Violet Vimpany

Violet Emma Vimpany (née Alomes, 15 April 1886 – 2 March 1979) was an Australian painter and etcher, and in later life also a master stonemason. Her work is held in the permanent collection of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.

Early life and education Vimpany was born in 1886 in Forcett, Tasmania, one of eight children (four girls and four boys) of Walter Alomes and Emma Jane Parker. She studied art at Hobart Technical College in 1928 and 1931 to 1932, under the tutelage of Belgian-born Australian artist, Lucien Dechaineux.

Career During the 1930s Vimpany shared a studio at 76 Collins Street in Hobart with other women artists of the time, including Edith Holmes, Mildred Lovett, Ethel Nicholls, Florence Rodway, and Dorothy Stoner. It is presumed that during this time Holmes painted the artwork Portrait of Violet Vimpany (Masterpiece Fine Art Gallery Hobart).

Vimpany was a council member of The Art Society of Tasmania from 1936 to 1952, and exhibited with them for over forty years (1932–1975). elected president in 1945, and served as delegate for the NCW at UNRRA in 1945.

Violet Vimpany died on 2 March 1979, aged 92. She is buried at the Forcett Lewisham Cemetery in Tasmania.

Major exhibitions

1939 – International Women: Painter, Sculptors, Gravers, Riverside Museum (now the Master Building), New York 1932–1975 – various exhibitions with the Art Society of Tasmania

Personal life She married Amos William Vimpany, the foremost stonemason of Hobart, and also a former student of Hobart Technical College. They had two daughters, Violet (‘Vi’) and Gwendolene (‘Gwen’).