May Vale

May Vale (1862–1945), was an Australian painter. She was reportedly the first women to be elected a member of the Buonarotti Society.[1]

May Vale
Born(1862-11-18)18 November 1862
Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Died6 August 1945(1945-08-06) (aged 82)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
NationalityAustralian
EducationRoyal College of Art, National Gallery Art School
Known forPainting, Enamelling
MovementAustralian Impressionism
Spouse(s)
Alexander Gilfillan
(
m. 1908⁠–⁠1940)
[1]

Biography

Vale was born in Ballarat on 18 November 1862.[2] Her family moved to Melbourne 1872. Her family then moved to London, England in 1874.[3]

Vale attended the Royal College of Art in London, Then in 1879, after returning to Melbourne she attended the National Gallery Art Schools,[3] studying under Oswald Rose Campbell,[1] George Folingsby and Frederick McCubbin.[3][4] Her colleagues at the school included Jane Sutherland and Clara Southern.[1]

In 1893 she also opened a studio at 119 Swanston Street where she gave art lessons and worked as a commissioned portrait painter.[3][1] In 1895 she set up an art school at Flinders Buildings, where she taught plein air painting. One of her students was Alice Marian Ellen Bale.[1]

She was said to be the first woman to join the Buonarotti society,[1] but there are other claimants including Alice Brotherton in 1883.[5]

In 1906 Vale returned to London where she studied enamelling at the Chelsea Polytechnic Institute.[3]

Vale exhibited her painting and her enamels throughout her life at venues including the Victorian Artists Society, the Women's Art Club, and the Athenaeum.[3]

She had a one-woman show in 1927 at Queens Hall.[1]

She was a member of the Buonarotti Club, the Victorian Artists Society, and the Yarra Sculptors' Society.[1]

Vale died on 6 August 1945 in Melbourne.[3]

Legacy

Vale's works are in the collections of the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of New South Wales.[3]

  • Faith learning her lesson, 1898
  • David Syme
  • The Orchard (Spring at Mayfield), c. 1904
  • Girl Reading
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References
  1. "May Vale Biography". In the Artist's Footsteps. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  2. "May Vale". National Gallery of Victoria. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  3. McGrath, Joyce. "Vale, May (1862–1945)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  4. "WOMEN ARTISTS OF VICTORIA: MISS MAY VALE". Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946). 18 May 1895. p. 23. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  5. Mead, Stephen F. "The Search for Artistic Professionalism in Melbourne: the activities of the Buonarotti Club, 1883 -1887 - No 88 December 2011". latrobejournal.slv.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
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