Lady Sheila Cruthers took an immediate shine to women?s self-portraiture when she began collecting art in the mid-1970s.
This interest expanded into a collection strategy she referred to as `the artist and her work? ? Lady Cruthers would collect an artist?s work in addition to a self-portrait, with the two works often hung side by side in the family home. Now housed at the University of Western Australia, the Cruthers Collection of Women?s Art holds over 100 self-portraits, many collected as a result of this strategy.
The Artist and Her Work utilises this unusual juxtaposition to showcase the breadth and depth of women?s art practice, replicating the dense and vibrant hanging style of the collection?s original domestic context.
Pairs of works will be exchanged throughout the exhibition period to create a dynamic collection showcase that will reward repeated viewing.
Image left: Tania Ferrier, Self Portrait (detail), 1985, oil on board, 41.5 x 54.5cm, CCWA 625. Cruthers Collection of Women's Art, The University of Western Australia. (c) Courtesy of the artist
Image right: Tania Ferrier, East River Salsa, 1996, watercolour on card, 68 x 47cm, CCWA 626. (c) Courtesy the artist
Exhibition runs
25 May - 7 December 2019
Exhibition booklet
Including list of works, and essays by curator Gemma Weston and Taylor Reudavey.
University information
CRICOS Code: 00126G
