{{Short description|Australian artist (1901–1988)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}{{Use Australian English|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox artist | name = Beatrice Darbyshire | birth_name = Beatrice Dean Darbyshire | birth_date = {{birth date|1901|03|31|df=y}} | death_date = {{death date|1988|07|31|1901|03|31|df=y}} | birth_place = Perth, Western Australia | death_place = Mosman Park, Western Australia | image = Beatrice Darbyshire.jpg | caption = Darbyshire in 1929 }}
'''Beatrice Dean Darbyshire''' (31 March 1901 – 31 July 1988) was an Australian artist. She was best known for her etchings, two of which were selected for display at the British Empire Exhibition in 1924 and 1925.
== Early life and education == Darbyshire was born in Perth on 31 March 1901, the daughter of Agnes (née Campbell) and barrister Benjamin Harvie Darbyshire. She began her education at Miss Jobson's school in Perth, before attending The Hermitage, an all-girls school in Geelong, Victoria, from 1915 to 1917. She had studied art with Henri Van Raalte in 1913 and 1914, and returned to his tuition after her time in Geelong.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|last=Chapman|first=Barbara|title=Darbyshire, Beatrice Dean (1901–1988)|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/darbyshire-beatrice-dean-12399|work=Australian Dictionary of Biography|place=Canberra|publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University|language=en|access-date=2022-02-03}}</ref> Edith Trethowan and Henrietta Jull (better known as writer Henrietta Drake-Brockman) were fellow students.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Fremantle Traffic Bridge|url=https://research.histwest.org.au/museum/detail/1|access-date=2022-02-03|website=Royal Western Australian Historical Society}}</ref>
== Career ==
=== Art === Darbyshire's art was first shown publicly at the Art Gallery of Western Australia at an exhibition arranged by the Western Institute of Artists. In 1924, she was encouraged by Van Raalte to sail to London where she studied first at the Slade School of Fine Art,<ref>{{cite news|date=21 May 1925|title=Woman's World|volume=XL|page=27|newspaper=Western Mail|issue=2,051|location=Western Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37642650|via=National Library of Australia|accessdate=3 February 2022}}</ref> and later at the Royal College of Art, and she graduated as an associate in 1927.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite news|date=1 September 1927|title=Woman's World|volume=XLII|page=10|newspaper=Western Mail|issue=2,169|location=Western Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37998329|via=National Library of Australia|accessdate=3 February 2022}}</ref>
Two of her etchings, ''The Cowshed, Balingup'' and ''In the Blackwood Country'', were selected for display at the British Empire Exhibition in London in 1924 and 1925.<ref name=":0" /> She had works on show at the University Art Club Exhibition in August 1929, one of which was acquired by the Art Gallery of Western Australia.<ref>{{cite news|date=8 August 1929|title=News and Notes|volume=XLV|page=18|newspaper=The West Australian|issue=8,466|location=Western Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32301772|via=National Library of Australia|accessdate=3 February 2022}}</ref> In 1930, she was one of the Australian artists represented at the British Empire Academy in London.<ref>{{cite news|date=19 April 1930|title=Australian Art|volume=XLVI|page=9|newspaper=The West Australian|issue=8,683|location=Western Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31075330|via=National Library of Australia|accessdate=3 February 2022}}</ref>
For ''The Dawn'', she wrote a two-part article, "Etchings", in which she described the process of producing etchings and the work of Durer, Rembrandt and Charles Meryon.<ref>{{cite news|date=17 August 1932|title=Etchings|volume=14|page=6|newspaper=The Dawn|issue=2|location=Western Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article256290126|via=National Library of Australia|accessdate=3 February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=14 September 1932|title=Etchings|volume=14|page=6|newspaper=The Dawn|issue=3|location=Western Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article256290169|via=National Library of Australia|accessdate=3 February 2022}}</ref>
An exhibition, titled Western Australian Printmakers of the 1920s and 1930s, including artworks by Darbyshire, A. B. Webb and Edith Trethowan, was held in Canberra in 1981. In his review, art historian Sasha Grishin wrote that Darbyshire "left a valuable historical record of her time".<ref>{{cite news|last=Grishin|first=Sasha|date=25 March 1981|title=ART: Retrospective look at WA printmakers|volume=55|page=28|newspaper=The Canberra Times|issue=16,616|location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article126829695|via=National Library of Australia|accessdate=3 February 2022}}</ref>
Darbyshire's work is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Beatrice Darbyshire|url=https://searchthecollection.nga.gov.au/artist?irn=12676|access-date=2022-02-03|website=National Gallery of Australia|language=en}}</ref> the Art Gallery of Western Australia,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Beatrice Darbyshire|url=https://collection.artgallery.wa.gov.au/persons/7295/beatrice-darbyshire|access-date=2022-02-03|website=Art Gallery WA Collection Online|language=en}}</ref> and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Knotty tree near Dudinalup, Western Australia, late 1930s by Beatrice Darbyshire|url=https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/109.1990/|access-date=2022-02-03|website=Art Gallery of New South Wales|language=en}}</ref>
=== Health === In July 1940, Darbyshire left Perth to train as an instructor with the Women's League of Health, run by Thea Stanley Hughes in Sydney.<ref>{{cite news|date=25 July 1940|title=Roundabout|volume=56|page=12|newspaper=The West Australian|issue=16,866|location=Western Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46728436|via=National Library of Australia|accessdate=3 February 2022}}</ref> After qualifying, she conducted fitness classes in Sydney and Wollongong, before returning to Perth in 1944.<ref>{{cite news|date=19 January 1944|title=Woman's Realm|volume=60|page=4|newspaper=The West Australian|issue=17,949|location=Western Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46782097|via=National Library of Australia|accessdate=3 February 2022}}</ref> She managed the Western Australian branch of the league for the following 12 years.<ref name=":0" />
== Death == Darbyshire died on 31 July 1988 in Mosman Park, Western Australia.<ref name=":0" />
== References == {{Reflist}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darbyshire, Beatrice}} Category:1901 births Category:1988 deaths Category:20th-century Australian women artists Category:Australian etchers