Alice Marion Ellen Bale b. 1875 Richmond, Melbourne, Vic.

  • Artist (Painter)
Alice Bale never lived elsewhere but her native Victoria. She became a well-known painter in her time and was a great supporter of women in the arts.
Talk | Version history | Updated Oct. 19, 2011 | Created Jan. 1, 1995
Name
Alice Marion Ellen Bale
Birth date
11 November 1875
Birth place
Richmond, Melbourne, Vic.
Death date
14 February 1955
Death place
Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Vic.
Gender
Female
Roles
  • Artist (Painter)
Residence
  • 11 November 1875- 1875 Richmond, Melbourne, Vic.
  • 1875- 14 February 1955 Melbourne, Vic.
Active Period
  • 1894- 1946
Languages
  • English
Training
  • 1885- 1892 Methodist Ladies College, Vic.
  • c.1895- c.1896 Melbourne National Gallery Schools, Vic.
Is Indigenous
No
Initial Record Data Source
  • Heritage with additions

painter, was born on 11 November 1875 at Richmond, Victoria, the only child of William Mountier Bale and Marion, née Adams. She attended the Methodist Ladies College in 1885-92 where she became interested in the arts. Having decided to become a painter, she took private lessons from May Vale and a few from Hugh Ramsay . She was elected a member of the Victorian Artists’ Society (VAS) in 1894 before being enrolled at the Melbourne National Gallery Schools in 1895. She won nine student prizes during the course of her studies, including a special prize of £3 for a still-life subject in the 1889 [sic] student exhibition ( Illustrated Sydney News , 28 November 1889, 24).

From 1905 Bale was a consistent exhibitor with the Women’s Art Club (renamed the Melbourne Society of Women Painters in 1930) and she also showed work with the Victorian Artists’ Society. She edited the V.A.S. Journal of the Arts from March 1918 until publication ceased in February 1919 and played an important part in the Society’s development. During the stormy years of Max Meldrum 's presidency (1916-18), a group of his supporters formed the Twenty Melbourne Painters group; Bale was their first secretary. Under her leadership it flourished for thirty-six years.

Landscape, portrait and still life subjects were her main interest and she became noted for her flower studies. She never left Victoria; most of her landscapes and interiors were painted at Castlemaine and Kew where she spent much of her life. Membership of the Australian Art Association gave her the opportunity to exhibit regularly with the major artists of the period from all states. In 1923 she shared an exhibition with Bernice Edwell and Jo Sweatman at the Athenaeum Gallery in Melbourne. {She may have also exhibited with just Sweatman in 1922. See Woman’s World 1/7 (1922).} She had a solo exhibition of her paintings at Melbourne’s Fine Art Society’s Gallery from 2 to15 April 1930. She also exhibited with Brisbane’s Half Dozen Group of Artists in 1943-48. Two of her paintings were included in the exhibition of Australian Art in London in 1923 and she exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1933 and at the Paris Salon in 1939. In 1946 she was commissioned to paint a portrait of General Vasy for the Australian War Memorial.

She was a vigorous fighter for her beliefs and wrote numerous letters to newspapers on subjects such as purchases for the National Gallery of Victoria, the demolition of historic buildings, and the axing of trees in Castlemaine. She sent a letter of protest to the Governor-General concerning the formation of the Australian Academy of Art.

Miss Bale died at Royal Melbourne Hospital on 14 February 1955. Her will directed her trustees to see that a Trust Fund was set up for the purpose of establishing an Art Scholarship bearing her name to encourage painting in representational or traditional art. The scholarship, first awarded in 1969, allowed the holder to live in the estate’s property in Walpole Street, Kew. In 1981 the Trust changed the terms of the scholarship, making it primarily a travelling one to enable Australian artists to study the works of Old Masters.

Writers:
Perry, Peter
Date written:
1995
Last updated:
1992
associate of
Max Meldrum
1875
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Hugh Ramsay
1877
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Jo Sweatman
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
child of
William Mountier Bale
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
child of
née Adams Marion Bale
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
Amalie Sara Colquhoun
1894
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Bernice E. Edwell
1880
Artist, Artist (Printmaker), Artist (Painter)
associate of
Eirene Mort
1879
Artist, Artist (Printmaker), Artist (Draughtsman), Artist (Industrial / Product Designer)
associate of
Lillian Pitts
1872
Artist (Photographer), Artist (Painter)
associate of
Jo Sweatman
Artist (Painter)
associate of
May Vale
1862
Artist (Painter), Artist
associate of
Victorian Artists' Society, Melbourne, Vic
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
Twenty Melbourne Painters
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
Australian Art Association
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
Melbourne Society of Women Painters
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
Half Dozen Group of Artists
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
Last of the Season
A.M.E. Bale in Her Studio
The Reader (Self Portrait)
General Vasy
Date
1946
Illustrations in The Pickwick Portfolio
Date
1904- 1912
Self-Portrait
Date
c.1900- c.1910
Collections
Victorian Artists' Society
None
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Melbourne, Vic.
Women's Art Club
None
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Melbourne, Vic.
Half Dozen Group of Artists
1943- 1948
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Brisbane, Qld.
Salon
1939
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Paris, France
Royal Academy
1933
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, England, UK
Fine Art Society's Gallery
April 1930
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Melbourne, Vic.
Exhibition of Australian Art
1923
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, England, UK
1923
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Athenaeum Gallery, Melbourne, Vic.
Recognitions
prize of £3 for a still-life subject
Award
1889 Melbourne National Gallery Schools
Citations:
  • Sinclair, Beth, (1978), A.M.E. Bale, (Place: manuscript biography)
  • (1924), A.M.E. Bale, (Place: Art in Australia, no.7, March)
  • Perry, Peter, (1972), A.M.E. Bale, (Place: Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum catalogue, Castlemaine, Vic.)
  • McCulloch, Alan/ McCulloch, Susan, (1994), The Encyclopedia of Australian Art, (Place: St Leonards, NSW)
  • Hammond, Victoria & Peers, Juliet, (1992), Completing the Picture, (Place: East Hawthorn, Vic.)
  • Burke, Janine, (1980), Australian Women Artists 1840-1940, (Place: Collingwood, Vic.)
  • Ambrus, Caroline, (1984), The Ladies' Picture Show, (Place: Sydney, NSW)