Doris Lucy Eleanor Bloomfield Boyd (; 20 November 1888 – 13 June 1960) was an Australian artist, painter and ceramicist.

Early life

Doris Boyd was the youngest of six children, born to Victorian Naval Forces

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

Thomas Bunbury Gough and Evelyn Anna Walker Gough (''née'' Rigg). Doris grew up in an unusual household, in which her mother's buoyant spirit, radical politics and

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices which are associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes in ...

faith contrasted with her father's conservative background and temperament. Her family line ran directly back to Thomas Bunbury Gough, a Dean of Derry, brother to the great soldier Hugh Gough, the 1st Viscount Gough. Bunbury Gough was a Lieutenant in the Victorian Navy between 1885 and 1888, a high rank at the time. As Lieutenant, he was in charge of running the when the Commander was not on board. Outside of his naval career in Victoria, he worked variously as a merchant, as an insurance agent, and as a commission agent, as did his father-in-law. Evelyn was co-proprietor of ''The Sun: A Society Courier''. Doris Gough studied under Bernard Hall and

Frederick McCubbin Frederick McCubbin (25 February 1855 – 20 December 1917) was an Australian artist, art teacher and prominent member of the Heidelberg School art movement, also known as Australian impressionism. Born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria, McCubb ...

at the

National Gallery School The National Gallery of Victoria Art School, associated with the National Gallery of Victoria, was a private fine arts college founded in 1867 and was Australia's leading art school of 50 years. It is also referred to as the 'National Gallery S ...

where she met Merric Boyd, a fellow student and potter. Boyd came from a background of artists who collectively formed the

Boyd family The Boyd family is an Australian family whose members over several generations contributed to the arts in the fields of painting, sculpture, pottery, Ceramic art, ceramics, literature, architecture, poetry and music. The Boyd family is consi ...

. In 1915, she married Boyd, and together they raised five children:

Lucy Lucy is an English language, English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings ar ...

, Arthur (painter, ceramics), Guy (pottery, sculpture), David (pottery, painting) and

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

Career

Doris decorated many of Merric Boyd's works between 1920 and 1930. These were mostly pieces for domestic use, featuring Australian flora and fauna. Boyd's Murrumbeena studio and his pottery were destroyed by fire in 1926. With a strong faith in

, Doris influenced her husband, an

epileptic Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activity in the brain that can cause a variety of symptoms, rang ...

, to convert in his latter years. She died on 13 June 1960, nine months after Merric. They are buried side by side at Brighton General Cemetery, Caulfield South, Victoria, Australia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, Doris 1889 births 1960 deaths Australian women painters 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian women artists Doris Burials at Brighton General Cemetery National Gallery of Victoria Art School alumni