COEN, MARGARET (1909-1983)

"Still Life" (c.1975)
watercolour
cm
signed lower left
*private collection, Sydney
 
Coen was an important Australian Painter. She attended Dattilo-Rubbo's city day class for women. After about a year she began studying at the Royal Art Society's night classes. In 1930 she met artist Norman Lindsay who became her mentor and introduced her to water colours. Coen worked as a commercial artist while continuing to attend art classes in the evenings. Her involvement with Circular Quay's artistic community led to her meeting the artist Edmund Arthur Harvey and he painted her portrait in 1932. Coen began working with watercolour and in 1934 she exhibited her work with the Australian Watercolor Institute. In 1938 she had her first one-person exhibition at the Rubery Bennett Art Gallery. She continued painting and exhibiting until a year or so before her death. Paintings by Coen are held in public collections at the National Gallery of Australia and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, S.H. Ervin Gallery Collection and a hand painted silk map is in the State Library of New South Wales collection. The largest archive of her work, including paintings originally purchased by Howard Hinton for the Armidale Teachers College, is in the New England Regional Art Museum in Armidale.