Together Again: Celebrating the works of Dora Wilson and Pegg Clarke
Together Again brings these two important artists - Dora Wilson and Pegg Clarke - back together in Hawthorn and delves into their fascinating artistic careers. Wilson and Clarke worked out of a shared studio on Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn, during the 1920s and 30s, and travelled together to Europe in the late 1920s - painting and photographing images that they saw.
Wilson was schooled at Methodist Ladies’ College before studying at the National Gallery schools under the watchful eyes of Bernard Hall and Frederick McCubbin. Working primarily in painting and pastels, her subject matter varied from landscape to portraiture and nudes. In 1923, she contributed to the Exhibition of Australian Art in London and the popular magazine of the time, Woman's World, reproduced on its cover her painting 'Reve d'Or'.
Clarke worked primarily in photography and her works were held in high regard. Along with Ruth Hollick, Clarke was stated as being one of Melbourne's leading photographers and shared most of the commissions for the Home and Australian magazines with Hollick.
During Clarke’s and Wilson’s trip abroad, they photographed and painted similar locations, some of which are on display in this exhibition. The contrast between the photographs and paintings is striking and allows the viewers to catch a glimpse of what their time in Europe must have been like.
Town Hall Gallery curator Mardi Nowak described the exhibition, Together Again, as a fantastic opportunity to see the works by both artists in the one exhibition. “Viewers will be extremely lucky to view some of the paired works whereby Wilson has painted a scene and Clarke has captured it as a photograph,” Ms Nowak said. “It is an insight into how they worked and perhaps influenced each other in the studio.”
Works have been sourced from the Town Hall Gallery Collection as well as numerous private and public gallery collections. Town Hall Gallery thanks the generosity of the many private collectors for loaning these works for public viewing. A small publication will be available to purchase during the exhibition.
above text from internaet archive of the July 2009 exhibition
