Grace Jane Joel (28 May 1865–6 March 1924) was a New Zealand artist best known for her ability as a portraitist and figure painter.
Early life
editGrace Joel was born in Dunedin, New Zealand on 28 May 1865, the sixth of nine children. Her English-born parents, Maurice Joel and Kate Woolf, were prominent and cultivated members of Dunedin's Jewish community, who worked as importers of wine and spirits.[1] Grace Joel was determined to pursue an art career from an early age.[2] After attending Otago Girls' High School from 1875 to 1882, she became an elected member of the Otago Art Society in 1886. From 1888 to 1889 she studied at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School in Melbourne, returning there in 1891 to continue studies with tutors like Frederick McCubbin and Lindsay Bernard Hall.[3][4]
Career
edit
Joel returned to Dunedin in 1894, ready to establish herself as a professional artist. She became involved in the Otago Art Society and the Easel Club, where she associated with Italian artist G. P. Nerli (among others).[5] She distinguished herself in the local art scene by focusing on figures and portraits, often drawing on a rich palette of colour.
Eager to further establish her artistic reputation, Joel left New Zealand for Europe in 1899. She settled in London but also worked in France and the Netherlands, exhibiting regularly at the Royal Academy of Arts in London and the Société des artistes français in Paris with a measure of success.[1] Although she returned to New Zealand briefly in 1906, Joel spent the remainder of her life living and working in Europe.[3]
Joel died of cancer at Kensington, London on 6 March 1924. She bequeathed £500 to endow a scholarship for students of painting at the National Gallery School in Melbourne, for painting from the nude.[6]
Joel Place, in the Canberra suburb of Conder, is named in her honour.[7]
Works in collections
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Collins, R. D. J. "Grace Jane Joel". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ^ McCahon, Colin (1962). "Six New Zealand Expatriates (exhibition catalogue)" (PDF). The Auckland Art Gallery. p. 14. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
- ^ a b McAloon, William (2009), "Grace Joel" in Art at Te Papa, Te Papa Press, p. 108, ISBN 978-1-877385-38-4
- ^ Kirker, Anne; Young, Eric (June 1975). "New Zealand's Women Painters" (PDF). Auckland Art Gallery. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
- ^ Collins, R.D.J. (1976). "Dunedin in the Eighteen-Nineties". Art New Zealand. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- ^ "The Grace Joel Scholarship". Sydney Morning Herald. 1936. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- ^ "National Memorial Ordinance 1928 DETERAMINATION OF NOMENCLATURE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY NATIONAL MEMORIALS ORDINANCE 1928 DETERMINATION OF NOMENCLATURE". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. No. P25. Australia. 31 August 1988. p. 9. Retrieved 16 December 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ The Olveston Experience: Dunedin's Historic Home, New Zealand, Dunedin, 2004, Wikidata Q114844173
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Further reading
edit- Joel Schiff Grace Joel; An Impressionist Portrait Otago University Press 2014. ISBN 978-1-877578-86-1