Guide to the Papers of Hilda Rix Nicholas, 1885-1971

Summary

Collection number:

MS 9817

Creator:

Nicholas, Hilda Rix and Wright, Rix

Extent:

5.25 metres and (32 ms boxes + 1 medium folio-box + 1 digital carrier [110 digital files (0.32 GB)])

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Hilda Rix Nicholas, National Library of Australia, MS 9817, [series and/or file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The collection comprises a lifetime's accumulation of papers by Hilda Rix Nicholas. The bulk of the papers comprise correspondence. There is a large series of letters written by Nicholas over a long period to her son, Rix Wright, and to her close friend, Dorothy Richmond. They are enhanced by the inclusion in the collection of many of the letters that they wrote to her. There is correspondence with a number of friends and acquaintances and business correspondence relating to Nicholas' career and to her day to-day-life. Apart from correspondence with Howard Ashton and Henrietta Gulliver over a number of years, there is little in the way of correspondence between Nicholas and other artists. Other correspondents include Will Ashton, Dion Boucicault, John Galsworthy, Bernard Hall, John Masefield, Charles Masson, William Moore, Mary Raphael and Dorothy Richmond.

There are travel journals and scrapbooks kept by both Hilda and Elsie during their time in Europe, including from a trip to Morocco in 1914. There are also travel journals from a trip to Europe in 1924, which were compiled by Hilda's travelling companion, Dorothy Richmond.

Other papers in the collection include exhibition catalogues, newspaper cuttings, financial papers and a small group of writings by Nicholas. There are a large number of black and white photographs, mostly relating to Nicholas' career, including photographs of a number of her works.

Biographical Note:

Emily Hilda Rix Nicholas Wright was born in Ballarat on 1 September 1884, the second child of Henry Finch Rix, a mathematician and writer and Elizabeth (née Sutton), an artist. Hilda's talent for drawing was evident from a young age and her interest in art was encouraged by both parents. Her first formal training as an artist was at the National Gallery School in Melbourne, under Frederick McCubbin.

On 22 March 1907, following the death of her father the previous year, Hilda, her older sister Elsie and their mother travelled to Europe so that Hilda might further her studies in art. They lived in London, where Hilda studied under John Hassal and in Paris, where she studied under M. Castelluccio. They also travelled widely, exploring rural France, Spain, Italy and Morocco. They rented a studio in Etaples near Boulogne in France, a popular summer haunt of artists. They returned to the studio in following years, until the outbreak of World War I made it unsafe for them to do so. In 1912, following an exhibition of her work in Paris, the French Government purchased one of her works.

On their return to England at the outbreak of World War I in 1914, both Elsie and her mother became ill and were hospitalised in London. Elsie died of enteric fever and Hilda had to keep the news from her mother for three months until her health had improved enough for her to stand the shock. Hilda's mother died eighteen months later in 1916.

On 17 October 1916, Hilda married George Matson Nicholas, DSO, a major in the Australian Army. During the course of the war, he had been stationed at an Australian military base established at Etaples. He had discovered Hilda's studio there and impressed by her work, managed to make contact with her in England and a relationship blossomed. Six weeks after the wedding, Nicholas was killed in battle.

Hilda returned to Australia in 1918, settling first in Melbourne and then in 1919 moving to Sydney where she set up a studio in an old stable at Mosman. She continued to paint scenes depicting the Australian way of life, touring rural New South Wales on painting trips.

In 1924, Hilda and close friend Dorothy Richmond travelled to Europe on an extended trip. She took with her a number of her paintings - mainly pastoral scenes - with the intention of promoting Australia and Australian art. Exhibitions of her work were held in London and Paris. In Paris, Hilda hired a studio overlooking the Luxembourg Gardens and she and Dorothy lived there in a small attached area. Together they toured regional France, with Hilda capturing life in small villages. In 1925 the French Government purchased another of her works, In Australia. In 1926, Hilda was made an Associate of the Paris Salon. They returned to Australia in 1926.

In 1928, Hilda married Edgar Percy Wright, the son of a pioneer farming family, who had settled in the Monaro district. Hilda had met Edgar several years earlier on one of her painting trips. She moved to his property, Knockalong, near Delegate in New South Wales. In September 1930, Hilda gave birth to their only child, a son, Rix.

Hilda remained on the farm for the rest of her life, designing a large studio which was constructed near the house. She remained staunchly opposed to the trend of modernism, choosing instead to continue painting in the traditional style and depicting in her works images that enhanced the notion of the Australian idyll and nationalism. Several exhibitions of her work were held, the last being in Melbourne at the Sedon Gallery in 1947. After this time, failing health limited her artistic output.

Hilda was elected a Fellow of the Royal Empire Society, New South Wales Branch, in 1950.

Hilda Rix Nicholas died at Delegate in 1961. She is buried on a hillside at Knockalong.

Provenance:

The papers were donated by Hilda Rix Nicholas Wright's son, Rix Wright, in 2003.

Arrangement:

Some sections of the papers, particularly the correspondence, had been substantially rearranged by Nicholas' biographer, John Pigot, prior to their being deposited in the Library. It appears that Nicholas did not have any special arrangement of the papers, other than to group the letters of certain correspondents together. This being the case, the Library has imposed it's own arrangement on the papers.

Container List:

Series	File/Item	Box
1	1-7	1
1	8-14	2
1	15-21	3
1	22-28	4
1	29-35	5
1	36-42	6
1	43-44	7
2	1-5	7
3	1-7	8
3	8-14	9
3	15-16	10
4	1-5	10
4	6-13	11
4	14-21	12
4	22-25	13
5	1-5	13
6	1-8	14
7	1-7	15
7	8-14	16
7	15-21	17
7	22-29	18
7	30-37	19
7	38-45	20
8	1-8	21
8	9-13	22
9	1-7	23
9	8-9	24
10	1-5	24
10	6-13	25
10	14-15	26
11	1-3	26
12	1-2	26
12	3-10	27
13	1-7	28
13	8-10	29
14	1-5	29
14	6, 8-13	30
14	7	Folio Box 1
15	1-10	31
16	1-3	31
17	1-2	31
17	3-10	32
18	1-2	Folio box 1

Indexed terms

Names:

Wright, Rix

Conditions Governing Access:

The collection is available for reference.

Conditions Governing Use:

Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Hilda Rix Nicholas, National Library of Australia, MS 9817, [series and/or file number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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