An Australian in Paris

Girl With Cigarette, by Agnes Noyes Goodsir; a portrait of Rachael Dunn, or Cherry, as Goodsir called her long-term partnerAgnes Noyes Goodsir (1864-1939)There is an Australian painter of the early twentieth century who is often referred to as the ‘Australian in Paris’: Rupert Bunny; but there is another expatriate – a woman named Agnes Noyes Goodsir – who can equally be so referred to.

I recently stumbled across Goodsir while researching another story and marvelled that I had never heard of her, not at art school or subsequently, and I can find very little written about her. She must be one of the most unsung artists in our history. There is such a lovely quietness and serenity in the few paintings I can find of hers, I was immediately struck by their melancholy beauty.

Chinese Skirt, by Agnes Noyes Goodsir, 1933Goodsir was born in Portland, Victoria in 1864, and was one of eleven children. She studied at the Bendigo School of Mines until 1899 and was encouraged by her teacher to study in Paris. She took his advice. After a ten-year hiatus in England, Goodsir returned to Paris in 1921.

Flowers and Green Beads, by Agnes Noyes GoodsirIn Paris, she established herself chiefly as a portrait painter, still lifes and interiors, capturing the stories and ambience of the Parisian lifestyle during the Roaring Twenties. Goodsir’s paintings were acclaimed in Europe, but even after visiting Australia in 1927 for two exhibitions in Melbourne and Sydney, she received little recognition and sold only a small number of works. She returned to Paris and lived there until her death in 1939.

A cup of tea (title unknown), by Agnes Noyes GoodsirA Letter, by Agnes Noyes Goodsir, 1915The Parisienne, by Agnes Noyes Goodsir, 1924Hydrangeas, by Agnes Noyes Goodsir, 1938