A charming exhibition at the Bendigo Art Gallery explores the influence of Paris on generations of Australian painters, including Josephine Muntz Adams.
Paris has long been the beating heart of the art world, attracting painters from across the globe. For Australian artists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the influence of Paris was transformative, shaping their techniques, perspectives and careers.
Josephine Muntz Adams was one of those artists. Her painting Lady in White (c.1915), part of the Bendigo Art Gallery’s permanent collection, is featured in one of its current exhibitions, The School of Paris: Australian artists abroad.
Josephine’s artistic journey took her to Paris in c.1890, where she studied at the Académie Colarossi – a progressive alternative to the more rigid, but popular, Académie Julian.
Her time in Paris was pivotal. In 1893, her painting Care was exhibited at the prestigious Paris Salon and earned the honour of being hung ‘on the line’, a placement reserved for the most outstanding works.
According to the Bendigo Art Gallery, ‘The School of Paris was a term coined in reference to the wave of non-French artists from around the world who gravitated to this thriving centre of artistic activity.
‘Exposure to French and Parisian traditions of art making was formative and profound, whether their time in Paris was fleeting or they were true émigrés, never to return to Australia.’
Josephine’s story is one of many explored in this exhibition, which also highlights the work of Agnes Goodsir, Amalie Colquhoun, Margaret Preston, Clarice Beckett, Rupert Bunny and Max Meldrum. Each of these artists, in their own way, absorbed the influences of the Parisian art scene.
The exhibition was on at the Bendigo Art Gallery from 1 December 2023–30 November 2025.
