One Hundred Years of Painting Beauty

Last week, Anne Graham, a resident at Royal Freemasons and celebrated Australian artist, marked her 100th birthday. Born in Vienna, Austria in 1925, Anne emigrated to Australia with her family in 1939, on the cusp of World War II.

A Jewish family, they were fortunate to receive a tip off that her father’s business was to be ‘investigated’ by the Nazis and so swiftly fled the country, settling in Melbourne a few months later.

As a child, Anne showed great artistic promise and always loved to paint and draw. “It was exciting, and it came naturally,” she says.

In the rush to flee Austria, Anne’s mother had the presence of mind to bring Anne’s art portfolio with them, because just a few years later, she would be one of the youngest students admitted to Melbourne Technical College (now RMIT).

Alongside art, classical music and opera were Anne’s other passions, and it was at an opera performance that she met her husband, Bill.

“Mum had a spare ticket to a Mozart opera, which she offered to sell to those queuing up,” says Anne’s daughter, Sue. “My father, who was also a European refugee, regularly travelled to Melbourne from the bush, where he worked. He bought the ticket and ended up sitting next to mum — that was the beginning of their relationship.”

Anne and Bill married in 1946 and had two daughters soon after. In between the busyness of family life, she continued painting, studied at the National Gallery School and George Bell School, and began exhibiting her work in the 1950s.

She was also driven to inspire creativity in younger generations and presented the first children’s art show Handy Anne on Australian TV in 1956.

A prolific artist, she would work four hours each morning, six days a week, seeking to capture and celebrate the beauty she saw in everyday life, particularly the joyful colours and forms of nature. She also loved drawing people during her tram journeys, visits to cafes, markets, and the beach.

“Mum has always said that the reason she paints is to create beauty. There’s too much ugliness in the world and she wanted to help people focus on the positives and on beauty,” says Sue.

Anne’s career has spanned more than seven decades, and her works are now held in private Australian and international collections, as well as in university, regional and state collections.

Among her most celebrated paintings is a triptych of Melbourne’s Botanical Gardens, called A Garden for all Seasons, which is part of the Victorian Arts Centre collection.

A Garden for all Seasons, Arts Centre Melbourne collection.

Shortly after Bill died, Anne moved into Royal Freemasons’ Coppin Centre community in Melbourne, which has been her home for the past 12 years. Royal Freemasons allowed her the space to continue painting, giving her free access to a room she used as her studio.

“Mum would lock herself away there to paint as she listened to ABC Classic FM,“ says Sue. “There she was free to put her whole mind into just painting and she always worked with great concentration.”

Rather than slowing down, Anne has spent much of her later years painting, only stopping in her 93^rd year. “It just took its course and came to a natural end,” says Sue.

 
Anne at her 100th birthday celebrations

When asked what she is proudest of looking back on her 100 years, Anne says without hesitation, “The work that I did — it gave me a lot of joy.”

And her art will continue to give joy to others for many generations to come.

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