Dora Lynnell Wilson was born on the 31st August 1883, the second of four children born to James and Annie Maria Wilson (nee Green). The three eldest, Hugh Campbell, Dora Lynnell and Agnes Maude were all born in Newcastle Upon Tyne, in England, whereas the youngest, Percy James, was born in Melbourne after the family immigrated to Australia in May of 1885, on board the Ibera.

Wilson received her early education at the Methodist Ladies College in Hawthorn, and in her late teens, was inspired by an exhibition of etchings by Anders Zorn in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria. Keen to try it for herself, Wilson later bought a press and made several etchings of the landscape around Melbourne and Tasmania. Although etching constituted some of her earliest artistic output, Wilson is best known today for her oil paintings documenting Melbourne’s CBD.

Wilson received her art education at the National Gallery School which she commenced in 1901, arriving in the same year as good friends Jessie C.A. Traill and Janet Cumbrae Stewart, under the tutorage of Bernard Hall and Fredrick McCubbin.7 Dora Wilson also received lessons in etching from John Mathers and may have attend-ed with fellow print enthusiast, Jessie Traill, in 1903.

In her third year at the Gallery School, Wilson won first place in the Anatomical Figure Section, and after completing the course in 1907 she submitted examples of her oils, watercolours and etchings to the First Australian Exhibition of Women’s Work in Melbourne, taking home both the first prize and silver medal in the etching category.

Wilson completed her studies at the age of 24 years old and was living with her parents and older sister, Agnes Maude, at 25 Hawthorn Grove in Hawthorn. Shortly after leaving the Gallery School, Wilson rented a studio (no. 4), in the old Temple Court building at 424 Collins Street, Melbourne. The old building ended up housing several of her ex-classmates including Nora Gurdon and Jessie C.A. Traill. It has also been suggested that life-long friend and companion, Pegg Clarke, may also have had a studio there as she was quite often an attendee at the celebrations and parties hosted by the artists. Pegg Clarke was a photographer who would later work for The Home magazine.

It was here, that Wilson turned her hand to pastels and, probably as a means to support her independence, began painting portraits. During this time, her work appears to align very closely with that of Janet Cumbrae Stewart, moving into pastels nudes early in her professional career. As Wilson rarely dated her paintings, it is difficult to say with certainty when she commenced working in this genre though examples may have appeared in her exhibition as early as 1913. Over the next decade, Wilson took every opportunity to show her work and build a reputation, exhibiting with various groups in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Sydney. 

Throughout her life, Dora Wilson had the ability to unite and organise people, and she was instrumental in the formation and organisation of the group of ex-gallery students known as The Waddy, in 1909. They opened their first exhibition of pictures at the Guild Hall on the 15th June the same year. In 1923, Temple Court began to be demolished, forcing the occupants out. Wilson remained as long as she could, though eventually had little choice but to abandon it to its fate. She moved her studio to the purpose built “Grosvenor Chambers” at number 9 Collins Street, occupying a room said to have previously been used by Tom Roberts. Grosvenor Chambers was a three story building constructed specifically as artist’ studios and was occupied over the years by some of Australia’s most eminent painters of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

In May of 1921, Wilson’s mother, Annie Maria, passed away, and Wilson, along with her father and sister, appear to have moved next door to number 27 Hawthorn Grove. The death of Annie Maria appears to have marked a downturn in the family’s financial circum-stances as James, who was employed as a Manager prior to 1921, became a warehouseman and Maud, who was always recorded as undertaking home duties, appears to have found employment as a librarian in 1922. That same year, the family appear to have moved again, this time to 41 Callantina Road in Hawthorn, a property that was said to have been less impressive than the home they occupied when Annie Maria was still alive. Records from 1931, record Dora Wilson as residing at “Rothesay” in Callantina Road, though evidence suggests that Rothesay and number 41 Callantina Road, are one and the same, rather than her own home away from the rest of the family.

It was during the 1920s that Wilson started regularly holding her own solo exhibitions, focusing on the same capital cities where her work had previously been shown. In 1924, her Young Australia was chosen for inclusion in the British Empire Exhibition in Wembley, marking the beginning of an international reputation for the talented young artist. In 1926, she exhibited at the Dunedin Exhibition, in New Zealand, followed in 1926 by the acceptance of Reve d’Or into the Paris Salon. She exhibited there again in 1927.

1927 marked the beginning of an incredible adventure for Wilson, who travelled to Europe with now close friend, Pegg Clarke. There they met up with Madge Henderson, a fellow Melbournian who ran a lavender farm at Woodend, who would join the two friends on their adventure. They hired an Essex sedan they nicknamed Pepperpot because “she was hot stuff”, and with Madge doing the driving, Pegg, the cooking, and Dora helping where needed, the trio drove 7000 miles across Europe. They spent two and a half years travelling together on the tiniest of budgets, often sleeping in their car or in barns. During this period, Wilson returned to using oils, a medium she appears to have preferred to use for landscapes and street scenes. Wilson took a studio in Paris in September of 1928. They were in Avignon by November that year, and spent Christmas together in Italy. 

Before leaving Europe, Wilson took advantage of the opportunity to further build on her international reputation through a series of exhibitions in London in 1929. She held a solo exhibition of her work at the Beaux Arts Gallery, and a private show at Australia House. She also contributed works to the Royal Institute of Oil Painters Exhibition, as well as the Women Painters Exhibition. 

Having parted from their travel companion, Wilson and Clarke returned home to Melbourne together by the SS Morton Bay in September of 1929. Having given up her lease of the Grosvenor Court studio before leaving Australia, Wilson joined Pegg Clarke in her gallery at 403 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn upon their return. In around 1936, the pair would move their studio to number 437, opposite Scotch College. It was described as an attractive studio which was reached from the street by a cobbled pathway through a woody garden.

Wilson had obviously developed a love for painting street scenes and historic buildings during her time in Europe, as she continued this work following her return, enthusiastically capturing the historic streets and building in and around the city of Melbourne ahead of the dreaded wrecking ball. Today, these works provide an important record of Melbourne’s historic architecture and evolving skyline, and it is the contribution of this marvelous collection that she is perhaps best remembered today. This work continued throughout the thirties, a decade marked by a period of terrific energy. She exhibited widely, holding several solo exhibitions, and contributing work to many others. She had built a solid reputation for herself and her work was greatly admired.

Throughout her life, Wilson had also been an enthusiastic and energetic volunteer, who embraced many a worthy cause. She was extremely generous, donating many works and portrait commissions over the years to raise much needed funds for both war efforts, as well as for local hospitals and children’s homes. She also organised numerous social balls, tea parties and theatrical productions for the benefit of the arts community.

Wilson continued to exhibit right up until she passed away from cancer on the 21st November 1946, at the age of 63, after only four months of illness. She left most of her paintings and property to her sister Agnes, and to her life-long friend, Pegg Clarke. She also bequeathed £1100 to the National Gallery of Victoria in order to set up a travelling Scholarship. Having experienced first-hand how travel can improve an artists skills, experience and reputation, Wilson was eager to assist other students of her alma mater to travel abroad. Perhaps not quite what she had in mind, the Trustees decided that any travel outside Victoria would service the winner just as well as would an overseas trip, and set aside £100 for the Scholarship winner, which would be announced every three years. The winner of the first Scholarship was announced in November of 1951 and won by Shirley Bourne. The winner of the second Scholarship in November 1954 was by J.R. Howley who also won the Phillips Fox Scholarship at the same ceremony. Presumably they both won £100 each, as agreed by the Trustees, though I am unable to corroborate this, nor can I find any evidence to suggest that the scholarship existed past this year.

Dora Wilson was laid to rest in the Springvale Botanical Cemetery on Monday the 25th November, 1946. Pegg Clarke survived her by 13 years, passing away quietly on the 6th June 1959 at St Alfred Private hospital in Toorak. She was cremated and her ashes were scattered at the Springvale Botanical Cemetery.