Anne Dangar (1 December 1885 – 4 September 1951) was an Australian painter and potter.

Life and training

Dangar was born in Kempsey, a town on the mid-north coast of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, daughter of Otho Dangar, who was a member of the Legislative Assembly and Elizabeth Dangar. From 1906 Dangar studied art in Sydney with Horace Moore-Jones and then at the

Julian Ashton Art School The Julian Ashton Art School was established by Julian Ashton in 1890 as the "Academy Julian", (perhaps a reference to the Académie Julian in Paris) has been an influential art school in Australia. For a long time it was known as the Sydney Art ...

in Sydney. Dangar began teaching there in 1920, while also working at the book publishing company

Angus & Robertson Angus & Robertson (A&R) is a major Australian bookseller, publisher and printer. As book publishers, A&R has contributed substantially to the promotion and development of Australian literature.Alison, Jennifer (2001). "Publishers and editors: A ...

. In 1926, Dangar travelled to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

with her lifelong friend and correspondent

Grace Crowley Grace Adela Williams Crowley (pronounced as in "slowly"; 28 May 1890 – 21 April 1979) was an Australian artist and modernist painter. Early life and education Grace Crowley was born in May 1890 in Barraba, New South Wales. She was the fou ...

and attended

André Lhote André Lhote (5 July 1885 – 24 January 1962) was a French Cubist painter of figure subjects, portraits, landscapes, and still life. He was also active and influential as a teacher and writer on art. Early life and education Lhote was bor ...

's Academy in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and his summer school at Mirmande. Dangar returned to Sydney in 1929, but found resistance in Sydney to the

cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

-influenced style she had developed in France.Harding, Lesley, and Sue Cramer, eds. Cubism and Australian Art. No. 124. The Miegunyah Press, 2009.Adams, Bruce. Rustic Cubism: Anne Dangar and the Art Colony at Moly-Sabata. University of Chicago Press, 2004. Like her friends

Dorrit Black Dorothea Foster Black (23 December 1891 – 13 September 1951) was an Australian painter and printmaker of the modernism, Modernist school, known for being a pioneer of Modernism in Australia. In 1951, at the age of fifty-nine, Black was killed ...

and

, Dangar was strongly influenced by the

Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

and

Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

art movements she was exposed to in Paris. Dangar travelled back to France in 1930 and joined , an artists' commune established by

Albert Gleizes Albert Gleizes (; 8 December 1881 – 23 June 1953) was a French artist, theoretician, philosopher, a self-proclaimed founder of Cubism and an influence on the School of Paris. Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger wrote the first major treatise on ...

. Dangar was heavily influenced by Gleizes teachings. She also pursued an apprenticeship with local potters in the nearby towns of Saint-Desirat and Annonay. She held an exhibition in 1932 at the Musée d'Annonay, in

Annonay Annonay (; ) is a Communes of France, commune and largest city in the north of the Ardèche department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It is the most populous commune in the Ardèche department although it is not the ...

. She contributed to the development and understanding of modernism, particularly cubism, in Australia through her 21 year correspondence with

and other Australian artists. Crowley kept the letters and gave them to the

Mitchell Library The Mitchell Library is a large public library located in the Charing Cross area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the largest public reference library in Europe, and the centre of Glasgow's public library system. History The library was initiall ...

and they were subsequently collated and edited by Helen Topliss. Her letters to

reveal much about the difficulties with which Dangar supported herself and her art at this time. Dangar travelled to

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

in 1939 and spent six months in Fez working with and for, and learning from, local potters. However, political instability and the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

caused her to cut the trip short and she was back in

in 1940. Dangar lived in Sablons throughout the war and decided to remain there after the war. Anne Dangar died of complications from a stroke at Moly-Sabata on 4 September 1951. She was buried at

Serrières, Ardèche Serrières (; ) is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ardèche department *List of medieval bridges in France A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and ...

, across the river from Moly-Sabata.

Works

Dangar was commissioned in 1934 to create ''La Vierge et l'enfant Jesu'' irgin and infant Jesusfirst acquired by

Cesar Geoffray Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt Places * Cesar, Portugal * Cesar Department, Colombia * Cesar River, in Colombia * Cesar R ...

and more recently by the

Queensland Gallery of Modern Art The Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) is an art museum located within the Queensland Cultural Centre in the South Bank precinct of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The gallery is part of QAGOMA. Opened on 2 December 2006, the GOMA is Australia's l ...

The work has been identified as a good example of rustic cubism. Her work is represented in the collections of the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

Powerhouse Museum The Powerhouse Museum, formerly known as the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS), is a collection of 4 museums in Sydney, owned by the Government of New South Wales. Powerhouse is a contemporary museum of applied arts and sciences, explori ...

as well as in many state and regional galleries, and in major French collections such as the

Musée National d'Art Moderne The Musée National d'Art Moderne (; "National Museum of Modern Art") is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou. In 2021 it ranked 10th in the list of ...

, Paris. A significant number of her works are held in the collection of the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

and the Art Gallery of News South Wales.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions of her work include: * Anne Dangar at Moly-Sabata: Tradition and Innovation,

, 13 Jul-28 Oct 2001. * Anne Dangar Ceramiste: Le cubism au quotidian
Musee de Valence
26 Jun 2016-26 Feb 2017. * Anne Dangar: Ceramics from Moly-Sabata,

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

, 11 Aug-21 Oct 2018. Her work has also been exhibited in several group shows including: * Intrepid Women: Australian Women Artists in Paris 1900-1950,

S.H. Ervin Gallery The S. H. Ervin Gallery is a major public art institution housed in the historic National Trust Centre in Observatory Park, Sydney.National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

touring exhibition, 25 Feb-26 Aug 2017. * Know My Name: Australian Women Artists 1900 to Now, Part One,

, 14 Nov 2020-19 May 2021.

Life and training

Works

Exhibitions

See also

References

Further reading