Biography.guide
Home › People › Painter › May Vale
Portrait of May Vale

May Vale

1862 – 1945

Australian painter

Don't just read it — keep itBiographies to ownE-book · Audio · Video From $7 →

About May Vale

Lived 1862 – 1945 (aged 82). May Vale was an Australian painter.

Biography Vale was born in Ballarat, the daughter of the Hon. W.M.K. Vale, on 18 November 1862.

Training Vale's family moved to Melbourne 1872 then to London, England in 1874, where Vale was educated at the South Kensington School (Royal College of Art) in London.

During 1879-1889, after returning to Melbourne, she attended the National Gallery Art Schools, Student colleagues at the school included Jane Sutherland and Clara Southern.

Australia Back in Melbourne where her address in the 1890s was "Mayfield", Church Street, Abbotsford, Vale exhibited with the Victorian Artists Society in nearby East Melbourne from 1892. In 1893 opened a studio at 119 Swanston Street where she gave art lessons and worked as a commissioned portrait painter. and she also joined the Yarra Sculptors' Society. At the Society of Artists Exhibition, Sydney in 1919 she displayed enamelware brooches in techniques learned at the Chelsea Polytechnic.

Style Throughout her life Vale exhibited at venues including the Victorian Artists Society, the Women's Art Club, the Athenaeum,

Collections

National Gallery of Victoria Victorian Artists Society

Gallery

Biography shop

Don’t just read it —
keep it.

Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.

  • E-book
  • Audio
  • Video
Browse the shop — from $7

Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free

Important facts

Birth century
Occupation
Education
Royal College of Art

People in May Vale's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped May Vale's

Frequently asked questions

Who was May Vale?

Australian painter (1862-1945)

When was May Vale born?

May Vale was born on 18 November 1862 in Ballarat.

When did May Vale die?

May Vale died on 6 August 1945 in Melbourne.

What was May Vale's occupation?

May Vale was a painter.

What nationality was May Vale?

May Vale was Australian.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: May Vale

· Wikidata: Q21536713

· DBpedia: May Vale

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). May Vale. https://biography.guide/may-vale/

MLA: "May Vale." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/may-vale/.

Chicago: "May Vale." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/may-vale/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

Page generated 2026-09-27 05:26 UTC