Eveline Syme (26 October 1888 – 6 June 1961) was an Australian artist associated with the

Grosvenor School of Modern Art The Grosvenor School of Modern Art was a private British 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 ...

, and an advocate for women's post-secondary education.

Early life

Eveline Winifred Syme was born in

Thames Ditton Thames Ditton is a suburban village on the River Thames, in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Apart from a large inhabited island in the river, it lies on the southern bank, centred 12.2 miles (19.6 km) southwest of Charing Cross ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England, daughter of Joseph Cowen Syme and Laura Blair Syme. She was raised in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, where she was an early student of

Melbourne Girls Grammar , motto_translation = Without the Lord, All is in Vain , established = 1893 , type = Independent, single sex, day & boarding, Christian school. , years = ELC–12 , gender ...

. Her father was a newspaper publisher in that city, as were her grandfather Ebenezer Syme (proprietor of

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

), and William Spowers, the father of her friend and colleague,

Ethel Spowers Ethel Louise Spowers (11 July 1890 – 5 May 1947) was an Australian artist associated with the Grosvenor School of Modern Art in London. She was especially known for her linocuts, which are included in the collections of major Australian and ...

. Eveline Syme returned to England to study classics at

Newnham College Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicent ...

, Cambridge, but women were not granted degrees from Cambridge in her time, so she went back to Melbourne to earn an education degree.

Career

Syme studied art in Paris and Melbourne, often in the company of Spowers. She had her first solo show in Melbourne in 1925, and another in 1928, showing works in various media, many of them watercolor landscape studies, though she also painted in oils and drew in pencil. She and Spowers enrolled at the Grosvenor School of Modern Art in 1929, to learn more about linocuts. By the following year Syme was back in Melbourne, exhibiting and speaking about modern printmaking. Along with Spowers she was associated with

George Bell George Bell may refer to: Law and politics * George Joseph Bell (1770–1843), Scottish jurist and legal author * George Alexander Bell (1856–1927), Canadian pioneer and Saskatchewan politician * George Bell (Canadian politician) (1869–1940) ...

's "Contemporary Art Group." Late in life, she was on the executive committee of the National Gallery Society of Victoria. Syme was also involved in efforts during the 1930s to build a women's college at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

, and served as president of the University Women's College council in the 1940s. Syme died in 1961, age 72. She was buried at

Brighton Cemetery Brighton General Cemetery is located in the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield South, Victoria, but takes its name from Brighton, Victoria. History The Cemetery pre-dates the Caulfield Roads Board - the first official recognition of the suburb of Ca ...

."Eveline Winifred Syme," Brighton Cemetery Historic Interments, http://brightoncemetery.com/HistoricInterments/150Names/symee.htm She left much of her estate to the University Women's College.

References

External links

Eveline Winifred Syme
ustralian art and artists file ''

State Library Victoria State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in the ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Syme, Eveline Winifred 1888 births 1961 deaths Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Artists from Melbourne Australian printmakers Australian women artists People from Thames Ditton Alumni of the Grosvenor School of Modern Art Women printmakers People educated at Melbourne Girls Grammar 19th-century Australian women 20th-century Australian women English emigrants to Australia Australian people of Scottish descent