Alice Marion Ellen Bale

Alice Marian Ellen Bale, known as A. M. E. Bale, (11 November 1875 14 February 1955) was an Australian artist, the editor of the Victorian Artists' Society's journal VAS and a foundation member of the Twenty Melbourne Painters Society. In her will, she left an endowment for the A. M. E. Bale Travelling Scholarship and Art Prize to support Australian artists. The endowment funds a scholarship and two prizes.

Early life and education

Bale was born in Richmond, Victoria, on 11 November 1875, the daughter of Marian and naturalist William Mountier Bale. She was an only child, and her family had houses in both Kew and Castlemaine. Distancing herself from her fellow female artists who were more aligned with the suffragette movement, Bale preferred to work hard within the constraints of the traditional structures of the art world, and never left Victoria.

Other activities

Bale edited the Victorian Artists' Society's journal VAS before her efforts to reform the society in 1917 and 1918 and an election loss got her ousted as a troublemaker. and was among others who declared themselves against an Australian Academy of Art proposed by Robert Menzies, including Isabel May Tweddle and Norman Macgeorge; Bale wrote to the Governor General protesting the formation of the Academy.

In collections Art Gallery of New South Wales, National Gallery of Victoria. Castlemaine Art Museum

Awards She was a finalist in the Archibald Prize in 1922, and 1924, while 1932 Ernest Buckmaster's portrait of her was a finalist in the Archibald.

Death and legacy Bale died on 14 February 1955 A. M. E. Bale Art Prize in the medium of oil and/or acrylic (A$5,000) A. M. E. Bale Art Prize for Works on Paper (A$5,000) In 1977, Peter Wegner was awarded the A. M. E. Bale residential painting scholarship under Sir William Dargie, awarded by Glen Eira City Council, which he undertook from 1978 to 1980.