Maude Edith Victoria Glover Fleay (1869–1965), was one of Australia's first wildlife artists. She was known for her paintings of Australian marsupials.

Biography

Fleay was born in 1869 in Sulky Gully, Australia. She studied drawing at the School of Mines,

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

, where she was taught by David Davies. She also studied under

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 ...

in Melbourne. Her aunt, Elizabeth Glover, owned "Gracedale Hotel" in Healesville. Fleay did a painting of "Gracedale", which hung in Elizabeth Glover's home in Gardenvale. 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 ...

and she was a member of the

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 ...

. In 1938 she exhibited at the Athenaeum Gallery with fellow women artists Annie Gates and Henrietta Maria Gulliver. Glover Fleay exhibited at the Leighton Galleries in 1945 where her work was commended for its "rather unfeminine strength and confidence of approach." Noted artist Arthur Streeton said her paintings "reflect great sympathy with and knowledge of the animals." She was also a writer and music teacher, and art director of the Daylesford School of Mines. In 1905 she married William Henry Fleay at St. Peter's Church of England, Sturt Street, Ballarat. They had three children, including the naturalist

David Fleay David Howells Fleay (; 6 January 1907 – 7 August 1993) was an Australian scientist and natural history, biologist who pioneered the captive breeding of endangered species, and was the first person to breed the platypus (''Ornithorhynchu ...

. She brought out a book with David, ''Gliders of the Gumtrees,'' for which she did the illustrations. Fleay died on 18 May 1965 in Colac.

Legacy

To honor her contribution to Australia's natural history, the ''Maude Glover Fleay Award'' was established by the

Victorian College of the Arts The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) is the arts school at the University of Melbourne in Australia. It is part of the university's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music (FFAM). It is located near the Melbourne city centre on the Southbank campus ...

. She gifted funds to establish a Maude Glover Fleay Bequest at the

Art Gallery of Ballarat The Art Gallery of Ballarat is the oldest regional art gallery in Australia. It was established in 1884 as the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery by a company of interested citizens led by James Oddie. It initially rented out the first floor of the Balla ...

, for purchasing works by female artists. Her works "Gum trees", "End of day", and "Consider the lilies" are in the Gallery's collection. An exhibition showcasing her work, ''The Fabulous Maude'', showed at The Lost Ones Contemporary Art Gallery in Ballarat in 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleay, Maude Edith Victoria 1869 births 1965 deaths 20th-century Australian women artists National Gallery of Victoria Art School alumni 19th-century Australian women artists Artists from Ballarat

Biography

Legacy

Further reading

References