Printed and original artwork of Mollie Horseman, ca. 1963 - 1969.

PXD 1273

fonds

ca. 1963 - ca. 1969

Graphic Materials, Drawings, Watercolours, Photographs

903936

3 photographs - black & white - (25 x 20 cm or smaller)
1 sketch book (10 pages) - red cover, containing drawings - (36 x 26 cm)
19 watercolours - with black ink on board - 42 x 31 cm and 35 x 25 cm
24 drawings - 12 in black ink on acetate - 9 in pencil; 3 in marker pen on paper; 25.5 x 19 cm each; 34 x 25 cm each; 37 x 27 cm or smaller
1 scrapbook (30 pages) - green cover, containing printed magazine pages - 38 x 30 cm
14 magazine clippings - colour - 42 x 32 cm or smaller

Marie (Mollie) Compston Horseman (1911-1974), painter and cartoonist, was born in Rochester, Victoria. Her parents had emigrated from Yorkshire and developed a farm which was later destroyed by bushfires. After moving to Melbourne and Sydney, Mollie and her mother went to England soon after World War One, and then to Germany. On returning to Australia, Mollie became governess to Norman and Rose Lindsay’s children, and being later recommended by Norman to study at the National Art School where her drawing ability progressed rapidly, although never actually graduating. Mollie worked for ‘Smith’s Weekly’ and ‘The Bulletin’ which had a large circulation throughout Australia in the 1930s. In the 1940s she freelanced and appeared regularly in 'Man', 'Woman’s Mirror', 'Rydge’s Business Journal' and also 'Smith’s'. She also illustrated children’s books with one selling close to 200,000 copies. Her success continued into the 50s where Mollie illustrated a children’s comic strip for 'The Age', the 'Sunday Mail' Magazine and the 'Brisbane Courier Mail'.
Mollie contribution to Australian illustration and cartooning and her rare achievement of being a woman to have a leading place in newspaper work (especially in the 1930s) was acknowledged at the Australian Black and White Artists' Club of which she was a member, presenting her with an artist's smock decorated by fellow members at their annual ball in 1956, and in the 1960s, being one of only a handful of women in the industry receiving accolades from her male peers.

Reference: Kerr, Joan. (ed.) 'Heritage: The National Women's Art Book', Art and Australia ; Roseville East, N.S.W. : distributed by Craftsman House, 1995.

Mollie Horseman drawings, published illustrations and cartoons. 62 items in total.

Box 1

1. Pamphlet for Ironside Centenary Library; newspaper magazine supplement ‘Advertising in Australia; What Makes Women Buy?’, presumably featuring Mollie's illustrations (artist not identified).

2. 3 colour pages from magazines including Australian Home Journal and a small children’s book.

3. 9 printed colour pages from Everybody’s Magazine from 1963-1966 featuring Mollie Horseman’s illustrations and cartoons, including ‘Girl Crusoe: The Story of Suzy’.
(42 x 32 cm or smaller)

4. 12 sheets of acetate featuring a children’s book storyboard with rough sketches in black pen. (25.5 x 19 cm each)

5. 9 pencil sketches of various figures on paper. (approx. 34 x 25 cm each)

6. 3 abstract drawings using coloured pencil and marker pen. (37 x 27 cm or smaller)

7. 5 original book illustrations using black pen and watercolour on board. (35 x 25 cm each)

8. 14 large original cartoon illustration using watercolor and black pen on board for the comic strip ‘Girl Crusoe: The Story of Suzy’. (42 x 31 cm each)


Box 2

9. 1 photograph used as a postcard addressed to Mollie Horseman from ‘Lahm, Hunters Hill, N.S.W.’ including text in coloured biro pen; 2 black & white photographs of Mollie Horsemen painting and sketching. (25 x 20 cm or smaller)

10. 1 sketch book (10 pages) with rough pencil and crayon sketches and text inside back cover. (36 x 26 cm)

11. 1 scrap book (30 loose pages) of printed colour magazine and book pages of Mollie’s illustrations and cartoons glued to each page, and a newspaper clipping featuring Mollie Horseman inside front cover. (38 x 30 cm)

Pic.Acc. Upgrade Project - Information transferred from Pic.Acc.6848 as part of the eRecords Project 2012-13

Signed 'M. Horseman' and 'Vanessa'. Some printed works are acknowledged

Good condition, scrapbook pages are loose