Margaret Francis Ellen Baskerville (14 September 1861–6 July 1930), was an Australian sculptor, water-colourist, and educator. She is regarded as Victoria's first professional woman sculptor.

Biography

Baskerville was born on 14 September 1861 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. From 1879-1887 she attended National Gallery School in Melbourne, in both the School of Painting and the School of Design. In 1886 she joined and was an active member of the bohemian Buonarotti Club in its last two years. From 1904-1906 she attended the Royal College of Art Modelling School in London, England. Baskerville returned to Australia in 1906. She assisted her former teacher

Douglas Richardson Douglas Charles Richardson (born April 16, 1951, Sacramento, California) is an American genealogist, historian, lecturer, and author based in Salt Lake City in Utah. He has researched cases involving all periods of American research from colonial ...

in a shared studio. The two married in 1914. Baskerville created a number of monuments in Australian. Her first commission was the major commission for a bronze monument to the 22nd Premier of Victoria, Sir Thomas Bent. She was the first Australian woman sculptor to receive this honour. She also produced the James Cuming memorial, and Melbourne's

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. She exhibited her work regularly, and her last exhibition was in 1929. Baskerville was a member of the

Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors The Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors, established in Melbourne, Victoria in 1902, is the oldest surviving women's art group in Australia. History The Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors (MSWPS) began in 1902 as a ...

. Other memberships include the Yarra Sculptors' Society, the Victorian Sketching Club, the Women's Art Club, the council of the Australian Institute of the Arts and Literature, the

Austral Salon The Austral Salon of Music, Literature and the Fine Arts also known as the Austral Salon is a club that was established for women interested in the fine arts in Melbourne. Establishment The Austral Salon was founded in January 1890 by female journ ...

and the Victorian Artists Society. Baskerville died on 6 July 1930 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 ...

. Baskerville Street in the Canberra suburb of Chisholm is named in her honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baskerville, Margaret Francis Ellen 1861 births 1930 deaths 20th-century Australian sculptors Australian women sculptors Artists from Melbourne 20th-century Australian women artists 19th-century Australian women artists 19th-century Australian sculptors National Gallery of Victoria Art School alumni Alumni of the Royal College of Art People from the Colony of Victoria