Sarina Noordhuis-Fairfax on Spowers & Syme

Hear Dr Sarina Noordhuis-Fairfax, Curator, Prints and Drawings, speak about Naarm/Melbourne artists Ethel Spowers and Eveline Syme as part of Know My Name: Making it Modern.

Childhood friends from rival media families, Spowers and Syme broke new ground for modern printmaking in Australia. They were part of a newly independent generation of women artists able to travel widely and study with avant-garde teachers in England and France during the 1920s and 1930s. They brought back to Australia the spirit and knowledge of modern European art movements and techniques, which they shared through the expanding networks of art societies and private women’s clubs in Naarm/Melbourne and Gadigal Nura/Sydney.

Art Talks are a free weekly program. Hear from artists, curators and experts on the works in our collection and exhibition program.