Lot 3

Private collection, Victoria c.1920
Thence by descent

After her studies in Melbourne, Portia won a scholarship to the schools of the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1896. She also exhibited in England and New York, and worked in Paris where she exhibited at the salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts.
Out of the art world, Portia's achievements were remarkable. She founded and was president of the Housewives' Progressive Association, she was a delegate to the International Council of Women's conference in Washington in 1925, and she served on the council of the Australian Women's Movement against Socialisation. With a strong personality, she argued for equal pay for men and women, the right of women to hold public office, better conditions for women in the home and campaigned against the harsh treatment she encountered as a female artist of the time when she had tried to exhibit her paintings.
After her passing in 1959, her estate was left to her sister, Florence Kate. Following her death in 1962, she honoured her sister and provided in her will for an annual £1000 (now $30,000) prize, known as the Portia Geach Memorial Art award, Australia's most prestigious art prize for portraiture by women artists.