Catherine Speck on Ethel Carrick in the war years
Professor Catherine Speck, Ethel Carrick exhibition, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, 2024. Photographer: Kerrie Brewer.
‘Her pictures are remarkable, for their sensitiveness and brilliance of colour, her five groups of ununiformed voluntary women war workers are major works, and especially interesting as records.’
Join art historian, Professor Catherine Speck, for a talk focused on the experiences of artist Ethel Carrick (1872–1952) during the world wars.
An avid traveller, Carrick’s movements were reduced during each world war to just two nations: Australia and France. These periods were spent assisting—and, during World War II, documenting—war relief efforts.
In October 1942, Carrick applied for the prestigious position of official war artist to record women’s wartime activities. The application was unsuccessful. Women artists were not appointed as official war artists in World War I, and only in very limited numbers in World War II. Despite this, in 1942 Carrick set about recording women’s voluntary activities in Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales in a set of five paintings. These paintings depicted women making camouflage nets, making papier mâché hospital equipment, cooking and serving meals in the Canberra Services Club, and assembling garments to send to England for distribution.
In this talk, Catherine will focus on how Carrick documented the work of women on the home front, as well as her relentless and energetic fundraising for various war-related causes in Australia and France.
Catherine Speck is an art historian, writer, critic and curator. She is Professor Emerita of Art History and Curatorship at the University of Adelaide, Tarndanya/Adelaide, and a Fellow of the Academy of Humanities of Australia. She also taught postgraduate programs in art history and curatorial and museum studies with the Art Gallery of South Australia, Tarndanya/Adelaide, from 2002 to 2020. She is a member of the Fay Gale Centre for Research into Gender, the JM Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice, the Adelaide Critics Circle (Visual Arts) and a regular exhibition reviewer for The Conversation.
Friday Art Talks is a free weekly program. Hear from artists, curators and experts on the works in our collection and exhibition program. This talk is part of a series focused on the major exhibitions Ethel Carrick and Anne Dangar on display until the 27 April 2025.
Accessibility
We are committed to making our collections, exhibitions, building and events accessible to all visitors. A range of services are available to facilitate your visit to the Gallery.
Information to help you plan your visit is available on the National Gallery website.
This program is wheelchair accessible. Mobility aids, such as motorised scooters, wheelchairs, and wheelie walkers are available on request from the information desk. Call +61 2 6240 6411 or email information@nga.gov.au to book a motorised scooter in advance.
Headphones will be available for attendees who are hard of hearing.
