We share the history of the women with thanks to original research by curator Sarah Frazer.
The group was comprised of Mary Leviny, Lilian Sheridan, Alice Waterhouse, Winifred Brotherton, Elsie Barlow, Mary Brough Woolley and Mrs Cox, who stood in solidarity for better representation of women in art.
They were the among the first women to set up a regional gallery in Victoria, guiding an early focus in the collection on Australian art and supporting women artists. Collectively these women were also involved in many aspects of building a resilient civic and cultural life in the region in the early 1900s.
They were instrumental in establishing the town’s first art institute, the Castlemaine Art Gallery and Museum (now known as the Castlemaine Art Museum) and contributed widely to the cultural, environmental and civic life of the town.
A shared passion for flora and fauna
Mary Leviny, Lilian Sheridan, Alice Waterhouse, and Winifred Brotherton were Castlemaine locals from a young age (Mary and Lilian from birth, Alice and Winifred from childhood). They shared a love of Australian flora and fauna and were all members of the Castlemaine Ramblers or Field Naturalist Society prior to establishing the art museum.
As members of the Castlemaine Progress Association, they helped organise the exhibition Castlemaine Past and Present held in 1910. This exhibition was designed to instil community pride in the township while asking the question, "Where to now?"
Two years later, artist Elsie Barlow moved to Castlemaine with her young family and brought with her the momentum to turn that one-off exhibition into a fully-fledged art museum.
Founding the Castlemaine Art Gallery and Museum
After staging the first female solo exhibition in Castlemaine she quickly became friends with Mary, Lilian, Alice, Winifred and Alice’s mother, Mary Brough Woolley. Together with a Mrs Cox, these women became the inaugural office bearers of Castlemaine Art Gallery and Museum in 1913. The only office not filled by a woman was that of President, which was filled by Alice’s husband, Lt Colonel Newell.
A note: Castlemaine Art Museum has held different names throughout its history, including Castlemaine Art Gallery and Museum, Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum, and Castlemaine Art Museum. It has always been an independent not-for-profit owned by the Trustees of the Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum.
Research on the Wildflowers women was compiled by curator Sarah Frazer.
Elsie Barlow (1876 - 1948) was an artist who trained at the National Gallery School in Melbourne with Frederick McCubbin, and fellow students Jane Sutherland, Hugh Ramsay, and A.M.E Bale. She was a member of the Victorian Artists Society and the controversial Twenty Melbourne Painters, and she exhibited her works through these associations for decades.
She came to Castlemaine when her husband was appointed the local Police Magistrate. They had three children, including an infant who passed away a few years prior to the move.
Image of Elsie Barlow at her solo show at the Castlemaine Mechanics' Institute in 1912. Image courtesy of Adolphus Verey, care of the Adolphus Verey Photographic Collection.
She was the first woman to hold a solo exhibition in Castlemaine when, in 1912, she displayed over 70 works at the Mechanics' Institute (now the Library). She was also the first Australian woman to paint snowscapes, undeterred by the frostbite that ensued. Referring to CAGAM, the Castlemaine Mail asserted “our Police Magistrate's popular and clever wife, Mrs. Barlow, is the originator of the happy suggestion”. She was CAM’s first Vice-President. Elsie remained a professional painter her entire life.
You can view some of her artwork in the Castlemaine Art Museum’s collection at www.castlemaineartmuseum.org.au.
Mary Leviny (1869 - 1939) was born in Castlemaine at Buda House, where she grew up in an incredibly creative family. She trained as a painter with Jane Sutherland, though she did not continue an artistic career due to family commitments, including running the family business after her father passed away.
Image credit: Leviny sisters at the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens, 1908, collection of Buda Historic Home and Garden.
Mary was a life-long member of the Red Cross and signed the Monster Petition for Women's Suffrage (1891). She was supportive and proud of her creative younger sisters and their successes. The Leviny family contributed greatly to the success of CAGAM over its first four decades, with various siblings being Committee President, acquisitions advisors, and donors.
Her youngest, and last surviving, sister Hilda left Buda House to the Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum Trust.
You can explore more about Mary via the Buda Historic Home and Garden webpages below, and peruse some excerpts from her diary.
You can also read artist Catherine Pilgrim's reflection on the Leviny Women as well as an article about historical connections between Buda Historic House and Garden and Castlemaine Art Museum at www.castlemaineartmuseum.org.au
Lilian Sheridan was also born in Castlemaine (Campbell Street) and attended the School of Mines with Mary Leviny and Alice Newell.
She was a member of the Castlemaine Field Ramblers and involved with fundraising activities at the Methodist church. There is little information specifically about Lilian. We are left to imagine her life from snippets of news about events she attended or people her parents hosted in their public life.
Image credit: Portrait of Winnie Brotherton in 1901. Cropped from a portrait with her cousin, Frances Hodgkins, taken in Melbourne Australia. Image held by the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Accession no RC2015/4/4/96. Gift of Linda Gill, 2015.
Winnie Brotherton (1874 - 1956) was a Field Rambler who collected specimens of indigenous flora for Baron Ferdinand von Mueller (State Botanist of Victoria), some of which ended up in museums worldwide. She often highlighted the beautiful local flora of the region through award-winning floral displays at Castlemaine's horticultural shows.
Winnie was the District Commissioner of the Girl Guides for many years, a Red Cross volunteer in London during WW1, a Committee Member of the Castlemaine Woollen Mills, co-founder of one of the earliest qualified schools for children with special needs, a business owner, and a breeder of heritage goats.
She helped save the historic Market Building from destruction and dedicated much of her time to cataloguing the collection at Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum. The museum section of CAM (lower ground floor) is named in her honour. She was CAM’s first Secretary. Read more about Winnie Brotherton in an essay by Marjory Theobold commissioned by Castlemaine Art Museum www.castlemaineartmuseum.org.au
Image credit: Catalogue card for a specimen collected by Miss Brotherton in the Upper Loddon in 1895, collection of Castlemaine Art Museum.
Alice Newell (1876 - 1966) loved indigenous flora so much she planted out her paddocks with Australian wildflowers, creating what is known today as Kaweka Wildflower Sanctuary (Hargraves St, Castlemaine).
Alice was a mother of six and a professional artist. Her paintings and embroidery designs are based on Australian flora and fauna. She exhibited in Melbourne at the Arts and Crafts Gallery, the Athenaeum Gallery, the Victorian Artist’s Society and the Lyceum Club.
Alice’s husband, Lt Col F.S. Newell, was the sole male member of the inaugural Committee for the Castlemaine Art Gallery and Museum. As President, he ensured the face of CAGAM was palatable to local investors of the period.
You can see a beautiful example of Alice's work in the Castlemaine Art Museum collection. Visit www.castlemaineartmuseum.org.au
You can also visit Kaweka Wildflower Sanctuary which Alice created. Visit Friends of Kaweka Sanctuary.
Mary Brough Woolley (1853 - 1941) was an accomplished wood carver who had trained in Denmark, as well as being Alice Newell's mother. Mary came to Australia from England, with her two young children, following her husband (John Waterhouse) who was the engineer of Wattle Gully Mine in Chewton.
After her husband's untimely death, Mary and the children moved into Castlemaine. She later married Dr Woolley, who worked at Castlemaine Hospital. There is a beautiful pedestal at CAM that was designed by Alice Newell and carved by Mary.
We know that Mary was offended and saddened that the women of CAGAM's first Committee were erased from the gallery's origin story. We know this because deep in the gallery's archive is a letter she wrote to then Secretary of CAGAM, Mr Brent Clark, voicing her disappointment. Mary was CAM’s first Treasurer.
Mrs Cox (?) is representative of women who have been omitted from the historical record, including these founding women of CAGAM's first Committee. There were a number of women named Mrs Cox living in Castlemaine and surrounds, as well as in Daylesford, at the time. She may have been one of these, though as yet we are unable to conclusively identify her.