Lot 48

Sotheby's, Melbourne, 19 August 1991, lot 94
Private collection, Melbourne

Frances "Frankie" Derham was schooled in Dunedin and Belfast before her family returned to Victoria where she enrolled at the National Gallery of Victoria school.

Whilst an important part of her life was spent as an artist, she also advocated for the role of art in childhood development and worked as a teacher and lecturer. Her beliefs and teachings were considered highly progressive for the time, yet are enduring, with her practical guide "Art for the Child Under Seven" (1961) being widely used by parents and teachers through seven editions.

Additionally, Derham was a member of the Arts and Crafts Society in Victoria. Inspired by Baldwin Spencer in the 1920s, she began to incorporate Aboriginal motifs into her designs, particularly in her prints. This sparked a lifelong interest in Aboriginal art. In 1938, she visited the Hermannsburg mission in the Northern Territory following the encouragement of Rex Battarbee and anthropologist Charles Mountford to study the art of Aboriginal children. In 1948 she made a further trip to the Aurukun Mission in far North Queensland.

Despite regularly producing work, Derham never practiced full time as an artist, rarely exhibited, and gave much of her work away. A few of her own prints are in public collections, but most of her paintings and collages are held privately.

Olivia Fuller
Head of Art