From the Collection: Eight Portraits of Women, by Women

Pamela Easton is a Brisbane fashion icon, widely known as one half of the internationally acclaimed fashion house Easton Pearson. Alongside friend and creative partner Lydia Pearson, Easton ran what was one of Australia’s most successful fashion houses for nearly 30 years. From 1989 to 2016, Easton Pearson was at the avant-garde of international fashion, whilst holding ethical collaboration with artisans and sustainable manufacturing at the core of its brand philosophy. A Brisbane local, Easton worked in the fashion industry for over a decade prior to starting her own label. She first met Lydia Pearson through friends in 1977, though it was not until a decade later that the women commenced their creative partnership.

Museum of Brisbane is home to the Easton Pearson Archive, which features the complete collection of the fashion house, and comprises more than 3,300 signature garments, as well as accessories, original sketches, look books, ephemera and runway footage.

Artist Judith Sinnamon is celebrated for her portraits and carefully crafted studies of Australian native flora. An inquisitive attention to light is signature of Sinnamon’s style, allowing her to capture the most intricate details of form, colour and movement. The artist graduated from the Queensland College of Art in 1984 and has exhibited extensively in Brisbane and beyond. This portrait was a finalist in the 2019 Brisbane Portrait Prize.

Daphne Mayo MBE (1895-1982) was one of Queensland’s most significant 20th century artists, known as a painter, leading sculptor and arts advocate. She was educated at Brisbane’s Central Technical College and London’s Royal Academy of Arts, where she was awarded with the gold medal for sculpture. Back in Brisbane, Mayo’s commissions would change the face of the city. Her most notable works include the tympanum relief, The Progress of Civilisation in the State of Queensland (1930), atop Brisbane City Hall, and the Queensland Women’s War Memorial at Anzac Square (1932). Mayo was appointed the first female trustee of the Queensland Art Gallery in 1960; her determined advocacy alongside Vida Lahey having shaped Queensland’s cultural landscape as we know it today.

Judith Wright (1915-2000) was an environmentalist, Aboriginal land rights campaigner and one of Australia’s most celebrated literary figures. After studying English at the University of Sydney, Wright spent the war years at her family’s farm in rural New South Wales. It was following this period, in 1946, that she published her first anthology, The Moving Image. Quickly making waves in the literary world, Wright commenced a prolific career that saw her publish over 50 books across a range of genres. Her poetry – deeply entwined with her social and environmental activism – received numerous accolades, including three nominations for the Nobel Prize in literature, and remains central to the Australian literary canon.

This lithograph was included in a portfolio depicting eminent Australian cultural figures compiled by the distinguished portraitist, Judy Cassab AO CBE (1920-2015). Born in Austria to Jewish Hungarian parents as Judit Kaszab, and having survived the atrocities of the Second World War, the artist immigrated to Australia in 1951 alongside her husband and sons. Cassab was a two-time winner of the Archibald Prize – the second woman to receive the prize and the first to gain the honour twice.

Sallyanne Atkinson AO (b. 1942) became the first (and to date only) female Lord Mayor of Brisbane in 1985, serving two terms in the role during a time when men dominated politics. Her vision for the city saw a foregrounding of arts and culture, and the river embraced as a key lifestyle asset. In her subsequent career, Sallyanne held senior roles representing Australia’s international trade interests and serving on the Australian Olympic Committee. She served as Chair of the Museum of Brisbane Board from 2012 to 2022 and remains the Museum’s Patron since 2023.

Sallyanne’s official mayoral portrait was completed by the then 92-year-old Caroline Barker OBE (1894-1988) in 1986. Barker, known primarily for her portraits and still life, is recognised for her significant contributions to the nascent Brisbane art scene. The artist began her studies in drawing and painting at the National Gallery School in Melbourne, before travelling to London in 1923, where she was accepted into the Royal Academy Schools of Art. Upon returning to Brisbane, Barker’s studio on George Street became a popular hub for international creatives during the wartime period. As an art teacher at Brisbane’s Somerville House, Barker taught and inspired future greats Margaret Olley, Betty Churcher and Margaret Cilento.