Bertha E. Merfield b. 1869 Melbourne, Vic

  • Artist (Painter)
Known for her mural paintings in Victoria, Bertha E. Merfield was a pioneer of landscape painting among female artists in Australia.
Talk | Version history | Updated Oct. 19, 2011 | Created Jan. 1, 1999
Name
Bertha E. Merfield
Birth date
c.1869
Birth place
Melbourne, Vic
Death date
20 September 1921
Death place
Melbourne, Vic
Gender
Female
Roles
  • Artist (Painter)
Residence
  • 1918- 1919 Tasmania
  • Melbourne, Vic
  • Paris, France
  • England, UK
Active Period
  • c.1899- c.1921
Languages
  • English
Training
  • c.1912 Slade School, London, England, UK
  • c.1899 Melbourne's National Gallery School, Melbourne, Vic
  • George Clausen, England, UK
Is Indigenous
No
Initial Record Data Source
  • Legacy data. Source 'unknown'

painter and muralist born in Melbourne. Bertha was the daughter of Thomas Merfield and sister of the astronomer James Merfield.

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Writers:
Staff Writer
Date written:
1999
Last updated:
2011
associate of
E. Phillips Fox
1865
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Tudor St. George Tucker
1862
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Ailsa O'Connor
1921
Artist (Printmaker), Artist (Sculptor), Artist (Painter)
associate of
Mabel Madeleine Hookey
1871
Artist (Painter)
associate of
William Gosling Moore
Artist (Draughtsman)
associate of
Marion Mahony Griffin
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
child of
Thomas Merfield
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
George Clausen
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
sibling of
James Merfield
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
Christopher Vernon
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
Bernice E. Edwell
1880
Artist, Artist (Printmaker), Artist (Painter)
associate of
Sara Levi
1870
Artist, Artist (Painter)
associate of
Victorian Artists' Society
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
Twenty Melbourne Painters
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
Society of Mural Decorators and Painters in Tempera, London, England, UK
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
Arts and Crafts Society of Victoria
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
Harbour lights
oil, 50 x 37 cm, signed, Leonard Joel, April 1988, $550 (auction record)
The barn
oil, 32 x 42 cm, signed, Leonard Joel, April 1989, $400 (auction record)
Landscape
oil, 27 x 46 cm, Leonard Joel, April 1988, $200 (auction record)
The Derwent River
oil, 40 x 28 cm, signed, Leonard Joel, July 1987, $150 (auction record)
Bush Country
oil, 36.5 x 22 cm, Leonard Joel, November 1986, $400 (auction record)
The ranges
oil, 34.5 x 16 cm, Leonard Joel, November 1986, $360 (auction record)
River scene
oil, 40 x 28 cm, Australian Art Auctions, Sydney, March, 1987, $260 (auction record)
Twin gums
oil, 38 x 18.5 cm, Leonard Joel, April 1986, $120 (auction record)
In the bush
oil, 42 x 25 cm, Leonard Joel, November 1981, $320 (auction record)
Sydney Harbour
oil, 23.5 x 38.5 cm, Leonard Joel, November 1980, $275 (auction record)
Mural, Cafe Australia, Collins Street
Evening, Port Jackson
Date
1919
Blue Sea
Date
1919
Eucalyptus
Date
1919
Departing Day
Date
1912
Roses
Date
1906
oil, 24 x 39 cm, signed 1906, Leonard Joel, August 1992, $200 (auction record)
Mentone
Date
1904
1920
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Anthony Hordern's Art Gallery, Sydney, NSW
Victorian Artists' Society
1917
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Melbourne, Vic
Society of Mural Decorators' Exhibition
1912
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Manchester, England, UK
First Australian Women's Work Exhibition
1907
Exhibition ()
Exhibition Building, Carlton Gardens, Melbourne, VIC
Citations:
  • (29 March 1978), Exhibition catalogue, (Place: Duvance Galleries, 03-29)
  • Index to Australian biography, (Place: Arts Library, State Library of Victoria, Melbourne, Vic)
  • MS 7593, (Place: State Library of Victoria, Melbourne, Vic.)
  • Moore, William, (1934), The Story of Australian Art, (Place: 2 Volumes, (facsimile reprint, 1980))
  • Merfield, Bertha, (1912), Impressions of Modern Art, (Place: Melbourne, Vic.: State Library of Victoria Journal, Volume 13, Issue 4-5)
  • McCulloch, Alan, (1984), Encyclopedia of Australian Art, (Place: 2nd edition, Melbourne, Vic.)
  • Gibbney, H.J. and Smith, A.G., (1987), A biographical register 1788-1930, (Place: Volume 2, Canberra, ACT, p.99)
  • Ambrus, Caroline, (1984), The Ladies' Picture Show