Lot 11

Private collection, Melbourne
Thence by descent

Autumn Exhibition, Royal South Australian Society of Arts Gallery, Adelaide, 26 April - 12 May 1928, cat. no. 2 (label verso)

Society of Arts - The Autumn Exhibition, The Advertiser, Adelaide, 26 April 1928, p. 7

To mention the extent of Jessamine Buxton's art activities is not to make them a phenomenon, for versatility was marked characteristic of all these forgotten women artists.(1)
Born in Adelaide in 1894, Buxton trained at the South Australian School of Art, where her artistic achievements brough her the offer of a travelling scholarship but her father's strict care for his young daughter forbade her to accept it.(2) Buxton instead remained in Adelaide and devoted herself to painting, modelling sculptures and to teaching.(3)

In 1920 she joined the staff of the South Australian School of Arts and Crafts, first teaching clay and plaster modelling before succeeding Elizabeth Armstrong as instructor of still life painting in 1930. She remained at the school until her retirement in 1954, balancing her teaching with regular exhibitions at the Royal South Australian Society of Arts, where she was recognised for both painting and sculpture.

Shown in the 1928 Autumn Exhibition, 'Still Life, The Glass Cheese Dish' reflects Buxton's refined still life practice, where clarity of form and quiet observation reveals her enduring commitment to the genre.

Hannah Ryan
Senior Art Specialist

(1) Biven, R., Women Artists of South Australia, Some Forgotten - Some Remembered, Sydenham Gallery, South Australia, 1976
(2) Ibid
(3) Hylton, J., South Australian Women Artists: Paintings from the 1890s to the 1940s, Art Gallery Board of South Australia, Adelaide, 1994, p. 84