Estelle Mary (Jo) Sweatman (1872-1956), was an Australian painter. She was a founding member of the Twenty Melbourne Painters Society.[1]

Jo Sweatman
Sweatman portrait by May and Mina Moore
Born
Estelle Mary Sweatman

1872 (1872)
Died1956 (aged 83–84)
NationalityAustralian
Alma materNational Gallery School
Known forPainting

Early life and training

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Sweatman was born in South Yarra[2] 1872.[3] She took drawing classes at a suburban ladies' college, and was recommended by her teacher to join the National Gallery School, where she studied for two years under Frederick McCubbin.[2] She also studied painting while at the school with Bernard Hall.[2]

Career

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Sweatman taught at Melbourne Girls Grammar, where Clarice Beckett was one of her pupils.[4]

She was initially involved with the Victorian Artists' Society but her support for Max Meldrum eventually led to her being ousted along with friend A.M.E. Bale.[2] She started her career painting portraits but her love of nature and a move to Warrandyte prompted a concentration on landscape,[2] as reported of her 1929 exhibition at the Melbourne Athenaeum in The Cairns Post;

Miss Jo Sweatman, the Melbourne artist, is one who delights to paint the beauties of nature as she finds them on a bush track. There is no gainsaying that some of these bits of sunlight and shade round the gum trees make very attractive landscapes. In Miss Sweatman's recent exhibition at the Athenaeum there were on view "White Gums" and views of more distant tree topped ranges. Warrandyte, a little township on thc Yarra, has for some time been the happy hunting ground of artists, for it has many a beauty spot, and here Miss Sweatman has gone for some of her best bush scenes. Figures and flowers were included in the exhibition but probably most people would covet most one of the bush scenes which are so truly Australian.[5]

Building her house 'The Kipsy' next door to fellow artist Clara Southern, they both took an active role in developing the artistic community in Warrandyte, Victoria.[6] She helped establish annual art exhibitions with the Warrandyte Women's Auxiliary Association, serving on a committee of resident artists as secretary.[7]

Sweatman was a founding member of the group, Twenty Melbourne Painters Society, that was formed by students and followers of Australian Tonalist Max Meldrum.[8] Sweatman was considered to be one of Australia's most famous painters of wattle.[9]

In 1922 Sweatman was a finalist for the Archibald Prize for her Portrait Miss A.M.E. Bale. The same year A.M.E. Bale was a finalist with her portrait of Miss Jo Sweatman.[10] Sweatman died in 1956.[3]

Exhibitions

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Collections

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References

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  1. ^ "Members". Twenty Melbourne Painters Society Inc. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e "AUSTRALIAN ARTISTS OF TO-DAY". Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954). 9 May 1931. p. 7. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Jo Sweatman". National Gallery of Victoria. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  4. ^ Ziegler, Edith Miriam (2022). The worlds and work of Clarice Beckett. Arcadia. p. 76, n.26. ISBN 978-1-922669-33-9.
  5. ^ "A Woman's Letter : Beauties of Nature". Cairns Post. 15 May 1929. p. 14. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  6. ^ "Artists Warrandyte - Warrrandyte Historical Society". Warrandyte Historical Society. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  7. ^ "BACK TO WARRANDYTE". Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954). 20 November 1931. p. 7. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  8. ^ "History". Twenty Melbourne Painters Society Inc. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  9. ^ "Archibald entry in show". Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957). 16 September 1953. p. 8. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  10. ^ "1922". Archibald Prize. Art Gallery of New South Wales. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  11. ^ "SOCIETY OF ARTS". Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929). 8 November 1906. p. 6. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  12. ^ "VICTORIAN ARTISTS' SOCIETY'S SHOW". Punch (Melbourne, Vic. : 1900 - 1918; 1925). 9 October 1913. p. 35. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  13. ^ "ART EXHIBITION". Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957). 15 July 1919. p. 5. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  14. ^ "Nature on Canvas". Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954). 30 September 1920. p. 4. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  15. ^ "MELBOURNE EXHIBITIONS". Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946). 3 November 1923. p. 33. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  16. ^ "TWENTY MELBOURNE PAINTERS". Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957). 19 November 1924. p. 6. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  17. ^ "ART NOTES". Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954). 15 September 1925. p. 9. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  18. ^ "PORTRAITS AND LANDSCAPES". Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946). 29 May 1926. p. 49. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  19. ^ "ART NOTES". Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954). 14 September 1926. p. 11. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  20. ^ "DOUBLE SHOW OPENS". Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954). 28 March 1927. p. 4. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  21. ^ "TWENTY MELBOURNE PAINTERS". Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946). 22 September 1928. p. 17. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  22. ^ "THE TWENTY MELBOURNE PAINTERS". Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954). 24 September 1929. p. 9. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  23. ^ "PAINTINGS OF MISS JO. SWEATMAN". Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954). 22 April 1929. p. 4. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  24. ^ "Australian Landscapes by Miss Jo Sweatman". Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954). 9 May 1933. p. 7. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  25. ^ "ART NOTES". Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954). 30 April 1935. p. 7. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  26. ^ "Landscapes Predominate In Three Art Shows". Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954). 3 May 1937. p. 7. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  27. ^ "JO SWEATMAN'S PAINTINGS". Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957). 18 May 1943. p. 9. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  28. ^ "ART EXHIBITION". Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954). 22 May 1945. p. 2. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  29. ^ "ART EXHIBITIONS REVIEWED". Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957). 3 September 1946. p. 4. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  30. ^ "ART EXHIBITION FINE WORK BY JO SWEATMAN". Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957). 27 May 1947. p. 2. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  31. ^ "HG :: Hamilton Gallery". www.hamiltongallery.org. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  32. ^ "Jo Sweatman (b.1872, d.1956)". Castlemaine Art Museum Collection Online. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  33. ^ "Jo SWEATMAN | Artists | NGV". www.ngv.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
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