Alison Rehfisch (1900-1975)

Alison Rehfisch was a thoroughly modern artist who thrived in the bohemian culture of Sydney between the Wars. Associating with artists such as Roland Wakelin, Grace Cossington Smith and Arthur Murch, Rehfisch was an important figure in the early Modernist movement in Australia. Known for her domestic still lifes, nostalgic flower pieces and landscapes, there is a quiet intensity in her paintings. She was consistently concerned with colour and design as the underlying principles of painting. Rehfisch studied at the Julian Ashton Art School, then under Dattilo Rubbo. In 1933 she left her young family and moved to London, studying at the Grosvenor School. She travelled and painted in Europe for five years where she was influenced by the art of Cézanne, El Greco, Braque and Chagall. With her second husband and fellow artist George Duncan, Rehfisch was an active organiser and exhibitor with the Contemporary Group, the Contemporary Art Society and the Society of Artists. Her move with Duncan to country NSW in 1947 sparked an interest in painting the landscapes around Berrima, Moss Vale, and Goulburn. She won the Royal Art Society prize for Still Life in 1929, and is represented in the National Gallery of Australia and the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra; the Art Gallery of NSW; the Queensland Art Gallery; many regional gallery collections; the University of Western Australia; and Artbank.

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Ref: Rachel Power, ‘Alison Rehfisch: a life for art ’, The Beagle Press, Sydney, 2002

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