Helen Stewart (27 March 1900 – 31 March 1983) was a New Zealand artist. Her work is held by collections in Australia and New Zealand, including at the Victoria University of Wellington, Dowse Art Museum, and the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

Education

Stewart began studying under Linley Richardson at the Technical School in Wellington in 1921. In 1927 she had her first show and soon after left for London, where she entered the School of Art. The next year she lived in Paris and attended the

Académie Colarossi The Académie Colarossi (1870–1930) was an art school in Paris founded in 1870 by the Italian model and sculptor Filippo Colarossi. It was originally located on the Île de la Cité, and it moved in 1879 to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the ...

and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, though she said in 1982 they were both were studios where you "joined by the week". She moved to Sydney in 1930 to join her family who had moved from Wellington to live there, entering the Sydney Art School (also known as the Julian Ashton Art School). She said that she felt her real training started with

Thea Proctor Thea may refer to: * Thea (name), a given name * Ancient Greek term for goddess, including an alternative spelling of Theia * ''Thea'', the former name of the tea plant genus, now included in ''Camellia'' * Thea, a village in the municipal unit Mes ...

becoming an associate and also a teacher with her. In 1931 she entered the Grosvenor School under Ian McNab. He was a modernist and she felt that she didn't gain much from this period of study. She returned to Paris in 1932 and had a full year studying with Yadav Vytllayl and André Lhote's atelier.

Career

Stewart was a modernist painter, influenced by European and British

post-impressionist Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction ag ...

art, specifically Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso,

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

, and the Camden Town artists. While at studying with

André Lhote André Lhote (5 July 1885 – 24 January 1962) was a French Cubist painter of figure subjects, portraits, landscapes and still life. He was also active and influential as a teacher and writer on art. Early life and education Lhote was born ...

she developed an appreciation for the theory of the Golden Section, the balancing of spatial and colour relationships. Stewart was a contemporary of

Dorothy Kate Richmond Dorothy Kate Richmond (12 September 1861 – 16 April 1935), known as Dolla Richmond, was a New Zealand painter noted for her watercolour paintings of natural plants and animals and panoramic landscapes. Biography The daughter of James Crowe ...

, Frances Hodgkins, and Gwen Knight. After returning to Australia in 1934, she became a member of the avant-garde Contemporary Art Society in 1935. In 1938 "150 Years of Australian Art" anniversary catalogue reproduced her painting Freesias. In Australia she exhibited alongside Margaret Preston and

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. ...

. Although she was initially rejected by the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts she did later exhibit with them. She also exhibited with the Christchurch based art association, '

The Group The Group may refer to: Film and television * ''The Group'' (Australian TV series), 1971 situation comedy produced by Cash Harmon Television for ATN7 * ''The Group'' (Canadian TV series), 1968–70 music variety on CBC Television * ''The Group ...

', in 1948. In 1949 she was one of the 'Group of Nine Artists' that exhibited at Helen Hitchings' Gallery in Wellington. Stewart returned to New Zealand in 1946 and settled in Lowry Bay, Wellington. She was a founding member of the 'Thursday Group' art collective and continued to paint until her death in 1983. In 1981 she was first equal winner of the Williams Art Awards. Notable works include: ''Portrait of a woman in red''; ''Interior''; ''Triangle and circle''; and ''Portrait of a young man''. Stewart was included in Anne Kirker's ''New Zealand Women Artists: a Survey of 150 Years''.

Education

Career

References

Further reading