Jane SUTHERLAND

Scottish 1853–1928
emigrated to Australia 1864

Jane Sutherland, considered the pre-eminent female painter of the Heidelberg School, was born in New York to Scottish parents. The Sutherland family settled in Melbourne in 1870, where they contributed significantly to Melbourne’s intellectual, artistic and musical culture. Encouraged by her artist father, Jane attended classes at the National Gallery School from 1871 to 1885, and thus became one of the first professionally trained women artists in Australia. From 1888 she shared a studio at Grosvenor Chambers in Collins Street with her friend Clara Southern; Tom Roberts and Jane Price were later studio-mates in the building, which became a hub of artistic activity. A respected teacher, she promoted the professional standing of women artists and in 1900 was the first woman elected to the council of the Victorian Artists’ Society.

Sutherland was the most active female participant in the outdoor painting camps for which the Heidelberg School is famed. Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton, Frederick McCubbin, Walter Withers, Sutherland and others ventured regularly on sketching trips to the suburban countryside to capture impressions of the landscape. As a woman, propriety forbade Sutherland from staying overnight, and she had to make the trip each day. Sutherland and Southern both produced works for the now-famous The 9 x 5 Impression Exhibition in 1889, but, for reasons unknown, were not included. Sutherland’s works always sold for substantially less than did those of her male colleagues.

In addition to working in oils, Sutherland often drew with pastels, increasingly so as her delicate health deteriorated. The creek, c. 1895, is a lyrical rendition of a misty morning on the river flats around the Yarra River and its tributaries. The soft pastel is skilfully applied to a grey-tinted paper, with touches such as the bursts of green in the grass enlivening the image. Sutherland’s family members were enthusiastic bushwalkers and, when her health permitted, Sutherland took her students on regular sketching trips to the country and beach.

Alisa Bunbury