Elizabeth Dickson Gibson (16 May 1868 – 13 July 1961) was an Australian artist.

Early life

Gibson was born on 16 May 1868 in

Ipswich, Queensland Ipswich () is an urban centre within the City of Ipswich in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated on the Bremer River (Queensland), Bremer River, it is approximately 40 km (25 mi) west of the Brisbane central business district. Ipswich is ...

, the daughter of bank manager James Gibson and Anne Bush Blair (née Copeland). The family moved to Manley,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

when her father retired. She was taught art by prominent local artist Godfrey Rivers at the

Brisbane Technical College Brisbane Central Technical College is a heritage-listed technical college at 2 George Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1911 to 1956. It became the Queensland Institute of Technology (QIT) in ...

from 1899 to 1905. Inspired to study art abroad, her family financed a three-year study trip to Paris. Gibson left Australia in September 1905 and had established herself in Montparnasse, Paris by May 1906 where she lived until 1939.

Career

Gibson was not a part of the

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

art scene of early twentieth century Paris. Instead, she worked within the conservative world of the Royal Academy and Salon exhibitions.

Later life

Gibson left Paris in 1939 with the outbreak of World War II and spent the war years in England engaged in Red Cross work. When peace was declared she returned to Paris. Returning to Australia in 1947, Gibson's work was almost unknown in Australia, despite recognition of the work of contemporary female expatriates. This is probably because of her shyness and her Queensland background.She was, however, recognised by the

Royal Queensland Art Society The Royal Queensland Art Society is an organisation in Queensland, Australia, for practising artists and those who appreciate art. It is the oldest art society in Queensland. History A meeting was held in the Brisbane School of Arts on Thursday ...

who made her a Life Member in 1947. Bradbury, Keith & Cooke Glenn R. “''Thorns & Petals, 100 years of the Royal Queensland Art Society''” (1988) p. 204 Her work is now in several State galleries, the National Gallery of Australia and in private collections. She died in a Brisbane convalescent home on 13 July 1961 and was cremated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Bessie 1868 births 1961 deaths Australian women artists People from Ipswich, Queensland Artists from Brisbane 19th-century Australian women artists 20th-century Australian women Colony of Queensland people