Adelaide Elizabeth Perry Australia, 1891-1973

Adelaide Elizabeth Perry was born June 23, 1891 in Beechworth Victoria to Eliza and Richard Perry, the second of five daughters. Her artistic abilities were recognised at a young age and encouraged. In 1914 she began art studies at the National Gallery School in Melbourne under the instruction of Bernard Hall and Frederick McCubbin where her skill and belief in draftsmanship as the basis of good art and a commitment to figurative traditions were fostered. In 1918 she won the highly sought National Gallery of Victoria Travelling Scholarship to the Royal Academy School in London with a painting “Grandmother’s Gown”, depicting a young woman in period costume. Perhaps because the scholarship was not fully funded she didn’t travel abroad immediately but taught art at Ipswich Grammar School in Queensland until December 1921. She studied in London and Paris, returning to live in Sydney in 1925. Perry opened her own art school and for four years taught at the Julian Ashton School. Principally a painter, she also made linocuts and woodcuts. She contributed to the Exhibition of Young Moderns organised by George Lambert and Thea Proctor in 1926.

In our database, 233 works by Adelaide Perry are listed as being offered for sale, the earliest in 1971, of which 154 (66%) were sold. The highest price recorded for the artist is $31,200 for Marilla sold by Sotheby's in August 2007. This year 3 works have been offered for sale. Works by Adelaide Perry are held by the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of NSW and a further six major public national galleries (see list below).