Florence Turner Blake

Florence Turner Blake (1873–1959) was an Australian artist and benefactor. She was also known professionally as Florence Turner Mofflin, Florence Turner Greaves and Florence Mofflin.

Florence Turner Blake
Miss Florence Greaves painted by Tom Roberts, 1898
Born
Florence Turner Blake Greaves

(1873-10-26)26 October 1873
Armidale, New South Wales, Australia
Died8 April 1959(1959-04-08) (aged 85)
Ryde, New South Wales, Australia
NationalityAustralian
EducationSydney Art School
Spouse(s)William Edward Kugelmann Mofflin (1902–1915)

Early life

The youngest of six children she was born as Florence Turner Blake Greaves on 26 October 1873 at Armidale, New South Wales to parents William Albert Braylesford Greaves and Annie Greaves, née Mackenzie.[1] When she was about seven the family moved to Braylesford, in Bondi Road, Bondi.[1]

Career

Florence Greaves was one of Julian Ashton's first students at his Sydney Art School[2] It is likely that she met Tom Roberts through Ashton. There are two portraits of Florence by Tom Roberts, Portrait of Florence (circa 1898)[3] and a pastel, Miss Florence Greaves, drawn in 1898.[2]

In April 1902, Florence married William Edward Kugelmann Mofflin at St Luke's Anglican Church, Concord, Sydney.[1] Although some of her works bear her married name, she divorced her husband in 1915.[1]

Following her father's death in 1925[4] she traveled to London where she studied at the Slade School, London between 1925 and 1929[2] under Henry Tonks and became friendly with Lucien Pissarro, who gave her a painting.[5]

In 1928 she dropped the name of her former husband by deed-poll and was known by the name Florence Turner Blake, in reference to her great-grandparents on her father's side, Thomas Turner and Barbara Blake.

She is best known for water-colour paintings on silk fans, especially Frivolers (1916)[6] and Garden of Dreams (1920), in the collection of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales, and The Silver Moon, in the National Gallery of South Australia.[1]

Benefactor

Florence Blake died at Ryde, New South Wales on 8 April 1959 and was cremated. She left almost the whole of her estate, valued for probate at 54,214 pounds, to the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the largest bequest it had received up until that time.[1][5][7]

Greaves Place in the Canberra suburb of Conder is named in her honour.[8] Also, Mofflin Street, Chisholm in the Australian Capital Territory is named after her.[9]

Further reading
  • McCulloch, Alan McCulloch, Susan McCulloch, Emily McCulloch-Childs. The New McCulloch's Encyclopedia of Australian Art. 4th Edition, Aus Art Melbourne & The Miegunyah Press, 2006. Page 261.
  • Campbell, Jean. Australian Watercolour Painters: 1780 to the Present Day. Craftsman House, Sydney, 1989. Page 288.
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References
  1. Waterhouse, Jill (1993). 'Blake, Florence Turner (1873–1959)', Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  2. Art Gallery of New South Wales; Kolenberg, Hendrik; Ryan, Anne Denham; James, Patricia (Patricia Mary); Kolenberg, Hendrik; Ryan, Anne Denham; James, Patricia Mary (2005), 19th century Australian watercolours, drawings & pastels : from the Gallery's collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, ISBN 978-0-7347-6371-6
  3. "Art Gallery of New South Wales: Portrait of Florence". Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  4. "DEATH OF CAPTAIN GREAVES". The Sydney Morning Herald (27, 154). New South Wales, Australia. 15 January 1925. p. 10. Retrieved 9 March 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Florence Turner Blake b. 26 October 1873". Design & Art Australia Online. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  6. "SOCIETY OF ARTISTS". The Sydney Morning Herald (24, 613). New South Wales, Australia. 24 November 1916. p. 3. Retrieved 10 March 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "RE will of FLORENCE TURNER BLAKE, late of 41". Government Gazette Of The State Of New South Wales (103). New South Wales, Australia. 11 September 1959. p. 2815. Retrieved 9 March 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "National Memorial Ordinance 1928 Determination of Nomenclature Australian Capital Territory National Memorials Ordinance 1928 Determination of Nomenclature". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. Periodic (National : 1977 - 2011). 31 August 1988. p. 1. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  9. "Schedule 'B' National Memorials Ordinance 1928–1972 Street Nomenclature List of Additional Names with Reference to Origin: Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. Special (National: 1977–2012) – 8 Feb 1978". Trove. p. 13. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
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