Gypsy Belle was painted in 1896, after Josephine’s return from study in Paris and London. According to Victoria Hammond and Juliet Peers, it ‘is among the most outstanding Australian portraits of its time; for sheer exuberance and expressive freedom it is difficult to match.’1
This artistic exuberance, however, was not sustained and Josephine soon reverted to a more restrained and conventional style. ‘This may indicate that the portrait was too adventurous for its time… and explain why Muntz Adams toned down her palette and her painterly exuberance.’2
Gypsy Belle was exhibited as part of Josephine’s solo retrospective at the Athenaeum Gallery in 1943, where it was priced for sale at a mere 60 guineas – less than half the asking price for her portraits in the early 1900s.
It is now popular work in the collection at the Art Gallery of Ballarat, and is featured on the front cover of its catalogue.
Image courtesy of the Art Gallery of Ballarat.
