Elaine Haxton (1909-1999)

Biography

1909 Born in Melbourne
1923-24 Studied at East Sydney Technical College
1924 Assistant to sculptor Raynor Hoff
1925-28 Worked for David Jones as a fashion artist, studied part-time at East Sydney Tech
1929 Worked as a freelance commercial artist.
1929 Joined a sketch club run by Alison Rehfisch
1933-36 Travelled to England. Studied at Grosvenor School
1933-36 Worked in advertising & design for magazines such as Harpers Bazaar & Vogue. Travelled to Germany, Austria, France and Spain
1939 Returned to Australia via New York and Mexico. Highly productive and creative period in Elizabeth Bay, working with artists such as Drysdale, Friend and Dobell
1944-45 Travelled to New Guinea as a theatre designer and stage manager
1945 Travelled to New York, studied at the New York School of Theatre Design
1948 Settled in London
1948 Painting trips to France, Austria, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark
1950 Returned to Sydney, working in set and costume design
1954 Married Richard Cunningham Foot
1961-62 Sponsored visit to South-east Asia, USA, England, Europe and India, followed by an exhibition of paintings at the Art Gallery of NSW
1965-69 Studied printmaking at Willoughby Art Centre, Sydney. Gave up stage work
1969 Studied at the William Hayter print making studio, Paris
1972 Travelled throughout the Pacific Islands
1989 Moved to Adelaide

Exhibitions

Over 100 public and commercial gallery exhibitions in Australia, New York, London, Athens, Paris, Rome, Milan, Auckland, San Francisco, Prague and Yugoslavia, including:

1926 Society of Artists
1937 Royal Institute of Oil Painters, London
1961 Art Gallery of New South Wales
1971, 72 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1971 Art Gallery of New South Wales
1971 Second British International Print Biennale
1972 Second International Contemporary Print Biennale, Capri, Italy
1990 Greenhill Galleries
1990 Retrospective, Hamer Mathew Galleries, Double Bay, Sydney

Awards

1943  Sulman Prize

Collections

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
All state and most regional galleries and university collections
Numerous international collections, including Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Hermitage, Leningrad; Edgar Kaufmann collection, USA

Source:
Paul Coombes, 'Elaine Haxton: A Biography. Achievements in paint and print', Communication Programs, Sydney, 1990

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