B. 1872 - 1951

Violet Teague was an Australian painter, printmaker and writer, best known for her portraiture paintings and altarpiece in St Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne. Teague is also recognised for co-creating the first Australian artists’ book and being one of Australia’s first female art critics. 

Born to an English father and Canadian mother in Melbourne, and educated by a French governess, Teague was exposed to different cultures from a very early age. She travelled extensively throughout Europe during the 1890s with her family, roaming between art galleries and collecting inspiration for her own work. Teague studied in Brussels at the studio of Ernest Blanc Garin and later in England with Sir Hubert von Herkomer, before returning to Melbourne in 1897 where she joined the National Gallery schools and the Melbourne School of Art. Having learnt to make woodcuts in England, Teague produced many Japanese-style woodcuts between 1905-14 and lectured on the technique at the Victorian Artists Society.

With portraiture a focal point of her practice, her paintings often focused on the lives of Melburnians, with her painting of Goldfields Commissioner Colonel Rede being hung at the Salon de la Societe des Artistes Francais in the early 1900s. An admirer of 18th century English portrait artist Thomas Gainsborough and the English school of portraiture at large, Teague often introduced 18th century mannerisms in her works. She infrequently exhibited throughout the 1920s and 1930s, pivoting her practice to creating altarpieces and panels for the Kinglake (War) Memorial Church in Victoria, the Arctic Cathedral in Alkavic, Canada and the Church of St James the Less in Mt Eliza.

Teague died in September 1951 in Mount Eliza. Her works are held in the collections of many major galleries across Australia, including the National Gallery of Victoria and the National Gallery of Australia. 

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