Spowers & Syme
National Gallery Touring Exhibition
Spowers & Syme celebrates the artistic friendship of Melbourne artists Ethel Spowers (1890-1947) and Eveline Syme (1888-1961). The expressive energy of their prints, drawings and paintings captures the optimism and innovation of the interwar years. This exhibition traces their stories as two women from rival media families who pioneered modern printmaking in Australia.
Spowers and Syme were part of a newly independent generation of 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 networks of art societies and private women’s clubs in Melbourne and Sydney. Ethel Spowers and Eveline Syme are now recognised for their significance as progressive artists dedicated to producing art that was truly of its time.
Curator: Dr Sarina Noordhuis-Fairfax, Curator, Australian Prints and Drawings, National Gallery
Spowers & Syme is a National Gallery Touring Exhibition and is part of Know My Name, a series of ongoing gender equity initiatives by the National Gallery to increase the representation of women in its artistic programs and collection development.