168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø

B 1922 D 2015

At 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s 1936-1938

Lola McCausland was well-known as a portrait artist both in Australia and internationally.

Her talent for drawing was first demonstrated while she was a student at 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s and later as a boarder at The Glennie Memorial School in Toowoomba.

Lola’s early employment was in the art department of The Courier-Mail and her first professional and technical training was through three years with Brisbane artist Caroline Barker. Her early focus was on pastel and watercolour studies of nudes and ballet dancers, frequently sketched at ballet schools and backstage during performances.

In the early 1950s, Lola exhibited in Toowoomba, Brisbane and Sydney. Wanting to develop her skills in portraiture, she travelled to the UK in April 1953. There she studied at the Chelsea School of Art (now the Chelsea College of Arts) in London and shared a studio and took private lessons with Philip Lambe, a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. Lola travelled to London via boat and during her voyage she sketched members of the Australian cricket team including Arthur Morris, Keith Miller, Don Tallon and other passengers. During her 18 month stint in London, Lola secured ten portrait commissions and sold some 50 ballet pictures. In an important development of her career, Lola was commissioned to paint the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Lord Brookeborough.

Having established her reputation, Lola returned to Brisbane in December 1954 and throughout the decade that followed she became one of the most in-demand and prolific portraitists in Australia.

In 1966, Lola returned to London to participate in a group exhibition in Chelsea, taking the opportunity to study with miniature portrait painter Stella Marks, best known for her miniatures of the Royal Family. En route back to Australia, Lola spent three months in the USA where she completed 11 portraits.

Lola was a member of the Zonta Club of Brisbane shortly after it was established in 1971 and became instrumental in many of the club’s early fundraising art shows. She was also commissioned by fellow Zontian Dr Joan Godfrey OBE to create a portrait in pastel of the Club’s inaugural President, Babette Stephens.

It is estimated Lola completed more than a hundred paintings for clients in the USA as well as countless portraits for Australian clients. She was also commissioned to paint portraits of many prominent Australians including Dame Annabelle Rankin, Sir John Lavarack (former Governor of Queensland), the eminent geologist, Professor Dorothy Hill and Julius Kruttschnitt (Chairman of Mount Isa Mines), as well as four other men associated with the establishment and growth of Mount Isa.

Other commissions included the designs for the Stations of the Cross in St Mary’s Star of the Sea Cathedral in Darwin. Lola’s designs were transformed into mosaics in Spilimbergo, the Italian centre famed for its mosaic school and artisans. Lola also produced many flower studies.