Estelle Mary (Jo) Sweatman (1872-1956), was an

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 A ...

painter. She was a founding member of the Twenty Melbourne Painters Society.

Early life and training

Sweatman was born in South Yarra 1872. She took drawing classes at a suburban ladies' college, and was recommended by her teacher to join the National Gallery School, where she studied for two years under

Frederick McCubbin Frederick McCubbin (25 February 1855 – 20 December 1917) was an Australian artist, art teacher and prominent member of the Heidelberg School art movement, also known as Australian impressionism. Born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria, McCubb ...

. She also studied painting while at the school with Bernard Hall.

Career

Sweatman taught at Melbourne Girls Grammar, where Clarice Beckett was one of her pupils. She was initially involved with the Victorian Artists' Society but her support for

Max Meldrum Duncan Max Meldrum (3 December 1875 – 6 June 1955) was a Scottish-born Australian artist and art teacher, best known as the founder of Australian tonalism, a representational painting style that became popular in Melbourne during the interwa ...

eventually led to her being ousted along with friend A.M.E. Bale. She started her career painting portraits but her love of nature and a move to

Warrandyte Warrandyte is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 24 km north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Manningham local government area. Warrandyte recorded a population of 5,541 at the . Warrandyt ...

prompted a concentration on landscape, as reported of her 1929 exhibition at the

Melbourne Athenaeum The Athenaeum or Melbourne Athenaeum is an art and cultural hub in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1839, it is the city's oldest cultural institution. Its building on Collins Street in the East End ...

in ''

The Cairns Post ''The Cairns Post'' is a major News Corporation newspaper in Far North Queensland, Australia, that exclusively serves the Cairns area. It has daily coverage on local, state, national and world news, plus a wide range of sections and liftouts co ...

'';

Miss Jo Sweatman, the Melbourne artist, is one who delights to paint the beauties of nature as she finds them on a bush track. There is no gainsaying that some of these bits of sunlight and shade round the gum trees make very attractive landscapes. In Miss Sweatman's recent exhibition at the Athenaeum there were on view "White Gums" and views of more distant tree topped ranges. Warrandyte, a little township on thc Yarra, has for some time been the happy hunting ground of artists, for it has many a beauty spot, and here Miss Sweatman has gone for some of her best bush scenes. Figures and flowers were included in the exhibition but probably most people would covet most one of the bush scenes which are so truly Australian.

Building her house 'The Kipsy' next door to fellow artist

Clara Southern Clara Southern (3 October 1860 – 15 December 1940) was an Australian artist associated with the Heidelberg School, also known as Australian Impressionism. She was active between the years 1883 and her death in 1940. Physically, Southern was t ...

, they both took an active role in developing the artistic community in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. She helped establish annual art exhibitions with the Warrandyte Women's Auxiliary Association, serving on a committee of resident artists as secretary. Sweatman was a founding member of the group, '' Twenty Melbourne Painters Society'', that was formed by students and followers of Australian Tonalist

. Sweatman was considered to be one of Australia's most famous painters of wattle. In 1922 Sweatman was a finalist for the

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor ...

for her ''Portrait Miss A.M.E. Bale''. The same year A.M.E. Bale was a finalist with her portrait of ''Miss Jo Sweatman''. Sweatman died in 1956.

Exhibitions

* ''

South Australian Society of Arts The South Australian Society of Arts was a society for artists in South Australia, later with a royal warrant renamed The Royal South Australian Society of Arts in 1935. History A meeting of persons interested in the formation of a society for the ...

9th annual exhibition,'' November 1906 * ''

Victorian Artists' Society The Victorian Artists Society, which can trace its establishment to 1856 in Melbourne, promotes artistic education, art classes and gallery hire exhibition in Australia. It was formed in March 1888 when the Victorian Academy of Arts (previously V ...

18th annual exhibition,'' East Melbourne Galleries, October 1913 * ''Group exhibition,'' Athenaeum Gallery, July 1919 * '' Australian Art Association annual exhibition,'' Athenaeum Gallery, 1–15 October 1920 * ''Group exhibition (Jo Sweatman, A.M.E. Bale, Bernice Edwell)'', Athenaeum Gallery, November 1923 * '' Twenty Melbourne Painters Society,'' Queen's Hall, November 1924 * '' Twenty Melbourne Painters Society,'' Athenaeum Gallery, 15–29 September 1925 * ''Solo exhibition,'' Decoration Gallery, May 192
(catalogue)
* '' Twenty Melbourne Painters Society 8th annual exhibition,'' Athenaeum Gallery, 14–25 September 1926 * ''Jo Sweatman & A.M.E. Bale,'' Athenaeum Gallery, 28 March - 9 April 1927 * '' Twenty Melbourne Painters Society 10th annual exhibition,'' Athenaeum Gallery, September 1928 * '' Twenty Melbourne Painters Society 11th annual exhibition,'' 24 September - 5 October 1929 * ''Solo exhibition,'' Athenaeum Gallery, April 1929 * ''Australian landscapes,'' Athenaeum Gallery, 9–20 May 1933 * ''Solo exhibition,'' Athenaeum Gallery, 30 April - 11 May 193
(catalogue)
* ''Solo exhibition,'' Athenaeum Gallery, May 193
(catalogue)
* ''Solo exhibition,'' Athenaeum Gallery, 18–29 May 1943 * ''Solo exhibition,'' Athenaeum Gallery, 22 May - 2 June 1945 * '' Twenty Melbourne Painters Society,'' Athenaeum Gallery, 3–14 September 1946 * ''Solo exhibition,'' Athenaeum Gallery, May 1947

References

Collections

* Hamilton Gallery, *

Castlemaine Art Museum Castlemaine Art Museum is an Australian art gallery and museum in Castlemaine, Victoria in the Shire of Mount Alexander. It was founded in 1913. It is housed in a 1931 Art Deco neo-classical building constructed for the purpose, heritage-listed ...

, *

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...

External links

Resources for Jo Sweatman
on Trove, National Library of Australia
Images of Jo Sweatman's paintings
on MutualArt
Jo Sweatman
Australian art and artists file, '' State Library Victoria''
Jo Sweatman
anuscriptbiography by Margaret Stephensen, '' State Library Victoria'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweatman, Jo 1872 births 1956 deaths 20th-century Australian women artists 20th-century Australian artists 19th-century Australian women artists Archibald Prize finalists People from South Yarra, Victoria Painters from Melbourne National Gallery of Victoria Art School alumni