COSSINGTON SMITH, GRACE (1892-1984)

**PRICE ON APPLICATION**
 
"Madge" (c.1920)
pencil
36 x 26cm
signed lower right
*exhibited at Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
*private collection, Sydney
 
Cossington Smith is one of Australia’s most celebrated 20th century painters. An important early exponent of modernism in Australia, her work formed part of the first significant wave of Australian responses to European post-impressionism. A brilliant colourist, she drew her subject matter from the familiar surroundings of her home and her experience of Sydney city life, which she transformed into vibrant images of light-infused colour. In the 1920s Cossington Smith painted a dynamic series of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in construction, including the masterpiece The curve of the bridge, 1928-29. She developed a highly individual technique, utilising rhythmic broken brushwork in unmixed, high-keyed colour. In 1926 Cossington Smith had joined Thea Proctor, Ralph Balson, Grace Crowley, Roland Wakelin and other modernist artists in the Contemporary Group, with whom she exhibited for many years. A first solo exhibition at Grosvenor Galleries in Sydney in 1928 confirmed her reputation as a skilful and poetic colourist, and she continued to exhibit at the Macquarie Galleries from 1932 until 1971. In 1973 she was awarded an Order of the British Empire and had a major retrospective exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW.
 
This beautiful original of Grace's beloved sister, Margaret ('Madge') was exhibited at Macquarie Galleries. Madge regularly appears in Grace's family photos, usually with animals or nursing babies. A composite version of this piece is in the Art Gallery Of NSW permanent collection!!