Kiffy Rubbo (1944-1980) was director of the Ewing and George Paton Gallery at the University of Melbourne from 1973 to 1980. There, the 1974 exhibition A Room of One’s Own helped initiate the Melbourne women’s art movement. In 1975, the first meeting of the feminist art group, the Women’s Art Register, was held at EGPG. During Rubbo’s directorship Janine Burke curated the exhibition Australian Women Artists – 1840-1940; other groundbreaking shows included When You Think About Art What Do You Think? In an obituary following Rubbo’s unexpected death in 1980, Mary Eagle credited her with focused, gentle encouragement of a generation of artists, as well as paying tribute to her as the most beautiful woman she had ever known.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2012
Accession number: 2012.103
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