1. Norah Gurdon was born around Jan-March 1882 in Norfolk, England, to Dr Edwin John Gurdon and Ellen Ann Randall.
12 Facts About Norah Gurdon
1. 2.
Norah Gurdon was the second of four surviving children, and her family emigrated to Ballarat, Victoria in 1886, travelling on board ship the Carlisle Castle.
3.
Norah Gurdon attended the National Gallery School from 1901 to 1908, being taught by noted artists Frederick McCubbin and Bernard Hall.
4.
An accomplished landscape and still-life painter, Norah Gurdon exhibited her works with the Victorian Artists Society while still a student.
5.
Norah Gurdon established her artistic prowess early on by winning the major category for oil painting in the 1909 City of Prahran's Art Exhibition Prize.
6.
Norah Gurdon signed up as a British Red Cross volunteer nurse in a French military hospital at Le Croisic, serving for three and a half years and was awarded a British Victory medal for her services.
7.
Unlike many other female artists of the time, Norah Gurdon was unmarried and financially independent.
8.
Norah Gurdon purchased land in 1922 with plans to build her dream house in the Dandenong Ranges at Kalorama.
9.
Norah Gurdon enjoyed handicrafts, spending her spare time at tapestry looms designing and producing her own floor rugs and mats.
10.
Norah Gurdon was a regular and successful exhibitor of work, exhibiting with the Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors, and the Australian Art Association.
11.
Norah Gurdon held an exhibition in 1937 at the Fine Arts Gallery in aid of the construction of St George's Hospital in Kew.
12.
Norah Gurdon's work is held in the collections of Shepparton Art Museum, Yarra Ranges Regional Museum, Castlemaine Art Gallery, National Gallery of Victoria, Bendigo Art Gallery, Benalla Art Gallery, and Brighton Historical Society.