B.1880 - 1962

Bernice E. Edwell was an Australian painter best known for her oil painting miniatures and portraits. Born in Newbury, England and moving to Sydney in her youth, Edwell studied at the Royal Art Society of New South Wales in 1899-1900, and later at Academie Colarossi in Paris. Early in her career, Edwell solidified her place as a celebrated female oil painter in Australia. 

In 1907, Edwell won first prize for two of her miniatures at the Women’s Work Exhibition in Melbourne, with the Art Gallery of NSW purchasing one of the winning paintings. Three years later, she helped establish the New South Wales Society of Women Painters where they held their first exhibition the same year showing 57 different women artists. Over the years, Edwell continued to show her works in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney.

Edwell died at the age of 82. Her works are held in major collections across Australia, including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of NSW and the Castlemaine Art Museum.

For a more in-depth biography of this artist, click here.