B. 1875 – 1945 

Isabel May Tweddle was a successful artist and active member of the arts community. She was born in New South Wales, going on to study at the National Gallery School where she met Ada May Plante. Upon leaving art school, she worked as a photographic tinter and attended Max Meldrum’s classes, executing decorative and refined pastel portraits which shared an affinity with the style of Jessie Traill. 

Moving into a Post-Impressionist style, Tweddle lived in London between 1927 and 1933, exhibiting works in Scandinavia, the Mediterranean region, Australia and the Pacific. In the 1930s, she visited the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, Japan and Germany. 

Described as strong in personality and style, she was a foundation member of the Contemporary Art Group, committee-member of the Contemporary Art Society and served as President of the Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors. Opposed to conservative art, she believed that “modern art… brought back to painting the vitality and sincerity which had been suppressed by academic treatment.” 

Represented across public collections, Tweddle was an influence to artists Sybil Craig and Jessie Mackintosh, described by critic Basil Burdett as “a forceful, vigorous painter and a fine colourist”.

To read a more in-depth biography of the artist, click here.