Ethel Carrick
7 Dec 2024 – 27 Apr 2025
Level 1, Gallery 12
Free
![Ethel Carrick, Esquisse en Australie [Sketch in Australia] 1908, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, Purchased 2023](https://media.nga.gov.au/IuVlC5uU0DhMrKNmEI8tgN_3jNg=/1600x0///national-gallery-of-australia/media/dd/images/MicrosoftTeams-image_3_1KcJyco.png)
Ethel Carrick, Esquisse en Australie [Sketch in Australia] 1908, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, Purchased 2023
'It’s people who attract me. Crowds are to me what a magnet is to a needle. I love the colour, life, movement, and individuality of a crowd.'
About
Ethel Carrick (1872–1952) was a pioneering artist who forged new ground in the early twentieth century with her bold and vibrant post-impressionist works. She was a truly transnational artist who was born in Britain and lived and worked primarily in France and Australia.
Her art has often been considered in the light of her husband, Australian artist Emanuel Phillips Fox. However, they were married for only ten years, due to his untimely passing, and she continued to create art for several decades. This retrospective covers the full spectrum of Carrick’s career, including her rich and diverse output during her extensive travels through Europe, India and North Africa, providing an opportunity to better understand the distinctive nature of her artistic contribution, nationally and internationally.
Comprising 140 works, this will be the first retrospective of Carrick’s work for nearly half a century and an opportunity to assess her work in a new light.
The exhibition is accompanied by a significant publication led by Dr Deborah Hart, Head Curator of Australian Art, and with contributions from Angela Goddard, Denise Mimmocchi, Emma Kindred, Rebecca Blake, Jenny McFarlane, Catherine Speck and Juliette Peers.
Ethel Carrick | Anne Dangar is a Know My Name project, the National Gallery initiative celebrating the work of all women artists to enhance understanding of their contribution to Australia’s cultural life.
The National Gallery gratefully acknowledges the generous support of Exhibition Patron, the Lansdowne Foundation; Publication Partner, the Gordon Darling Foundation; Supporting Patron, Roslyn Packer AO; and Exhibition Supporters Fiona Martin-Weber and Tom Hayward.
Curator: Dr Deborah Hart, Head Curator, Australian Art
Works of Art
Ethel Carrick, Luxembourg Gardens, Paris, c. 1906, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1976
Ethel Carrick, Pilgrims bathing at Benares, c 1937, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1976
Ethel Carrick, Beach scene, c.1909, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1976
Ethel Carrick, In the Nice flower market, c.1926, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1972
Ethel Carrick, Esquisse en Australie [Sketch in Australia] 1908, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, Purchased 2023
Ethel Carrick, At sunset, 1914, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1977
Events
7 Dec 2024 – 27 Apr 2025
Fri 28 Feb 2025, 12pm
9 Dec 2024 – 27 Apr 2025
Daily, 11.30am & 2pm
9 Dec 2024 – 24 Apr 2025
Fri 14 Mar 2025, 12pm
Sat 15 Mar 2025, 1pm
Fri 4 April 2025, 12pm
Publication
Ethel Carrick explores and celebrates this remarkable artist who contributed significantly to Australian and international art for over 50 years. Carrick’s work radiates with luminous light, colour and energy; predominantly focusing on crowds, in all their diversity and interconnection. This publication will accompany the National Gallery exhibition Ethel Carrick, which will be the first retrospective of her work in over 40 years, the most comprehensive to date, and will shine new light on her life and works.
Carrick (1872–1952) was a truly transnational artist who was born in Britain and lived and worked primarily in France and Australia. She was one of the first post-impressionist artists to exhibit in Australia, and yet her significant artistic contributions and amazing life story are not known to a wide audience.
Deborah Hart, Head Curator, Australian Art, passionately guides the reader through an absorbing, thorough and richly visual exploration of Ethel’s life and art. This is supported by seven focus essays from Rebecca Blake, Angela Goddard, Emma Kindred, Jenny McFarlane, Denise Mimmocchi, and Juliette Peers, which cover such diverse topics as Carrick’s affectionate and iconic portrayals of Manly Beach and the modern surfer girl, her North African travels, and her remarkable artistic records and philanthropy during World War II.
This publication includes new research illuminating an artist who has been too long overshadowed. This stunning volume features a modern design and bursts with colour, complementing Carrick's oeuvre. The inclusion of very generously illustrated large reproductions and details of paintings allow the reader to appreciate their stunning detail to full effect.
PUBLISHING DECEMBER 2024
288 pages
310 x 240mm
full colour | hardback
RRP A$79.95*
ISBN 9780642335104
*Members discount available for publication purchases made at the Gallery in the Art Store only.
Audio Tour
Ethel Carrick, installation view, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, 2024
Join art historian, curator, broadcaster and international bestselling author Katy Hessel as she leads this audio tour through exhibitions Ethel Carrick and Anne Dangar.
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