Nancy May Kilgour (1904 – 5 March 1954) was an Australian painter. As Julia Barrett she wrote short stories. Wr SLNSW FL9499866

Nancy May Davidson was born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1904, daughter of Ethel Jessie (née Lavery) and Norman McLeod Davidson. The family moved to Sydney before the birth of her brother, cricketer Hugh Davidson, in 1907. Kilgour studied art at the Sydney Art School run by

Julian Ashton Julian Rossi Ashton (27 January 185127 April 1942) was an English-born Australian artist and teacher. He is best known for founding the Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney and encouraging Australian painters to capture local life and scenery ' ...

. She married fellow student, Jack Noel Kilgour, in March 1931. The couple sailed to London that year aiming to continue their studies in Europe, while supporting themselves by working in advertising and illustrating. Her husband entered a portrait of her in the 1939 Archibald Prize. Following her return to Sydney, she held an exhibition at the

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 ...

in 1940. Her paintings included both English and Australian landscapes. The ''Daily Telegraph'' reviewer noted her "subtle blend of realism and decoration" and her "fine sense of composition", while ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' critic commented on her use of "glowing colours" and "a happy patterning in various tones of green". She died in Sydney on 5 March 1954.

Legacy

Several of her paintings are held in the

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 ...

. A retrospective exhibition of her work was held by the Hamer Mathew Galleries, Woollahra in 1985. Examples of her work were also included in the 1995 National Women's Art Exhibition, curated to coincide with the 20th anniversary of International Women's Day in Australia.

References

External links

* Portrait of Jack Kilgour, c. 1940, by Nancy Kilgour, oil painting, State Library of New South Wales
ML 958
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilgour, Nancy 1904 births 1954 deaths 20th-century Australian women artists