Ella Fry (née Robinson) (1916–1997) was an artist, musician, and chairperson of the Western Australian Art Gallery, in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

from 1976 to 1986. She was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

in 1916 and educated at

Brisbane Girls Grammar School Brisbane Girls Grammar School is an independent non-denominational secondary day school for girls, located in Spring Hill, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1875, the school is one of eight grammar schools in Quee ...

. She worked as an apprentice with a commercial art firm in 1934.

Sydney

She studied art at

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 ...

from 1936 to 1939, and music at

Sydney Conservatorium of Music The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music and known by the moniker "The Con") is a heritage-listed music school in Macquarie Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the old ...

in 1936-1940. In 1940, she returned to Brisbane, where she worked as an artist and a pianist (recitals with the ABC and concert performances). From 1943 she taught music and art at the Tamworth Church of England Girls' School.

Perth

In 1945, she married Melville Leonard Fry. Two years later they moved to

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

where her dual career continued. In the early 1950s, she and her husband lived in Dalkeith, but they moved to

Boya Boya may refer to: *Boya, Western Australia *Boya, Nepal *Boya people, an ethnic group in Sudan *Boyar caste, Boyar caste of India *Mireia Boya Busquet (born 1979), Spanish scientist and politician *Pierre Boya (born 1984), Cameroonian footballer * ...

in the hills east of Perth in later years. In August 1951 her work was featured in an exhibition at the Claude Hotchin Galleries in Perth, and she had a one-woman exhibition at the Skinner Galleries, Perth, in 1960. She was first appointed to the Board of the

Art Gallery of Western Australia The Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) is a public art gallery that is part of the Perth Cultural Centre, in Perth. It is located near the Western Australian Museum and State Library of Western Australia and is supported and managed by the ...

in 1956 Then she became vice-chairperson in 1970, then chairperson in 1976. In 1982 she was appointed a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. In 1984, her book ''Gallery Images'' was published In 1994, Gomboc Gallery of 50 James Rd,

Middle Swan, Western Australia Middle Swan is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, and forms part of the City of Swan local government area. The suburb is bordered to the west by the Swan River. The suburb is most notable for its various wineries, including Nikola Estate tha ...

had an exhibition of her work Her art work is represented in 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 ...

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 Galler ...

, the

Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery The Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery is an on-campus art gallery at the University of Western Australia in Crawley. History The gallery was established in July 1990. Description It is supported by a "friends of" organisation. It contains collect ...

of UWA,Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art
Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery as well as numerous university, regional and private collections. She died in 1997.

Awards

In 1982, she was awarded a

for services to the arts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fry, Ella 1916 births 1997 deaths 20th-century Australian women artists 20th-century Australian artists Artists from Queensland Sydney Conservatorium of Music alumni People educated at Brisbane Girls Grammar School