Mary Elizabeth Livingston

Mary Elizabeth Livingston (21 August 1857 - 18 December 1913) was a late-colonial Australian artist. She was best known as a botanical artist, specialising in Tasmanian native flora.[1]

Biography

Mary Elizabeth Livingston was born 21 August 1857 in Hobart, Tasmania, the eldest daughter of John Lees Livingston (1824-1911) and Mary Fry née McLean (1835-1920). Her sister Lillie also painted. Livingston attended the National Gallery School, Melbourne in 1879 where Eugene von Guerard was Master of Painting.[2][3] Unusually, she was enrolled in The School of Design and The School of Painting simultaneously.[4] During the 1880s, Mary Livingston taught painting and drawing at schools in Hobart, as well as offering private classes. On 29 March 1890 she married Robert Sydney Milles (1858-1925), a surveyor/engineer,[5] at St. Andrews Church in Hobart.[6] They had three children, Thomas Livingston (b.1891),[7] Mary Lillias (b.1894) and Robert William (b.1899).[8] Livingston continued to paint after her marriage, thereafter signing her work M. E. Milles.

Livingston was a contributor to commemorative albums, including the gift presented to Lady Sarah Smith, the wife of the Premier Sir Francis Smith, in 1883.[9] In 1887 the Tasmanian Government commissioned an album to present to the Earl of Aberdeen, John Hamilton-Gordon on his visit to the state.[10] She also painted on china and porcelain.

She died on 18 December 1913, in Hobart at the age of 54.[11]

Collections

References
  1. Backhouse, Sue (1988). Tasmanian Artists of the Twentieth Century. Hobart: Pandani Press. p. 128.
  2. Report of the Trustees of Public Library, Museums, & National Gallery of Victoria for 1879., pg 57.
  3. "Mary E. Livingston". Design & Art Australian Online. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  4. Ibid
  5. "Robert Sydney Milles (surveyor) NG1580 [Records]". Libraries Tasmania. 1892. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  6. "Family Notices". The Mercury. LV (6, 273). Tasmania, Australia. 31 March 1890. p. 1. Retrieved 19 July 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "Family Notices". The Mercury. LVII (6, 541). Tasmania, Australia. 9 February 1891. p. 1. Retrieved 19 July 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "Family Notices". The Mercury. LXXIII (9050). Tasmania, Australia. 4 March 1899. p. 1. Retrieved 19 July 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. held at the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Art, Hobart, Tasmania
  10. Mercury, Tuesday 26 April 1887, page 2
  11. "Family Notices". The Mercury. XCIX (13, 673). Tasmania, Australia. 19 December 1913. p. 1. Retrieved 19 July 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.