BARLOW, ELSIE (1876-1948)

“Blue Gums” (c.1920-30)
watercolour 
21 x 28cm 
*exhibited Traditional Australian Landscapes, Mike Street Custom Framing, Hawthorn, 21 May 1990
*private collection, Melbourne
 
Barlow was an influential Australian Female Artist, Printmaker, and founding member of the important Twenty Melbourne Painters Society. She enrolled at the Gallery School of Design in 1894 where she was taught by Frederick McCubbin and Lindsay Bernard Hall. She attended the Gallery School with her sister Dora Serle. In 1912 Barlow held a one woman show at the Mechanics' Institute in Castlemaine, where she displayed 90 paintings. This led to the eventual creation of the Castlemaine Art Gallery. In 1918, she was among one of the foundation members of the Twenty Melbourne Painters Society. The group was a break-away group from the Victorian Artists Society, leaving to follow Australian Tonalist Max Meldrum. In 1919, within the first year of formation, the Twenty Melbourne Painters held their first exhibition, and has held exhibitions annually to this day. The group is limited to 20 members and is by invitation. Barlow's works are represented in several major collections including the State Library of Victoria and the Castlemaine Art Gallery.