Artist Agnes Goodsir: From Bendigo to Paris, her mysterious story

Updated June 1 2019 - 5:50pm, first published 3:30am
Agnes Goodsir (left) and Rachel Dunn (aka Cherry) (second from left) at Valerie en Caix c. 1930. Artist unknown. Photograph. The Goodsir Archive, on loan to Bendigo Art Gallery.
Agnes Goodsir (left) and Rachel Dunn (aka Cherry) (second from left) at Valerie en Caix c. 1930. Artist unknown. Photograph. The Goodsir Archive, on loan to Bendigo Art Gallery.

National Portrait Gallery director Karen Quinlan considers the case of artist Agnes Goodsir, whose low profile in Australia belies her overseas acclaim.

In the late 1990s when I commenced work at the Bendigo Art Gallery as curator, I came across five paintings in the collection by Agnes Goodsir. I was particularly struck by two portraits, Girl on Couch (c. 1915) and Girl with Cigarette (c. 1925), and these were retrieved from the art store and included thereafter in the Australian permanent collection hang. Both oil paintings intrigued me, and I found myself driven to discover more.

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