KINGSTON, AMIE (1912-1996)

“Crossing The Lake, Narrabeen” (c.1940)
Oil on board
12.5 x 19.5cm
Signed lower
*Scheding Berry Fine Art Gallery
*private collection, Sydney
 
Kingston was a respected Australian Modernist. She studied at the Hobart Technical College with Lucien Dechaineux and Mildred Lovett, then taught there. In 1937 she went to London to study stage design at the Slade School under Vladimir Polunin, and life drawing and painting at the Westminster School under Bernard Meninsky. She also studied fabric design and printing at the Central School of Art. In 1940, Kingston returned to Sydney where she worked as a display artist for Farmers department store while she exhibited with the Contemporary Art Society and Society of Artists. She went on to work extensively in theatre design not only preparing the designs, but often painting the scenery as well. Her most significant projects were those done for the Kirsova Ballet and the Sydney Conservatorium Opera School. In the late 1940s she taught at the Double Bay Design School. This impressive painting was completed shortly after Kingston moved to Elanora Heights, on Sydney's Northern Beaches.