The Art Collection of the of the Late Ellen Margaret Waugh OAM
Theodore Bruce is delighted to bring to auction the art collection of the Late Ellen Margaret Waugh OAM. A highly respected artist art teacher and writer, Ellen Waugh was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2019 for her dedicated service to arts education and history. She was also an avid art collector, with works spanning Indigenous, Australian & international artists – including fabric from Christo & Jean-Claude’s renowned 1969 Sydney installation, Wrapped Coast.
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A Life in Art
Ellen Margaret Waugh OAM, (1924-2024) was a respected and award-winning art educator who left a lasting legacy on the Australian art world.
After joining Sydney Teacher’s College in 1947, she taught thousands of students over more than 30 years – at institutions including Alexander Mackie Teacher’s College, Bathurst Teacher’s College, Wagga Wagga Regional Teacher’s College and Scots College, Bathurst. She was also a Visiting Lecturer at Sydney University from 1963-1979.
Active in the wider art sector, Ellen was an Art Judge for the Bathurst Show in 1954, and Journal Editor of the Art Education Society of New South Wales in the 1980’s. She was a Life Member and former President of the Randwick and District Historical Society, and she played a key role in The Blake Prize – Australia’s longstanding art prize for religious or spiritual artworks – where from 1982 until 2001 she acted as Executive Secretary to the Board, and then Executive Director.
Ellen was appointed a Life Governor with the National Gallery of Australia Foundation, and her awards included the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Art, Design and Education from the University of New South Wales in 2007, and an OAM, awarded in 2019 for her longstanding dedication and impact on history and art education.
Pictured: Ellen Waugh in January 2023 | Photo courtesy Joseph Waugh
An Avid Art Collector
A prolific art collector, Ellen acquired much of her collection from her colleagues and students. Her eclectic taste spanned Australian and international artists such as Adam Cullen, Robert Dickerson, William Kentridge, Lin Onus, Anne Petyarre Price, Tony Tuckson and Roland Wakelin – as well as antique Japanese netsuke, oceanic carvings and decorative arts.
She was a longstanding supporter of Australian Indigenous art, her interest piqued after seeing rock carvings in the hills above Narrabeen lakes in 1931. She visited northern Australia and Torres Strait regularly until 2018, collecting during her travels.
In 2005, Ellen gifted a 1929 Grace Cossington Smith painting, The Bridge in Building, to the National Gallery of Australia. It was one of many donations during her lifetime, to institutions including the Historic Houses Trust of NSW, University of Sydney, University Art Gallery and Art Collections, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, the State Library of NSW, Manly Art Gallery and Museum and the Art Gallery of NSW.
Pictured: Ellen Waugh c. 1950’s | Photo courtesy Joseph Waugh
A Visit to Christo’s Wrapped Coast
In 1969, Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s visited Sydney to install their monumental project, Wrapped Coast. A lecturer in contemporary art at Alexander Mackie College and the University of Sydney at the time, Ellen visited the site at Little Bay, initially to gauge if the project would damage the coastline (she discovered it was much more likely to be damaged by locals littering the area).
Ellen photographed Christo working on the cliffs, film crews on site, and overview shots of the final installation, primarily to share with her students. Those photos are now part of the Kaldor Art Projects archive, which quotes Ellen as saying:
“My approach to it really was that Australian artists had gone to Europe, and here was someone from Europe coming and using the Australian landscape to provide an art that belonged in Australia.” Fifty years later, she would add: “[Christo] wasn’t ruining a coastline, he was showing the sculptural possibilities of a coastline.”
After the installation, the public were invited to take samples of the polypropylene fabric and bright orange rope that had been used in the work. Ellen collecting samples to discuss with students and the fabric is among items to be offered in the upcoming auction.
Pictured: Christo & Jean-Claude, Romania/USA, Lengths of Fabric from The Wrapping of Little Bay
Auction Details
Art | The Collection of the Late Ellen Margaret Waugh OAM
Monday 19 August | 11am
Timed Online Auction
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Adam Cullen, Australia (1965-2012), Peter's Cowardice 1998, Enamel on canvas
Lin Onus, Michael and I are Just Slipping down to the pub for a minute 2000 (the Ongoing Adventures of X and ray), Giclee print ed. 10/48
Lloyd Rees, Spanish Village 1976 Memories of Europe Series, Etching/aquatint ed. 18/90
John Coburn, Australia (1925-2006), Tree of Life II 1998, Silkscreen ed. 42/60
David Moore, Australia (1927-2003), Christo Wraps the Coastline, Little Bay No. 12 1969, Silver gelatin photograph, printed 1999
An Antique Japanese Carved Ivory Zoomorphic Netsuke with Fish & Squid Detail
Rosemary Pitjara, Utopia (b.1961), Bush Medicine Leaves, Acrylic on canvas
Tim Johnson, Australia (b.1947), Untitled, Acrylic on canvas
Martin Sharp, Australia (1942-2013), Ginger in Japan 1981, Woodblock ed.38/50