Edwardian Girl with Curls 1908
Pastel on Cotton
50x37 (oval)
Signed Lower Centre, Dated 1908
Prov: Private Collection Adelaide
$5,000-8,000
Related Works: Sweet Violets - The Hambidge Sisters by Nancy Gemmell page 45.
An accomplished South Australian painter and portraitist, Milly Hambidge contributed to Adelaide’s artistic development during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. One of three artistically accomplished sisters, alongside Helen and Alice Hambidge, she studied at Adelaide’s School of Design under Harry Pelling Gill and became closely associated with the South Australian Society of Arts, being elected a Fellow in 1902.
Particularly recognised for her watercolour portraiture, Hambidge established herself as a professional artist during a period when opportunities for women in the arts remained limited. Correspondence from 1905 documents her professional practice, including fees of £50 for a full-length portrait, while her former teacher, Harry Pelling Gill, actively recommended her work.
Working during an important period in South Australian art, Hambidge belonged to a generation of women artists whose professional achievements contributed to the development of Adelaide’s cultural identity. Her career has subsequently been recognised in scholarly publications examining the contribution of women to Australian art.
