3 February 2007, King Street Gallery, Sydney

References

External links

Elisabeth Cummings
work in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales
Elisabeth Cummings
at King Street Gallery
Elisabeth Cummings Monograph
at The National Trust
Elisabeth Cummings
at QAGOMA Store
Elisabeth Cummings
in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia

with Peter Pinson
Elisabeth Cummings Interview
with Leo Robba {{DEFAULTSORT:Cummings, Elisabeth 1934 births Living people 20th-century Australian women artists 21st-century Australian women artists Australian women painters Artists from Brisbane National Art School alumni Visual artists in late 20th-century Australia

Early life

Education

Work

Early work

Later work

Printmaking

Ceramics

Wedderburn

Collections

Solo exhibitions

Awards and art residencies

Selected exhibition catalogues

References

Further reading

External links