Margery Pitt Withers (13 January 1890 – 1966) was an Australian artist.

Biography

Born in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to Fanny Flinn and the Australian landscape artist

Walter Withers Walter Herbert Withers (22 October 1854 – 13 October 1914) was an English-born Australian landscape artist and a member of the Heidelberg School of Australian impressionists. Biography Withers was born at Handsworth, Staffordshire, the so ...

, Margery was brought to Australia aged six months to live at the ''

Charterisville Charterisville is the name given to a property in Ivanhoe, Victoria Australia closely associated with the Heidelberg School of Australian art. David Charteris McArthur, Melbourne's first banker (with the Bank of Australasia), sportsman (player i ...

'' estate in East Ivanhoe, Victoria. Her father worked as an art master at various schools in Melbourne including the Presbyterian Ladies' College,

Ruyton Girls' School , motto_translation = Upright and Faithful , established = 1878 , type = Independent, single-sex, day school , denomination = Non-denominational , key_people = , chairman ...

, the Melbourne Grammar School and Emma Bartlett Cook's Private Girls' School. Margery Withers studied art at the

National Gallery School The National Gallery of Victoria Art School, associated with the National Gallery of Victoria, was a private fine arts college founded in 1867 and was Australia's leading art school of 50 years. It is also referred to as the 'National Gallery ...

and the Working Men's College. At the National Gallery School, Withers won nine prizes and was awarded a special prize of £50 by the National Gallery Trustees for her picture ''The Letter.'' Withers was engaged to fellow student, John (Jack) Martin Paterson, who dedicated a sketch of a kitten to her while a soldier during World War 1. He was killed in action at

Villers-Bretonneux Villers-Bretonneux () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Villers-Bretonneux is situated some 19 km due east of Amiens, on the D1029 road and the A29 motorway. Villers-Bretonneux border ...

in August 1918. In 1927 Withers married Richard Matthew McCann, an artist and a founding member of Twenty Melbourne Painters. Withers painted figures and landscapes in both oil and watercolours, and taught art at Swinburne College for several years, though as a married woman she was asked to resign in 1928 and reapply for a temporary position, without benefits. Her work has been described as "finding charm in every shadow and light under her brush." She painted at

Tawonga Tawonga is a town in northeast Victoria, Australia. The town is on the Kiewa Valley Highway, in the Alpine Shire local government area, northeast of the state capital, Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'' ...

, Diamond Creek, and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, and exhibited with the Victorian Artists Society and the

Twenty Melbourne Painters Society Twenty Melbourne Painters Society is an Australian arts organisation that was established in 1918. The group split from the Victorian Artists Society to follow the Australian Tonalist Max Meldrum. Membership is restricted to 20 and is upon invitat ...

. She also showed with artists such as

Polly Hurry Polly Hurry (2 May, 1883, Kyneton - 5 August 1963, Frankston), was an Australian painter. She was a founding member of the Australian Tonalist movement and part of the Twenty Melbourne Painters Society. Early life Described in a 2009 review ...

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

, and

A.M.E. Bale Alice Marian Ellen Bale, known as A.M.E. Bale, (11 November 1875 14 February 1955) was an Australian artist. Early life and education Bale was born in Richmond, Victoria, on 11 November 1875 ''Victoria, Australia, Cemetery Records and Head ...

. Withers has works in the collections of the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

, the

Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum Castlemaine may mean: * Castlemaine, Victoria, a town in Victoria, Australia ** Castlemaine Football Club, an Australian rules football club ** Castlemaine railway station * Castlemaine, County Kerry, a town in Ireland * Castlemaine Brewery, Western ...

, the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

and the

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 ...

. Her portrait of her husband Richard McCann was shortlisted 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, J. F. Archib ...

in 1939.

Works

*1910, Early Eltham looking towards Montmorency] * ca. 1913–1922, ''Nude study of a young woman'' * ca. 1913–1922, ''A Warrandyte Farm, near Frank Crozier's'' * 1920, ''Kit Turner's Cottage, Eltham'' * 1920, ''Souter's College, Eltham'' * 1920, ''Studley Park'' * ca. 1920–1940, ''Christ Church, South Yarra'' * 1924, ''Bridge and piers'' * 1932, ''Yarra floods and North Balwyn from Ivanhoe-Boulevard'' * 1935, ''Portrait of unidentified young woman'' * 1945, ''Orchard country, North Eltham''

Exhibitions

* Walter and Margery Withers, Collins House, ''1915'' * Paintings by Margery Withers

Walter and Margery Withers (watercolours), Athenaeum Hall, ''1916'' * Solo exhibition, Athenaeum Gallery, ''1919'' * Twenty Melbourne Painters, Athenaeum Hall, ''1921'' * Group exhibition (Margery, Nancy & Meynell Withers), Athenaeum Hall, ''1922'' * Twenty Melbourne Painters, Athenaeum Hall, ''1923'' * Twenty Melbourne Painters, Athenaeum Hall, ''1925'' * Twenty Melbourne Painters 8th annual exhibition, Athenaeum Gallery, 1926 * Twenty Melbourne Painters, Athenaeum Hall, ''1927'' * Twenty Melbourne Painters 10th annual exhibition, Athenaeum Hall, ''1928'' * Solo exhibition, Athenaeum Gallery, ''1929'' * Twenty Melbourne Painters, Athenaeum Gallery, ''1929'' * Exhibition by Mr Ernest Buckmaster, Athenaeum Gallery, ''1930'' * Solo exhibition, Athenaeum Gallery, ''1932'' * Warrandyte Art Exhibition, Penleigh Boyd Studio, ''1932'' * Rookwood Gallery opening, ''1933'' * Heidelberg Art Show, ''1934'' * Twenty Melbourne Painters 16th annual exhibition, Athenaeum Gallery, ''1934'' * Twenty Melbourne Painters, Athenaeum Gallery, ''1935'' * Twenty Melbourne Painters 18th annual exhibition, Athenaeum Gallery, ''1936'' * Heidelberg "Inspiration of Landscape Art" exhibition, Heidelberg Town Hall, ''1937'' * Twenty Melbourne Painters, Athenaeum Gallery, ''1938'' * Heidelberg 3rd art exhibition, Ivanhoe Town Hall, ''1940'' * Launceston Art Society (Twenty Melbourne Painters), Queen Victoria Museum, ''1943'' * Twenty Melbourne Painters 26th annual exhibition, Athenaeum Gallery, ''1944'' * Twenty Melbourne Painters, Athenaeum Gallery, ''1945'' * Twenty Melbourne Painters, Athenaeum Gallery, ''1947'' * Twenty Melbourne Painters, Athenaeum Gallery, ''1948''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Withers, Margery 1890 births 1966 deaths 20th-century Australian women artists 20th-century Australian artists Archibald Prize finalists People from Ivanhoe, Victoria Artists from Melbourne English emigrants to colonial Australia National Gallery of Victoria Art School alumni

Biography

Works

Exhibitions

Further reading

References