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A retrospective of Mary Newsome's Art

This year I had the pleasure of meeting and working with our alumna Mary Newsome (née Reynolds, 1953), when curating the retrospective of her artworks, From Still Life to Digital Artbooks: A Retrospective of Mary Newsome’s works 1953 to 2009.

It was wonderful to talk to Mary and her husband Bernard, who in recent years has assisted his wife with the technology behind her digitally produced art books. This exhibition showcases Mary Newsome’s Matriculation (Year 12) school art and a selection of her mature pieces as an exhibiting artist.

Mary attended Lauriston from 1940 to 1953 and was involved in many school clubs and committees. During her final year Mary was School Captain, Prefect (1952–1953), Hockey Captain and Swimming Vice-Captain. She was involved in the German Club, Library and Senior Music Club Committees. Mary won Lauriston’s Angus Mitchell Prize and was awarded a scholarship to the University of Melbourne, where she achieved a Bachelor of Arts degree.

The exhibition presents a selection of Mary’s school paintings from Matric Art in 1953. This subject was introduced to Lauriston’s curriculum in 1951 and taught by Mrs McCartney. Mary’s still life sketches, using the traditional English method of pen and ink and watercolour, represents the focus of Matric Art in an era when students mainly drew objects on display in the art room (still life), classical motifs, or scenes from their immediate environment.

Mary’s Matriculation paintings reveal domestic interiors and her interest in representing the joys of everyday life that she continued to depict throughout her professional career. In Mary’s School artwork the viewer can already see her bold colour palette

and the distinctive use of lines to define structure that are prominent in her mature works.

The selection of Mary’s mature works from both solo and group exhibitions, show her skill and versatility as an artist using a variety of mediums to produce her art, including silk screen prints, etchings, reverse glass painting with acrylic paint and sweet foil papers, mixed media collages and digital technology for her series of artbooks.

Her solo exhibitions such as worldwidewindows and The Art of the Cake both borne out of her trips abroad, are testament to her taking the time to observe and record those everyday moments that bring joy, such as capturing the vistas out of her hotel windows and the cakes she ate in Parisienne pâtisseries. Mary has not been afraid to use her art as a critical lens. This is seen in her screen print Victoria 150 that juxtaposes the depiction of Queen Victoria with the 150th banner and the Australian pie.

In September 2022, we held an afternoon tea to thank Mary for the opportunity to exhibit her artworks. In her speech, Mary Newsome provided many humorous anecdotes about her time at Lauriston and studying Matriculation Art in the early 1950s. A large group of Mary’s family and friends attended the afternoon tea and were able to see the exhibition. Mary’s husband Bernard along with her daughters Polly and Sarah, enjoyed seeing her school art on display for the first time in nearly 70 years.

Mary’s artwork reflects her joy of living. I admire her ability to be able to observe, embrace the beauty in her surroundings and in the little pleasures in life.

Lisl Bladin Archivist