PALMER, ETHLEEN (1906-1958)

“Banksia” (1949)
Serigraph, ed. Of 30
32.5 x 26.5cm
Signed lower right
*private collection, Sydney
 
Palmer was an influential, pioneering Australian Modernist Printmaker. She studied at East Sydney technical College under artists Rayner Hoff and Phyllis Shillito. Palmer also studied architectural drawing at the Sydney Technical College. Following a disappointing foray into commercial art, a long period of illness followed & Palmer was forced to suspend her art-making for almost a decade. Commercial illustration at had left a bad taste in Palmer's mouth and she shifted her focus to modernist relief prints. Palmer became intrigued with the work of Norbertine von Bresslern-Roth after an exhibition of her works at the Grosvenor Galleries, Sydney in 1926-28 . At the same time, Claude Flight's influence was being felt through the art world, the style of which was readily adopted by other Australian artists including Ethel Spowers. In 1933, Palmer returned with full force to exhibit her first linocuts at the Society of Arts and Crafts. Ethleen Palmer gained a reputation as a skilled and talented printmaker. She gained critical acclaim after developing a complex printing technique that allowed for tonal graduation and colour overlay. The result were linocuts that took a great deal of time and care to complete. This earnt her the title, "the Australian Hokusai", referencing Palmer's love of Japanese art. Towards the end of her life, Palmer produced a series of serigraph works, one of the first to use this medium to create artworks. Still exhibiting with the Society of Arts and Crafts, Palmer continued to sell cards and fabrics after the Double Bay Studio closed in 1951. Illness had plagued Palmer for most her life and she died in April 1958.