Ethel Carrick
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Ethel Carrick, later Ethel Carrick Fox (7 February 1872 – 17 June 1952) was an English
Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
and
Post-Impressionist Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction a ...
painter. Much of her career was spent in France and in Australia, where she was associated with the movement known as the
Heidelberg School The Heidelberg School was an Australian art movement of the late 19th century. It has been described as Australian impressionism. Melbourne art critic Sidney Dickinson coined the term in an 1891 review of works by Arthur Streeton and Walter ...
.


Life

Ethel Carrick was born in
Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...
, Middlesex, to Emma (Filmer) Carrick and Albert William Carrick, a wealthy
draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period ...
. The family of ten children lived at Brookfield House, Uxbridge. She trained in London at the
Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with dram ...
and at the
Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...
under
Henry Tonks Henry Tonks, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, FRCS (9 April 1862 – 8 January 1937) was a British surgeon and later draughtsman and painter of figure subjects, chiefly interiors, and a Caricature, caricaturist. He became an influentia ...
(ca. 1898-1903). She married the Australian Impressionist painter Emanuel Phillips Fox in 1905. They moved to Paris, where they remained until 1913. She travelled widely in Europe, North Africa, and the South Pacific (Tahiti) during this period and made trips to Australia in 1908 and 1913. The outbreak of World War I brought Carrick and her husband to
Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...
, where they organised to raise war funds from artists and to support the French Red Cross. In the early 1940s, Ethel Carrick spent some time in
Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
, in the
Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...
(ACT) to paint local landscapes. During 1942-32, the local newspaper ''
The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in 1 ...
'' reported that she resided with the Tillyard family, based in Mugga Way, Red Hill in Canberra.Carrick, E., Goddard, A., Mimmocchi, D., Kindred, E., Blake, R., McFarlane, J., Speck, C., Stokes, R., Mitzevich, N., & National Gallery of Australia. (2024). ''Ethel Carrick'' (D. Hart, Ed.). National Gallery of Australia. p124 Of particular note is her paintings of St John's Church in Reid, and
Parliament House Parliament House may refer to: Meeting places of parliament Australia * Parliament House, Canberra, Parliament of Australia * Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament of South Australia * Parliament House, Brisbane, Parliament of Queensland * P ...
in Parkes, Canberra. Between 1941 and 1943, Carrick supported Australian women's efforts for national service by painting scenes of the Lady Gowrie Services Club and the Canberra Services Club in Manuka, Canberra. Her husband, Emanuel Phillips Fox, died of cancer in 1915. The following year, Carrick began two decades of travels that took her through the Middle East, South Asia including India, and Europe. She returned intermittently to Australia to exhibit her work and go out on painting expeditions around the country. In the 1920s, she was recommended by the
Académie de la Grande Chaumière The Académie de la Grande Chaumière () is an art school in the Montparnasse district of Paris, France. History The school was founded in 1904 by the Catalan painter Claudio Castelucho on the rue de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, near the A ...
in Paris as a private teacher of
still life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, human-m ...
painting, and she counted a number of Australians and Americans in Paris among her students. Ethel Carrick died in Kew, Melbourne on 17 June 1952, aged 80.


Art career and critical estimation

Mainly a painter, Carrick is known for her floral still life, landscapes and scenes of outdoor urban life in parks and on beaches. Some of these draw on her international travels, such as her paintings of outdoor markets in the Middle East and elsewhere. In the 1920s, she began painting flower studies, which overall are more conventional than her earlier work. In the 1930s, she created some
lithographs Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...
, and during World War II, which she spent in Australia, she painted some scenes of women war workers. Carrick began as an Impressionist
plein air ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or plein-air painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting is c ...
painter but fairly quickly moved to a more Post-Impressionist style featuring blockier compositions and sharper colour contrasts. Some of the works produced around 1911-12 are distinctly
Fauvist Fauvism ( ) is a style of painting and an art movement that emerged in France at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the style of (, ''the wild beasts''), a group of modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong col ...
in their strong colours, high abstraction, and loose handling of the paint. Carrick first showed her work in London in 1903. She exhibited at the Paris Salon d'Automne from 1906 onwards, the London
Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
, the
Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (SNBA; ; ) was the term under which two groups of French artists united, the first for some exhibitions in the early 1860s, the second since 1890 for annual exhibitions. 1862 Established in 1862 by the painter a ...
(from 1906 on), and various progressive galleries in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
and
Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...
(from 1908 on). In addition to her own solo and group exhibitions, she was in dual shows with her husband at the
Melbourne Athenaeum The Athenaeum or Melbourne Athenaeum at 188 Collins Street is an art and cultural hub in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1839, it is the city's oldest cultural institution. Its building on Collin ...
in 1914 and again in 1944. In 1911, she became ''sociétaire'' of the Salon d'Automne, and she served as a jury member from 1912 to around 1925, both unusual positions for women to hold and marks of the high regard in which she was held by the Paris art world. Prior to World War I, she also served as the vice-president of the International Union of Women Artists. Late in her career, in the 1940s and 1950s, she exhibited with the
Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known as ...
. In her lifetime, Carrick's reputation was eclipsed by her husband's, in part because she spent a good deal of her time promoting his career rather than her own, lobbying Australian collectors and curators to buy his work and arranging exhibitions both while he was alive and posthumously. In recent years, her reputation has been rising, and critics today consider her work more adventurous than that of her husband. In 1996, one of her paintings set an auction record of A$105,500 for works by an Australian woman artist, and the following year saw the publication of a biography, ''Ethel Carrick Fox: Travels and Triumphs of a Post-Impressionist'' by art historian Susanna de Vries. Her ''Market Under Trees'', sold by
Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
in 1999 for A$266,500, was bought at auction for just over A$1 million in 2008. In 1993, the Waverley City Gallery in Melbourne held the exhibition "Capturing the Orient: Hilda Rix Nicholas & Ethel Carrick in the East", and in 2011, the Queensland Art Gallery held a joint retrospective of the work of Carrick and her husband. In 2024, the National Gallery of Australia held paired solo exhibitions for Ethel Carrick and Anne Dangar. A publication was released alongside the exhibition including essays on Carrick by Rebecca Blake, Angela Goddard, Emma Kindred, Jenny McFarlane, Denise Mimmocchi, and Juliette Peers.


Exhibitions


Solo

* 1908: Bernard's Gallery, Collins Street, Melbourne, August * 1913: 'Paintings by Mrs E Phillips Fox (Miss Ethel Carrick)', The Guildhall, Melbourne, 11 - 26 July * 1913: 'Exhibition of Pictures by Mrs E Phillips Fox (Ethel Carrick)', Anthony Hordern's Fine Art Gallery, Sydney, 6 - 22 November * 1916: 'Exhibition of Oil Paintings by Mrs E Phillips Fox', Anthony Hordern's Fine Art Gallery, Sydney, April * 1925: 'Exhibition of Paintings by Ethel Carrick (Mrs E Phillips Fox)', The New Gallery, Melbourne, 2 -13 June * 1928: 'Exposition Ethel Carrick', Galerie de la Palette Française, Paris, 5 -19 June * 1933: 'Ethel Carrick (Mrs E Phillips Fox) Exhibition of Pictures', Everyman's Lending Library, Melbourne, 24 May - 7 June * 1949: 'Pictures by Ethel Carrick (Mrs E Phillips Fox)', Melbourne Book Club Gallery, 20 June - 2 July * 1949: 'Exhibition of Pictures by Ethel Carrick (Mrs E Phillips Fox)', John Martin's Gallery, Adelaide, 4 - 18 October * 1979: 'Ethel Carrick (Mrs E Phillips Fox): A Retrospective Exhibition',
Geelong Art Gallery Geelong Gallery, formerly known as Geelong Art Gallery, is a major regional gallery in the city of Geelong in Victoria, Australia. The Gallery forms Geelong's Cultural Precinct, along with the adjacent Geelong Library and Heritage Centre (Geelo ...
, 30 March - 4 May 1979 ; toured to SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney, 11 May - 3 June; University Art Museum, Brisbane, 13 June - 5 July * 2024: 'Ethel Carrick',
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 ...
, 7 December 2024 - 27 April 2025


Group exhibitions held during the artist's lifetime

* 1903: Society of Oil Painters, London, 19 October - 12 December * 1904: Felix Art Club (Alpine Art Club), London * 1905: International Society, London
International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers was a union of professional artists that existed from 1898 to 1925, "To promote the study, practice, and knowledge of sculpture, painting, etching, lithographing, engraving, and kindred ...
January-February, March-May, May, October-December * 1906: Institute of Oil Painters, London 15 October - 12 December * 1906: Felix Art Club, London * 1906: Salon d'Automne, Paris * 1906:
Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (SNBA; ; ) was the term under which two groups of French artists united, the first for some exhibitions in the early 1860s, the second since 1890 for annual exhibitions. 1862 Established in 1862 by the painter a ...
, Paris * 1907: Institute of Oil Painters, London 14 October - 12 December * 1907: Salon d' Automne, Paris * 1907: Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris * 1907:
Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
, London * 1908: Societe Nationale des Beaux Arts, Paris * 1908: Societe Les Quelques, Galerie des Artistes Modernes, Paris * 1908: Salon d' Automne, Paris * 1908:
Allied Artists Association The Allied Artists Association (AAA) was an art exhibiting society based in London in the early 20th century. History The Allied Artists Association was founded by Frank Rutter, an art critic of ''The Sunday Times'' newspaper, in 1908. Its pur ...
, London, July * 1909: 'La Libre Esthetique, Catalogue de la seizieme Exposition a Bruxelles', Brussels, Belgium, 7 March - 12 April * 1909: Societe Les Quelques, Galerie des Artistes Modernes, Paris, February * 1909: Salon d'Automne, Paris * 1909: Allied Artists Association, London * 1909:
Victorian Artists Society The Victorian Artists Society, which can trace its establishment to 1856 in Melbourne, promotes artistic education, art classes and Art museum, gallery hire art gallery, exhibition in Australia. It was formed in March 1888 when the Victorian Acad ...
, Melbourne * 1910: Societe Nationale des Beaux Arts, Paris * 1910: Societe Les Quelques, Galerie des Artistes Modernes, Paris, February * 1910: Salon d'Automne, Paris * 1911: Societe Les Quelques, Galerie des Artistes Modernes, Paris, February * 1911: Salon d'Automne, Paris * 1911: Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris * 1912: Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris * 1912: Salon d'Automne, Paris * 1913: Societe des Peintres Orientalistes Français 21e Exposition, Grand Palais, Paris, 2-28 February * 1915: 'Australian Artists War Fund Exhibition', Royal Art Society Rooms, Sydney, 9 March * 1915: 'Australian Art Association 3rd Annual Exhibition',
Athenaeum, Melbourne The Athenaeum or Melbourne Athenaeum at 188 Collins Street is an art and cultural hub in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1839, it is the city's oldest cultural institution. Its building on Collin ...
, 7-21 October * 1915: Red Cross Fund, Melbourne, March * 1916: 'Art Curio and Antique Exhibition for the French Week Appeal Fund', Town Hall, Melbourne, July * 1916: Royal Society of Oil Painters, London, November * 1917: Royal Academy, London * 1918: 'Salon des Poilus, Exhibition of Pictures for Sale', Athenaeum Gallery, Melbourne, 6-20 July (in aid of the French Red Cross) * 1918: 'Exposition de l'Arc-en-Ciel', Galerie de Goupil & Cie, Paris, 8 October - 3 November * 1919: Salon d' Automne, Paris: 315 Mme de Marquette * 1920: Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris * 1921: Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris * 1921: Salon d'Automne, Paris * 1921: Societe des Artistes lndependants, Paris * 1921: 'Exposition de la Societe coloniale des Artistes Français', Societe des Artistes Français, Grand Palais des Champs Elysees, Paris * 1922: Salon d'Automne, Paris * 1922: Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris * 1923: Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris * 1923: Salon d' Automne, Paris * 1923: 'Group of Australian Artists', Panton Galleries, London, November * 1924: 'Exhibition of Paintings and Sculptures by Australian Artists in Europe', Faculty of Arts, London, 23 June -12 July * 1924: Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris * 1924: Salon d'Automne, Paris * 1926: Salon d'Automne, Paris * 1927: Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris * 1927: Salon d'Automne, Paris * 1928: Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris * 1928: Salon d'Automne, Paris * 1928: International exhibition, Bordeaux: ''Manly Beach - summer is here'' (awarded diplome d'honneur) * 1929: Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris * 1929: Salon d'Automne, Paris * 1929: Societe des Amis des Arts de Bordeaux, Paris * 1930: Salon d'Automne, Paris * 1930: Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris * 1930: Societe des Amis des Arts de Bordeaux, Paris * 1931: Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris * 1931: Salon d'Automne, Paris * 1932: Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris * 1931: Salon d'Automne, Paris * 1933: Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris * 1933: Everyman's Lending Library, Melbourne, May * 1934: 'An Exhibition by Melbourne Painters', Athenaeum Gallery, Melbourne, 27 February- 10 March (in aid of the
Hermannsburg Hermannsburg is a village and a former municipality in the Celle (district), Celle district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the municipality Südheide (municipality), Südheide. It has been a state-recognised resort t ...
water supply, Central Australia) * 1935: Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris * 1936: Royal Academy, London * 1937: Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris * 1937: Royal Academy, London * 1937: Salon d'Automne, Paris * 1937: Royal Academy, London * 1937: Salon d' Automne * 1939: Royal Academy, London * 1939: Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris * 1943-45: Victorian Artists' Society, Melbourne * 1944: 'Paintings by Ethel Phillips Fox, Jean Sutherland and Sybil Craig', KozminskyLower Gallery, Melbourne, 21 November- 1 December * 1945:
Macquarie Galleries Macquarie Galleries was a Sydney art museum, private art gallery established in 1925 by John Henry Young and Basil Burdett. It was located at "Strathkyle", 19 Bligh Street Sydney then moved to 40 King Street in 1945. From 1991 to 1993 it was lo ...
, Bligh Street, Sydney, 14-26 March * 1945: Anthony Hordern's Fine Art Gallery, Sydney * 1946: 'French Comfort Fund Exhibition', David Jones Art Gallery, Sydney, 20-28 February * 1946: 'French Comfort Fund', Myer's Art Gallery, Melbourne, 19 -29 March * 1947: Victorian Artists' Society, Melbourne * 1951:
Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country's national academy of art. It promotes contemporary art, contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy ...
, Edinburgh * 1951:
Royal Institute of Oil Painters The Royal Institute of Oil Painters, also known as ROI, is an association of painters in London, England, and is the only major art society which features work done only in oil. It is a member society of the Federation of British Artists. Histor ...
, London


References


Further reading

* Howe, Elin. "Ethel Carrick Fox: The Cheat or the Cheated?". In ''Wallflowers and Witches: Women and Culture in Australia, 1910-1945'', ed. Maryanne Dever. St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1994, pp. 105–14 * Pigot, John. "Les femmes orientalistes: Hilda Rix Nichols and Edith Carrick Fox in the East". ''Strange Women: Essays in Art and Gender'', ed. Jeannette Hoorn. University of Melbourne Press, 1994, pp. 155–68
Ethel Carrick Fox
ustralian art and artists file ''
State Library Victoria State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in th ...
'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Carrick, Ethel 1872 births 1952 deaths 19th-century English painters 20th-century English women artists Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art English women painters Heidelberg School British Impressionist painters People from Uxbridge Post-impressionist painters 20th-century Australian artists Women's Art Register artists