Bess Norriss

Elizabeth May Norriss, later Bess Norriss Tait, (17 May 1878 – January 1939) was an Australian artist.^[1]

Bess Norriss
self-portrait of Norriss
Born	17 May 1878 Melbourne
Died	January 1939 London
Nationality	Australian
Education	Melbourne Art Gallery School Slade School of Fine Art
Known for	Painting, drawing

Life

Norriss was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1878. She studied at Melbourne Art Gallery School and in 1905 at the Slade School of Fine Art in London.^[1] She specialised in watercolours and miniatures. In 1907, she was made a member of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters. She became a member of the British Watercolour Society and Society of Women Artists.

In 1908, she married the Australian entrepreneur J. Nevin Tait (1876–1961), the UK representative of and partner in the theatrical company J. & N. Tait. They travelled to South Africa in 1909 before returning to Australia. The National Portrait Gallery hold a self-portrait c.1900-10.^[2]

Norriss Street in the Canberra suburb of Chisholm is named in her honour.^[3]

Life in London

In 1911, she returned to London and resided in Church Street, Chelsea. She exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts, the New Society of Artists and the Paris Salon between 1908 and 1936,^[1] the Grosvenor Gallery and the Goupil Gallery. She was commissioned to paint the miniatures in Queen Mary's Dolls' House, produced 1921-4, currently on display at Windsor Castle.^[4] Francis Derwent Wood's bronze bust of her (1922) was purchased by the Chantrey Bequest for the Tate in 1926.^[5] A large one-man show of her work was held at Walker's Galleries in 1938. She died in London in 1939.

Work in collections

Her work is in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.^[6]

References

1. Brian Stewart; Mervyn Cutten (1997). The Dictionary of Portrait Painters in Britain up to 1920. Antique Collectors' Club. ISBN 1-85149-173-2.
2. "National Portrait Gallery – Portrait". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
3. "Schedule 'B' National Memorials Ordinance 1928–1972 Street Nomenclature List of Additional Names with Reference to Origin". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, Special. No. S24. 8 February 1978. p. 13. Retrieved 15 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
4. "Queen Mary's Dolls' House". www.royalcollection.org.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
5. "'Bess Norriss', F. Derwent Wood: Catalogue entry | | Tate". www.tate.org.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
6. "Lydia (Mrs Russell of Chelsea), (circa 1910) by Bess Norriss Tait :: The Collection :: Art Gallery NSW". www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 25 May 2016.