Dorothy Stephen

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Dorothy Stephen (1891–1974) was a British-born Australian modernist artist who worked in Melbourne from the 1930s to the 1960s. Born Dorothy Edna Hossack in early 1891 in Kingston upon Thames, England, she married Dr Clive Stephen on 5 April 1916. During World War I she served as a V.A.D. nurse with the British Red Cross and the Order of St John and was awarded the 1914 Star in 1917. After the war the Stephens moved to Central Victoria, where Clive practiced medicine and Dorothy gave birth to their son, Val Travers, in 1918. In 1919 they moved to Melbourne, living first in Prahran and then in Toorak.

Dorothy and Clive were active in Melbourne’s early modernist scene. They attended George Bell’s Saturday classes from 1925 to 1930 and ran life-drawing sessions that drew other young artists, including Will Dyson. Their home and classes helped fuel the city’s growing modern movement. Dorothy exhibited regularly with the Victorian Artists Society and received attention from critics, who noted her work alongside other women painters in the 1950s. She formed part of a vibrant artistic circle that included many notable Melbourne artists, and in 1965 she appeared in a Melbourne Contemporary Art Society show with other leading figures.

Dorothy Stephen lived for many years at 19 Avoca Street, South Yarra, and died on 10 January 1974 in Caulfield. After her death, her paintings continued to be shown and sold in galleries. Exhibitions after 1989, such as Eastgate Gallery’s group show and Jim Alexander Gallery’s 1989 exhibition, kept her work in public view, and a 1995 Mornington Peninsula show highlighted women artists from the era. The Sheila Foundation has also noted a Modigliani-inspired portrait of a young man, Julian, by Dorothy Stephen.