Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1910s-1983 (Creation)
Level of description
Series
Extent and medium
6 items
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Frances Vida Lahey was born on 26 August 1882 at Pimpama, Queensland. She was the daughter of David Lahey, an Irish-born farmer and timber-miller, and mother, Jane Jemima Lahey (nee Walmsley). She was the eldest of 12 children. She learned painting from Godfrey Rivers at Brisbane Technical College, then studied at the National Gallery School in Melbourne in 1905 to 1906. In 1909 she studied painting with Frederick McCubbin and Bernard Hall. With the outbreak of World War One, Vida abandoned her artistic pursuits and established a home base in London for her brothers and cousins who had enlisted. After the war she traveled Europe, returning to Australia in 1920. She taught art for many years in Brisbane. Together with Daphne Mayo they co-founded, in 1929, the Queensland Art Fund and they were involved in raising funds for the acquisition of works for the Queensland Art Gallery. In recognition for her services to art, Vida received a M.B.E. (Member of the British Empire) in 1958. She passed away on 29 August 1968.
She is considered one of Australia's best known and respected women artists, renowned both for her artistic production and her activities as an art educator and advocate. 'Monday Morning', a large oil painting of Lahey's sister and a friend scrubbing clothes at the family washtub launched she professional career and is her most persistent claim to fame.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
From 1930 to 1934 Shaw attended Vida Lahey's painting and drawing classes in Brisbane. Mim moved to Sydney in 1935 at the suggestion of Vida Lahey. Mim Shaw was an art teacher and in the early 1940s she assisted with Vida Lahey's afternoon painting and drawings classes for children. Mim also wrote an account of Vida Lahey, as suggested to her by Daphne Mayo. Vida Lahey was Mim Shaw's teacher, mentor and friend. All four items in this series are held in handmade, hand painted artist folders of roughly A3 size containing newspaper clippings, notes, drafts, teaching material, cards, colour charts, correspondence, and information on Daphne Mayo.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Unrestricted access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Box 2 Item 2; Parcel 1 Items 1-5
Alternative identifier(s)
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Description control area
Description identifier
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Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Final
Level of detail
Full
Dates of creation revision deletion
Created, Linda Justo, 1-Nov-2019