Autobiography Of My Mother

An intimate portrait of an artist by the author of the bestselling Far From a Still Life, Meg Stewart.

An intimate portrait of an artist by the author of the bestselling Far From a Still Life, Meg Stewart.

This delightful biography of Australian painter Margaret Coen is written by her daughter, Meg Stewart, the highly acclaimed biographer of Margaret Olley. Margaret Coen was born into an era when it wasn't easy for a woman to forge an artistic career. Yet she survived as a commercial artist during the Depression, joining Sydney's bohemian set in their sketch clubs and raucous studio parties. She became close friends with Norman Lindsay and married poet Douglas Stewart, which immediately gave her entree into Sydney's literary circles of the time.

Meg tells her mother's story, first published twenty years ago, in Margaret's voice, with a stream of anecdotes and personal details that build a captivating picture of her life, and of Australian social and artistic history in this era. Meg has also written a fascinating new chapter on her mother's relationship with Norman Lindsay.