New Exhibition: Dangerously Modern: Australian Women Artists in Europe 1890–1940

Helen Stewart 'Portrait of a woman in red,' 1930s, oil on canvas,64.5 × 49.3cm. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarew, purchased 2006 with Ellen Eames Collection funds © estate of the artist. Cover picture of Issey Miyake SS26 in Paris by Jay Zoo for DAM. 

By Victoria Souliman, University of Sydney

When art historian Linda Nochlin famously asked “why have there been no great women artists?” in 1971, her point wasn’t that women lacked talent. It was that the art world had systematically excluded and erased them from history.

In the 50 years since, scholars and curators have worked to reclaim these forgotten women artists. But change has been slow.

The Guerrilla Girls’ activism in the 1980s, the Countess Report’s damning statistics on gender inequality in Australian galleries, and the National Gallery of Australia’s recent Know My Name initiative show the fight for recognition is ongoing.

Dangerously Modern: Australian Women Artists in Europe 1890–1940 marks an exciting new chapter in this project. The new exhibition, from the Art Gallery of South Australia and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, makes a groundbreaking contribution to recovering the stories of overlooked women artists.

The global stage

With 222 works from 34 collections, Dangerously Modern celebrates the boldness and resilience of the first wave of professional Australian women artists who left for Europe between the turn of the 20th century and the second world war.

They went seeking advanced artistic training and the chance to compete on the global stage. Their time abroad was transformative.

Intimate portraits and domestic interiors by Florence Fuller (1867–1946) and Bessie Davidson (1879–1965) capture moments of quiet reflection. These artists navigated unfamiliar cultures, engaged with cutting-edge artistic movements and built new creative networks.

They lived far from home and maintained connections across two continents – often celebrated in one and forgotten in the other.

Bessie Davidson, Jeune fille au miroir (Girl in the mirror), 1914, oil on canvas, 73 × 60 cm, National Gallery of Victoria, gift of Andrée Fay Harkness through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program 2020. © Art Gallery of South Australia

The exhibition sheds light on these expatriate artists. They engaged in artistic communities from bustling cosmopolitan centres like Paris and London to regional France, England, Ireland and North Africa.

It reveals the variety of artistic styles in which they worked while weaving together five themes that explore human experience and artistic purpose.

Truly modern

Bold and vibrant paintings by artists like Iso Rae (1860–1940) show their engagement with modern artistic movements.

Through painting en plein air (outdoors) and post-impressionist techniques (using vivid colours and expressive brushstrokes), these women expressed their own experience of modern life. For some, this included portraying their female lovers.

Art can help heal personal trauma. Here, in particular, these women looked at the devastation of war.

The pairing of paintings by Hilda Rix Nicholas (1884–1961) is especially powerful: The Pink Scarf (1913) glows with light, texture and delicate beauty; These Gave the World Away (1917) depicts her husband’s lifeless body on the battlefield.

Hilda Rix Nicholas, The pink scarf, 1913, oil on canvas, 80.5 x 65 cm. Art Gallery of South Australia, gift of Mrs Roy Edwards through the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 1993 © Bronwyn Wright

By retracing the achievements and journeys of 50 expatriate women artists, the exhibition presents works never seen before in Australia. From the celebrated New Zealand artist Edith Collier (1885–1964), Girl in the Sunshine (c.1915) is notable for its bold use of colour, flattened perspective and simplified forms.

It also features works that haven’t been seen in Australia for over a century. A winter morning on the coast of France (1888) by Eleanor Ritchie Harrison (1854–95) was recently rediscovered and donated to the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

The exhibition also reunites works by artist friends who painted side by side.

Edith Collier, Girl in the sunshine, c1915, oil on canvas, 78.7 × 59.7 cm. Collection of the Edith Collier Trust, in the permanent care of Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery © the Edith Collier Trust

Women at the forefront

We are privy to moments of breakthrough in these artists’ creativity and careers.

The exhibition brings together landscapes Grace Crowley (1890–1979), Anne Dangar (1885–1951) and Dorrit Black (1891–1951) painted together in 1928 while studying under the French artist André Lhote (1885–1962) in the hilltop village of Mirmande in southeastern France.

These works, to which the artists applied cubist principles (breaking down forms into geometric shapes and showing multiple perspectives), testify to both artistic freedom and each woman’s individual vision and skill.

Dorrit Black, Mirmande, 1928, oil on canvas, 60.0 x 73.8 cm. Elder Bequest Fund 1940, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide

Though such works placed them at the forefront of French modern art movements, these artists were largely overlooked back in Australia.

Why? At the time, Australia’s conservative art establishment promoted a nationalist agenda. They favoured masculine depictions of labour and Australian landscapes painted by male artists working in Australia.

This elite group marginalised not only women artists but also expatriates who participated in international artistic developments. The resulting nationalist narrative long overlooked the themes this exhibition explores.

Nora Heysen, Self-portrait, 1936, oil on linen, 63 × 50.5 cm. Private collection © Lou Klepac

Nora Heysen (1911–2003), daughter of celebrated landscape painter Hans Heysen, exemplifies this dual marginalisation. Despite becoming the first woman and youngest artist to win the Archibald Prize in 1938, her self-portraits – which reveal her search for identity and assertion during her London years – remained hidden from public view until the 1990s.

When Thea Proctor (1879–1966) returned to Sydney from London in the 1920s, she wrote, as the catalogue quotes, “it seemed very funny to me to be regarded by some people here as dangerously modern”.

“Dangerously modern” perfectly captures the spirit of the exhibition. These expatriate women artists were seen as threats to tradition, gender roles and to the prevailing definition of what Australian art should be.

Agnes Goodsir, Girl with cigarette, c1925, oil on canvas, 99.5 x 81 cm. Bendigo Art Gallery, bequest of Amy E Bayne 1945, photo: Ian Hill

Beyond reclaiming the place of these women in the history of Australian art, the exhibition emphasises the importance of migration in shaping artistic identity.

By recognising works created abroad as integral to Australia’s artistic story, this exhibition transforms how we understand both Australian art and modernism as a global movement.

Dangerously Modern: Australian Women Artists in Europe 1890–1940 is at the Art Gallery of New South Wales until February 15 2026.

Victoria Souliman, Lecturer, French and Francophone Studies, University of Sydney

Condé Nast Magazines Ban Fur After Decades of Protest. Is it a Turning Point or Another Fashion Fad?

Is Conde Nast's decision not to use fur in its magazines' editorial campaigns a tipping point or a fashion fad? Cover picture of Issey Miyake SS26 by Jay Zoo for DAM. 

By Rachel Lamarche-Beauchesne

For decades, animal rights activists, campaigners and ethical designers have.: fought to strip fur fashion of its glamour and expose the cruelty behind it.

From bold celebrity-led protests to quiet shifts in consumer values, these efforts have slowly reshaped the fashion landscape.

Now, one of the industry’s most influential gatekeepers, Condé Nast – publisher of Vogue, Vanity Fair and Glamour – has announced it will no longer feature “new animal fur in editorial content or advertising” across its titles.

The decision, which includes exceptions for what are outlined as “byproducts of subsistence and Indigenous practices”, marks a symbolic turning point within the fashion media landscape due to Condé Nast’s global reach.

It is especially significant given Vogue’s legacy in glamorising fur and its historically unwavering support under former editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, one of fur’s most powerful advocates in fashion media and a long-time target of the anti-fur movement.

Wintour remains involved at Condé Nast in the role of chief content officer, and as Vogue’s global editorial director.

Anti-fur campaigns

The announcement by Condé Nast follows a nine-month campaign led by the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade. This activist group staged more than a hundred protests targeting Condé Nast executives, editors and affiliated businesses.

Demonstrations ranged from picketing outside the homes of Vogue editors to disruptive actions inside stores linked to Condé Nast through board affiliations.

Demonstrators protesting against Vogue’s use of fur earlier this year. Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade/Alastair Mckimm

While this campaign undoubtedly influenced the publisher’s decision, it was likely the culmination of anti-fur advocacy dating back to the early 20th century.

The long tail of the movement

Animal rights activism in fashion can be traced back to the late 19th century, when the feather trade decimated bird populations and led to the extinction of species prized for their plumage.

Anti-fur activism followed. It gained momentum in the 1970s, and with the founding of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in 1980.

Through high-profile campaigns exposing the cruelty of fur farms, PETA enlisted celebrities and models to pose nude in its iconic “I’d rather go naked than wear fur” ads.

These efforts led to tangible change. Calvin Klein dropped fur in 1994, citing animal advocacy. Since then, fur-free policies have become a relatively easy win for brands navigating the increasingly complex ethics of animal materials.

TV personality Khloe Kardashian unveils her PETA ‘Fur? I’d Rather Go Naked’ billboard on December 10 2008, in Los Angeles. Charley Gallay/Getty Images

A new standard for luxury fashion

Several US states have banned fur sales, and fur farming is now outlawed in countries including the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Austria, Italy and Norway.

Condé Nast’s new position places it alongside other media and fashion leaders. Elle magazine went fur-free in 2021. Major luxury brands such as Max Mara, Burberry, Chanel, Prada, Valentino and Versace have adopted similar policies, as have retailers including David Jones (Australia), Macy’s (US), Nordstrom (US), Saks Fifth Avenue (US) and Hudson’s Bay (Canada).

In 2022, French luxury conglomerate Kering also committed to a fur-free policy across its brand portfolio.

The largest remaining holdout is LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE) – the parent company of Dior and Fendi – which faces mounting pressure to follow suit.

The fur paradox

Despite these shifts, fur remains a fascination within fashion, and periodic revivals are still celebrated in the press.

TikTok’s 2024 “mob wives” aesthetic, featuring oversized fur coats and animal prints, sparked a return of fur on winter runways. Singer Sabrina Carpenter even wore a special edition Louis Vuitton fox fur coat on the day of the Met Gala.

This paradox reflects fashion’s cyclical and often contradictory nature. Faux fur and faux shearling are increasingly used to replicate the luxury aesthetic without the ethical baggage. Yet debates about the environmental impact of synthetic fur complicate this narrative.

What’s next?

Condé Nast’s fur-free stance comes at a time when many fashion brands are rethinking or rolling back their sustainability commitments.

Some industry observers worry climate goals are being deprioritised. Ralph Lauren, for instance, has dropped its net-zero emissions target. Also, the Vestiaire Collective, a platform for pre-loved luxury item resale, has started monetising its activities by selling carbon credits, demonstrating the difficulty of navigating current market conditions.

Still, there are signs of progress. Stella McCartney’s Summer 2025 Paris Fashion Week show featured feather alternatives made of plant-based materials.

This year also marked the first Australian Fashion Week in which fur, feathers and exotic leathers were banned from catwalks.

Animal rights advocates, such as Collective Fashion Justice founder Emma Hakansson, continue to push for the industry to reduce its use of leather, wool and other animal-derived material.

This space is dynamic and evolving. Whether Condé Nast’s decision is a tipping point, or another fashion fad, remains to be seen.

Rachel Lamarche-Beauchesne, Senior Lecturer in Fashion Enterprise, Torrens University Australia

Cultural Cartography: MaXhosa Spring/Summer 2026 Maps the Spirit of Africa onto the Runways of Paris

In Paris, at the MaXhosa show backstage, a model wears one of the new designs from the latest collection. Photograph (above) by Brittany Scott. Masthead picture of Issey Miyake SS26 by Jay Zoo.

Marking a significant chapter in South African fashion, MaXhosa's Spring/Summer 2026 showcase in Paris encapsulated both celebration and continuity. Under the creative direction of Laduma Ngxokolo, the brand used its platform at fashion week to reaffirm a decade and a half of work dedicated to fusing Xhosa heritage with contemporary design. Story by Antonio Visconti. Photographs by Brittany Scott

The new MaXhosa collection

in Paris mixed vivid hues with

intricate patterns and textures. 

LADUMA Ngxokolo’s aim for his new MaXhosa collection was to bridge continents and generations by presenting Izipho Zabadala, “Gifts for the Ancestors,” reaffirming his position as one of Africa’s leading fashion designers. 

Presented as part of the official Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode schedule, the designer paid homage to lineage while charting new creative ground. 

With more than 30 intricately constructed looks, the show combined traditional motifs with modern construction, reflecting Laduma Ngxokolo’s ongoing mission to position African craftsmanship within the vocabulary of international luxury.

"This collection stands as our heartfelt offering of gratitude to the wisdom, creativity, and heritage passed down by our elders," the designer said. "Every garment speaks across time, weaving past, present, and future together, a bridge connecting the living with the ancestral realm." 

The showcase, held at the Lycée Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague, marked the brand’s fourth consecutive season on the official Paris schedule and its 15th anniversary, milestones that underscore its steady rise from a South African knitwear label to a global luxury name.

Ngxokolo’s vision for Spring/Summer 2026 was a meditation on heritage as both inheritance and innovation. Conceived as an offering to his forebears, the collection celebrated the wisdom and artistry passed down through generations of Xhosa craftsmanship. The designer described the garments as vessels for ancestral memory, a dialogue between the spiritual and the contemporary.

The presentation opened with a soulful performance by South African legend Yvonne Chaka Chaka, setting the tone for a show steeped in both rhythm and reverence. Models walked on richly patterned carpets from MaXhosa’s homeware line, wearing garments alive with movement: tiered ruffles, beaded motifs, and geometric knits in vivid harmonies of pink, ochre, turquoise, and black. The intricacy of Xhosa beadwork was translated into cascading textures, while pulled-thread embroidery and modular silhouettes introduced a modern, adaptable sensibility.

The collection mixed traditional motifs with modern construction, reflecting Ngxokolo’s ongoing mission to position African craftsmanship within the vocabulary of international luxury

Elegant rows of ruffles were offset

by the clever mix of patterns. 

 

Ngxokolo’s expertise in knitwear remains central to his approach. His exploration of digital effects and detachable garment components underscored a desire to merge heritage craft with today's design, ideas as much about the future of African luxury as its past. 

"These pieces act as antennas: vessels through which we honour our ancestors, showing them, their gifts endure, carried forward to advance culture," the designer explained.  

The designer sees African culture as a universal language, and he emphasized his commitment to defining a South African aesthetic within the worldwide fashion lexicon.

This season’s collection also functioned as a broader reflection on MaXhosa’s evolution. Once synonymous with knitwear, the label has expanded into a lifestyle brand encompassing homeware and accessories, with flagship stores in Johannesburg and New York. Yet its core philosophy, of clothing as cultural storytelling, remains unchanged.

Paris Fashion Week proved momentous beyond the runway. Ngxokolo was simultaneously honoured in Johannesburg with the Outstanding Contribution to Fashion award at the inaugural South African Fashion Awards.

 In Izipho Zabadala, MaXhosa presented more than a collection; it delivered a cultural offering, one that stitched together memory, identity, and ambition. Through colour, craft, and conviction, Ngxokolo continues to affirm that African heritage is not a reference point from the past, but a living, evolving force shaping fashion’s future.

Scroll down to see highlights from the MaXhosa Spring/Summer 2026 presentation in Paris 

Renaissance Reimagined: Uma Wang’s Sculptural Minimalism Takes Centre Stage in Paris

Backstage at Uma Wang's show in Paris where the collection's subtle palette melded with the beautiful backdrop of the Musée des Arts et Métiers. Photograph (above) and masthead of Issey Miyake SS26 by Jay Zoo for DAM.

Presented at the historic Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris, Uma Wang’s Spring/Summer 2026 collection marked a quiet yet assured progression in her ongoing dialogue between history and modernity. Referencing the draped elegance of Renaissance sculpture, Wang reimagined classical form through soft tailoring, elongated lines, and textured neutrals that echoed archaic stone. Along with the opening of her newly expanded flagship store in Shanghai, the collection reflected a period of evolution and confidence, refining her signature balance of structure and fluidity. Story by Jeanne-Marie Cilento. Photographs by Jay Zoo 

Uma Wang's exquisite textiles 

are sourced and made in Italy.  

THE conceptual foundation for Uma Wang's new collection was based on the designer's study of Renaissance sculpture, particularly the statues housed in the Loggia di David at the Palazzo del Te in Mantua in Italy's Lombardy region. 

Those works, depicting allegorical virtues draped in marble, became a reference point for understanding how fabric can embody both weight and lightness. The evocative tonal variations of the ancient walls and stones of the Musée des Arts et Métiers reflected the palette of the collection. 

The Arts and Crafts museum was once the medieval Priory of Saint-Martin-des-Champ, an influential monastery completed during the 13th century by Pierre de Montreuil. The surviving parts of the monastic complex became the home of museum in 1802.

The hues of Wang's beautiful textiles, which echoed the weathered surfaces of the former priory, included ochre, cream, sienna, and malachite offset by the glimmer of bronze or silver. 

The subtle colours created a continuity across the collection, underscoring the designer's interest in material evolution rather than seasonal novelty. "The collection is an exploration of fluidity, with a hint of structure to keep it all together," explained the designer. "The tailoring was inspired by the Virtues that populated the Palazzo del Te: statues featuring magnificent marble drapery."

The hues of Wang's beautiful textiles echoed the weathered surfaces of the former priory, in tones of ochre, cream, sienna, and malachite offset by the dull glimmer of bronze or silver 

This subtlety-hued ensemble exemplifies 

the designer's masterful skill creating 

softness with fluid structure. 

She also examined the delicate intersection of structure and softness in the designs. Celebrated for her ability to use fabric with architectural precision, this season she explored fluidity as form, an unbroken rhythm of draping, twisting, and elongation that suggested motion frozen in time. The Spring/Summer 2026 collection's graceful designs exuded composure and serenity. 

Marking a shift from the tailoring of her previous work, Wang’s silhouettes were softened, the waistlines eased, and the shoulders allowed to return to their natural line. The result was a body of work that appeared both effortless and composed.

"The new designs are a direct reaction to the previous collection," Wang said. "The bows are now untied, the waist is liberated, and shoulders are almost natural, but elongation is still there. The silhouettes are a cascade of lines: everything twists, turns, bends and drapes around the body."

On the runway, the designs followed the body with sculptural grace, gentle folds moving with the wearer. Layered dresses curved gently at the hip, while coats and tunics featured panels that spiraled or draped. Every piece appeared to have been cut to express movement in an elegant way.

"The collection is an exploration of fluidity, with just a hint of structure to keep it all together, the tailoring inspired by the Virtues at the Palazzo Te: aged statues with magnificent marble drapery"

Different textures added another

layer of complexity to seemingly

elegant and simple designs. 

The play of fabric was the show’s true focus. Wang’s mastery of material manipulation, a signature since she launched her label, was once again evident. She worked linen, silk, and jacquard into shapes that did not feel purely decorative, rather each fold and crease was part of the design.

Texture added further dimension. Jackets carried a fine crinkle, suggesting fabric that had already lived; distressed knits recalled ancient lace. Embroidered details appeared faintly blurred, as though seen through a soft lens. Even the sharpest cut was tempered by imperfection, an aesthetic that aligns with the designer’s long-standing preference for the tactile and the timeworn.

There were subtle gestures of experimentation: a series of asymmetrical tops with knotted drapes; fluid skirts anchored by internal panels; and garments revealing intricate construction when viewed from behind. 

Each look maintained a tension between precision and ease. Wang’s handling of proportion, narrow shoulders paired with lengthened hems, elongated tunics over wide trousers, reinforced the impression of movement extending beyond the body.

Even the sharpest tailoring was tempered by imperfection, an aesthetic that aligns with the designer’s long-standing preference for the tactile and the timeworn

The subdued atmosphere of the show

reflected the ethos of the collection. 

What distinguished this season’s presentation was how it felt particularly introspective. The choreography, lighting, and the museum’s atmospheric, storied hall, contributed to a subdued atmosphere that allowed the workmanship to speak for itself.

In an environment where fashion frequently turns to exaggeration for attention, Wang’s restraint felt contemporary. Her clothes possess a kind of realism that appeals to a clientele who seek both individual distinction and also longevity. While the collection’s mood drew on classical art, its practicality and proportion made it feel very much of the now.

During the last fifteen years, Uma Wang has established herself as an internationally recognised figure in Chinese fashion. Trained at Donghua University in Shanghai and Central Saint Martins in London, she has built a vocabulary grounded in exquisite fabrics and meticulous design. 

Since joining the official Paris Fashion Week schedule in 2017, she has maintained a reputation for integrity. Her collections, entirely produced in Italy for the past eight years, reflect a consistent partnership between Asian sensibility and European technique. 

This season also coincides with a new chapter in the designer’s broader practice. In Shanghai, the recently expanded Maison Uma Wang consolidates her work across design, art, and craft. The four-storey space includes retail, gallery, and studio areas, underscoring her interest in creating environments as considered as her garments. The development demonstrates the brand’s continued growth within China and its position as a bridge between Eastern artistry and global luxury markets.

Scroll down to see more highlights from Uma Wang's SS26 collection and backstage in Paris.