Ethel Anderson
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Ethel Campbell Louise Anderson (née Mason; 16 March 1883 – 4 August 1958) was an early twentieth century Australian poet, essayist, novelist and painter. She considered herself to be mainly a poet, but is now best appreciated for her witty and ironic stories. Anderson has been described as "a high-profile author, artist, art commentator and emissary for
modernism 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 ...
".


Life

Ethel Anderson was born in Lillington, a suburb of Leamington, in
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...
, England, of Australian born parents Cyrus Mason and Louise Campbell on 16 March 1883. Her family soon moved back to Australia and she grew up in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
and at her grandfather's property, Rangamatty, near
Picton, New South Wales Picton is a small town in the Macarthur region of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The town is the administrative centre of the Wollondilly Shire local government area. Picton is located southwest of the Sydney CBD. The town is part of ...
. She was educated both at home and at Sydney Church of England Girls' Grammar School (now SCEGGS Darlinghurst).''Australian Verse: An Illustrated Treasury'', edited by Beatrice Davis
Library of New South Wales Press
1996
On 8 October 1904 she married Brigadier-General Austin Thomas Anderson (1868–1949) in Ahmednagar,
Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
where she had accompanied him on his posting. In 1907 they had a daughter,
Bethia Bethia is a female given name. People with that name include: * Bethia Clarke (1867–1959), British artist * Bethia Foott (1907–1995), Australian non-fiction writer * Lucy Bethia Walford (1845–1915), Scottish novelist and artist See also ...
. At the beginning of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
her husband was posted to France and Anderson moved to
Cambridge, England Cambridge ( ) is a city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of ...
, where she studied drawing at
Downing College Downing College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 950 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to the university between 1596 and 1869, ...
and exhibited some of her work. While she was in England, from 1914 to 1924, Anderson joined the Cambridge Group and mixed with artists such as Sir William Rothenstein. She painted murals for English churches and founded the Young Worcestershire Arts and Crafts Club. The Andersons later lived in
Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...
, and on her husband's retirement from the army in 1924 the family moved to Australia and lived at Turramurra, New South Wales. From 1927 Brigadier Anderson became secretary to several State Governors. In Sydney she became an important supporter of modern art and the modernist painters Grace Cossington Smith, Dorrit Black,
Roland Wakelin Roland Wakelin (17 April 1887 – 28 May 1971) was a New Zealand-born Australian painter and teacher. Early life Roland Shakespeare Wakelin was born on 17 April 1887 in Greytown, New Zealand, Greytown, New Zealand. He studied at Wellington Te ...
and
Roy de Maistre Roy De Maistre CBE (27 March 18941 March 1968) was an Australian artist of international fame. He is renowned in Australian art for his early experimentation with "colour-music", and is recognised as the first Australian artist to use pure abs ...
, by writing about their work, holding exhibitions in her home, organising exhibitions in other venues and opening exhibitions. She wrote articles on modern art and artists in various Australian publications. An exhibition of
Roland Wakelin Roland Wakelin (17 April 1887 – 28 May 1971) was a New Zealand-born Australian painter and teacher. Early life Roland Shakespeare Wakelin was born on 17 April 1887 in Greytown, New Zealand, Greytown, New Zealand. He studied at Wellington Te ...
's work was held at her home. In 1930 she cleared her house of furniture to hold an exhibition of Wakelin's paintings. In Turramurra, Ethel Anderson founded the Turramurra Wall Painters Union in 1927. She was asked by the rector of St James' Church, Sydney to help decorate the Children's Chapel and designed a mural scheme for it which was executed by her artists group in 1929.Speer, Anne. (1994). ''Anne Speer - Ethel Anderson: Pioneer Supporter of Sydney's Post-Impressionists, 1994''. State Library of New South Wales. MLMSS 5951 On 16 March 1932, she opened the inaugural exhibition of the Modern Art Centre established by Dorrit Black in Margaret Street, Sydney, to teach and promote the Cubist ideas learned during Black's study trip to France. Anderson also wrote about contemporary artists' work for magazines such as ''Art in Australia'' and ''Home'', while her poetry and stories were published in ''
The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...
'', '' Punch'', the ''
Cornhill Magazine ''The Cornhill Magazine'' (1860–1975) was a monthly Victorian literature, Victorian magazine and literary journal named after the street address of the founding publisher Smith, Elder & Co. at 65 Cornhill, London, Cornhill in London.Laurel ...
'', ''
The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 ...
'', ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
'' and '' The Bulletin''. Her poetry was influenced by her knowledge of
French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by French people, French citizens; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of Franc ...
and
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 ...
work, with considerable
formal Formal, formality, informal or informality imply the complying with, or not complying with, some set of requirements ( forms, in Ancient Greek). They may refer to: Dress code and events * Formal wear, attire for formal events * Semi-formal atti ...
and metrical experimentation. Her poem ''The Song of Hagar'' was set to music by John Antill. The death of her husband in 1949 meant that she had to support herself, which she did through her writing, serialising her first novel ''At Parramatta'' in ''The Bulletin''. She died on 4 August 1958 in Sydney.


Works

Poetry *''Squatter's Luck and Other Poems'' (1942) *''Sunday At Yarralumla: A Symphony'' (1947) *''The Song of Hagar to the Patriarch Abraham'' (1957) Non-fiction *''Adventures In Appleshire'' (1944) *''Timeless Garden'' (1945) *''Joy of Youth: The Letters of Patrick Hore-Ruthven'' (1950, ed.) Fiction *''Indian Tales'' (1948) *''At Parramatta'' (1956) *''The Little Ghosts'' (1959) *''The Best of Ethel Anderson'' (1973, ed. by J. D. Pringle) Painting *Murals in the Children's Chapel of St James' Church, Sydney (with others)


References


Bibliography

*Adelaide, Debra (1986) ''Australian Women Writers: A Bibliographic Guide'', London, Pandora *Foott, Bethia, ''Ethel and the Governors' General, a biography of Ethel Anderson (1883-1958) and Brigadier-General A.T. Anderson (1868-1949)'', Rainforest, NSW *E. Morris Miller & Frederick T. Macartney (1956), ''Australian Literature'', Angus and Robertson, Sydney, p. 37. *Speer, Anne (1994) ''Ethel Anderson: pioneer supporter of Sydney's Post-Impressionists''. *William H. Wilde, Joy Hooton & Barry Andrews (1986) ''The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature'', OUP, Melbourne, p. 25.


External links

*
Ethel Anderson and her daughter, Bethia
, two 1912 photographs by G. W. Lawrie from the
National Portrait Gallery (Australia) The National Portrait Gallery, also known as the National Portrait Gallery of Australia (NGA or NPGA) in Canberra is a public art gallery containing portraits of prominent Australians. It was established in 1998 and moved to its present buildin ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Ethel 1883 births 1958 deaths 20th-century Australian novelists 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian poets 20th-century Australian essayists Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge Australian muralists Australian women essayists Australian women novelists Australian women poets People from Leamington Spa Australian women muralists 20th-century Australian women painters 20th-century Australian women writers