Biography

Janet Cumbrae-Stewart (1883-1960) was well-considered as one of the leading pastel artists of her generation both in Australia and overseas. She was born at Brighton and attended outdoor classes with John Mather and studied at the National Gallery School, Melbourne under Bernard Hall and Frederick McCubbin from 1901 to 1907. In 1905 she was awarded second place in the National Gallery’s Travelling Scholarship competition. In 1922, she left for London and remained in Europe until, in 1939, she returned to the safety of Australia and her family. Her brother, Francis William Sutton Stewart (1865-1938), Queensland lawyer and university administrator, was a student at Melbourne Grammar School from 1877 to 1880 and Geelong Grammar School from 1880. During a long and prodigiously productive career she exhibited at Galleries throughout the world including the Royal Academy in London, the Old Salon in Paris and the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. Her work is held in many Australian Collections including the State Art Galleries of New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia, the National Gallery, Canberra and the National Library. Although she performed many commissioned works including portraits, buildings and landscapes such as these of the School she was more controversially known for her sensitive drawings of the female nude.