Violet Helen Evangeline Teague

Place: Melbourne

Born: 1872

Death: 1951

Biography:

Violet Helen Evangeline Teague (21 February 1872 – 30 September 1951) was an Australian artist, noted for her painting, printmaking and her critical writings on art. She achieved notable acclaim, both locally and internationally, as a portrait painter. She was part of the new wave of women artists who pursued art as a profession rather than a leisure activity. Teague studied in Brussels and London before returning to Melbourne and studying at the National Gallery School and the Melbourne School of Art. Her work featured in various exhibitions, including the 1907 Women's Work Exhibition and the British Empire Exhibition of 1924–1925. She was also a pioneering Australian exponent of Japanese-style woodblock prints and gave lectures on the technique for the Victorian Arts and Crafts Society. In 1932 she travelled in Central Australia, and was so shocked by the conditions in which Aboriginal people lived that she organised an exhibition in Melbourne that raised thousands of pounds to pay for a permanent water supply for the Hermannsburg community.