A Niland Art Exhibition

 
I've been busy the last couple of months sorting, painting and framing many of my works to be exhibited alongside my sister Kilmeny's fabulous array of her own paintings from her art collection.

This exhibition is presented as a tribute to Kilmeny's lifelong interest in art and will be held at the Artarmon Galleries in Sydney from the 6th to the 23rd October, 2012.

There will be a wide variety of artwork on show and for sale: original illustrations from books, oil paintings, watercolours, ink, humorous paintings, serious paintings, enigmatic paintings, portraits of people and portraits of fruit. There will be a scattering of hippos, monkeys and cows, dogs and cats, but no pigs.
You'll see big paintings and tiny paintings.

Come and visit the gallery if you are interested in book illustration and painting. Kilmeny has left a beautiful legacy.

Some more paintings on show from the exhibition.

Kilmeny Niland

Deborah Niland

A treasured painting

About twenty-five years ago I bought a small painting from the local thrift shop in Sydney.

I had seen it in the shop window and loved the quietness of it. I took it home and had it cleaned and reframed.
I've always had this painting hung on a wall in my house.
I never knew who had painted it until a name revealed itself after the cleaning.  Even then I couldn't find out anything about the artist.  I've been curious all these years because I've always admired the fine detailed work in this small painting which measures only 10 x 8 inches.

Since the advent of the internet and the wealth of information to be explored, I've finally found out who my mystery artist is.  The name on the painting is C B Presbrey which I have traced back as belonging to Clara Briggs Presbrey (1864-1946) an artist who lived and worked in Taunton, Massachusetts, US.  She specialised in miniature painting.  

I haven't been able to find any other work by this artist and I wonder if any others exist.  And how did this painting end up in a thrift shop on the other side of the world?

Painting by Clara Briggs Presbrey (1864-1946)

Larger than actual size close-up. Painting by Clara Briggs Presbrey (1864-1946)

The other mystery I've yet to solve is the identity of the subject.  For a while I thought it might be a portrait of Clara's cousin, Frank Presbrey, who had a significant reputation in the advertising industry in New York.  Then I thought it could be a portrait of her own father, Silas Dean Presbrey, well known in Taunton, MA, as a respected physician and educator.  Or it could be someone quite unrelated to Clara.

Meanwhile I continue to enjoy my little painting!