From the Art Collection

The recent New Woman exhibition at the Museum of Brisbane showcased significant and influential local female artists of the past 100 years, including artist, Lola McCausland, who was well known for her paintings of the world of ballet, portraits and still lives of flowers. McCausland featured alongside several of our own alumnae artists, and other artists who feature in the School’s collections.

BGGS holds three of McCausland’s works and although she is not an alumna of the School, there are indeed other connections between her and Girls Grammar.

Her works in our collection were gifted by BGGS alumna, Dr Joan Godfrey OBE, in 2010. Dr Godfrey was an influential contributor to nursing education in Australia, beginning her career in the Army Medical Service. She was also a founding member of the Zonta Club of Brisbane.

As one of the most prolific and in-demand portraitists, in 1972 McCausland painted a portrait of Professor Dorothy Hill (BGGS, 1924), a world-renowned palaeontologist and educator, and a distinguished BGGS alumna, whose contributions to science were acknowledged by the School in the naming of the Dorothy Hill Observatory at Marrapatta in 2017. The portrait of Professor Hill is currently held at The University of Queensland Art Museum.

McCausland’s three paintings held by the School are all flower still lives: Bottlebrush (pastel); Roses (oil); and Australian Wattle (oil). These works are a pleasure to gaze upon and demonstrate McCausland’s skill and understanding of rendering the rich colour and texture of these beautiful flowers.

Mrs Lorraine Thornquist
Manager of Collections