Theodora Cowan

For British actor, see Theo Cowan.

Theodora Esther Cowan
Cowan c.1898
Born(1868-11-13)13 November 1868
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died27 August 1949(1949-08-27) (aged 80)
Vaucluse, New South Wales, Australia
Education
Known forSculpture, painting

Theodora Esther Cowan (Theo) (1868–1949) was an Australian artist, regarded as the first Australian-born woman sculptor.[1][2][3] She was one of a number of women sculptors who were working at the end of the 19th century.[4] Apart from being the first to be born in Australia, Cowan (along with Margaret Baskerville) was among the first to achieve success, especially for her portrait work.[5][6][7]

  1. ^ "Our First Lady Sculptor". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 June 1913. p. 9. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  2. ^ "All About People". Catholic Press. Sydney. 11 December 1902. p. 12. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  3. ^ "Australia's women pioneers in the fields of literature, music and fine art". National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  4. ^ Among them were Margaret Thomas (1840–1929), Dora Ohlfsen (1867–1948), Margaret Baskerville (1861–1930) (the first woman sculptor to be born in Victoria), Fairlie Cunninghame, Heather Mason, Dora Barclay, Eva Benson, Mildred Lovett and Margot Holden.
  5. ^ Sturgeon 1978, p. 46.
  6. ^ Sturgeon 1978, p. 48.
  7. ^ Sturgeon 1978, p. 49.