Amalie Sara Colquhoun Facts for Kids

Also known as Amalie Sarah Colquhoun, Amalie Sara Field

Quick facts for kids Amalie Sara Colquhoun
Amalie Colquhoun in 1945
Born	Amalie Sara Field (1894-03-20)20 March 1894 Murtoa, Victoria
Died	16 June 1974(1974-06-16) (aged 80) East Melbourne, Victoria
Nationality	Australian
Known for	Painting, Educator
Spouse(s)	Archibald Colquhoun (m. 1931)

Amalie Sara Colquhoun (born March 20, 1894 – died June 16, 1974) was a talented Australian artist. She was known for painting landscapes and portraits. Her artworks are displayed in important art galleries across Australia.

Besides painting, Amalie also designed beautiful stained glass windows. She created these for three churches in Ballarat. She studied art in both Melbourne and Sydney. Her paintings were shown in exhibitions in England and Australia. Amalie also taught art at a school she started with her husband in Melbourne.

Her Life and Education
Her Art Career
Awards and Recognition
Exhibitions
See Also

Her Life and Education

Amalie Sara Field was born in Murtoa, a town in Victoria, Australia. Her father, Alfred Francis Field, was a blacksmith. Her mother was Louisa Caroline.

In 1904, her family moved to Ballarat. There, Amalie studied drawing and design at the Ballarat Technical Art School. She became an art teacher there in the mid-1920s. A famous artist named Harold Herbert said she was one of the best students the school ever had.

Amalie continued to learn and grow as an artist. The Victorian Education Department helped her study pottery and stained glass. She learned these skills at Sydney Technical College. When she returned to Ballarat, she started teaching pottery at the school. She also studied at the well-known Max Meldrum School in Melbourne. Later, she taught at Melbourne Technical College.

In 1931, Amalie Field married Archibald Colquhoun. He was also an artist. They did not have any children. Amalie passed away on June 16, 1974, in East Melbourne. She was buried in Boroondara cemetery in Kew.

Her Art Career

In 1927, Amalie started working at the Working Men's College in Melbourne. She left this job in 1933. That same year, her husband, Archibald Colquhoun, opened his own art school in Melbourne. Amalie was one of his students, and they got married in 1931. For a while, the Colquhouns lived in their art studios in Melbourne.

Amalie and Archibald taught art for many years. Their school displayed portraits, landscape paintings, and copies of famous sculptures. Amalie was especially known for her seascape paintings. She created these from their holiday house in Lorne, Victoria.

In 1937, they spent a year painting in Edinburgh and London. They held a joint exhibition at the Islington Galleries in London. They also showed their work with the London Portrait Society. Archibald painted a portrait of Amalie in 1948. This painting, called Amalie Colquhoun, is now in the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Amalie and Archibald often showed their art together. People sometimes called them "the two A's." Amalie was very good at painting children's portraits. She would keep the children happy by putting on a puppet show. Her husband Archie built the puppet theatre, and she made the puppets herself!

In 1950, the Colquhouns closed their art school. In 1954, they moved from the city to Kew. They set up a studio and a small gallery in their home. They continued to paint many landscapes and seascapes. These paintings often showed places they had visited. Amalie believed that studying art was good for everyone. She thought it helped people grow and appreciate beauty.

Awards and Recognition

Amalie Colquhoun's portraits were chosen many times for Australia's top portrait award, the Archibald Prize. This happened over several decades.

Here are some of the years her work was shown:

In 1933, her painting John Davie, Esq
In 1934, Miss Jean Lawrence and Captain WA Robertson
In 1937, Mrs B Degenhart
In 1939, Ellen
In 1940, Russell Hooper and Graeme Penington
In 1941, Miss Jenny Gowans and Miss KH Pearce
In 1945, Mrs E Phillips Fox and Portrait of Miss R Heathcote
In 1947, Miss Jean Whitman
In 1948, Flight Lieut James Bruce Birchfield, No 3 Squadron, RAAF. Also, her husband painted her portrait, Amalie S Colquhoun, which was shown.
In 1949, her painting Rosie was bought by the Art Gallery of NSW in 1950.
In 1950, Andrea Maneschi
In 1952, Jennessee Blakie
In 1955, Miss Dorothy Ross, MSc, BA