Boyd art dynasty of women - Shoalhaven

The Boyd art dynasty began with the marriage of Emma Minnie à Beckett & Arthur Merric Boyd in 1886. Both were already noted painters before their marriage. Their son Merric Boyd married artist Doris Gough in 1915 and their 5 children became artists: Lucy, Arthur, Guy, David, Mary. 

Arthur Boyd, Sleeping Bride, 1957

Queensland Art Gallery

Bundanon, the historic, handsome stone homestead 1866 on the Shoalhaven River is near Nowra on NSW’s south coast. It was sold by the Mackenzies to art dealer Frank McDonald. In 1971 McDonald invited Arthur & Yvonne Boyd to visit Bundanon where the couple fell in love with the area. Arthur and Yvonne Boyd’s deep connection to Bundanon shaped its legacy as a place of artistic inspiration. They purchased the property, making it home. Arthur’s studio offered a look at his artistic process, surrounded by the Shoalhaven landscape that clearly influenced his work. Their generosity ensured Bundanon would continue to inspire future generations, showcasing the Boyd family’s life and art, an Australia cultural landmark.

Bundanon, Shoalhaven

Arthur Boyd (1920–99) was dominant in Australian art history. He painted religious figures in the Australian landscape and white gums on the Shoalhaven River. While he was clearly one of Australia's most famous artists, his legacy runs beyond his work. In 1993, Arthur and Yvonne gave their 1000 hectares of bush and parkland to the public. They formed the Bundanon Trust in 1993 and Arthur's precious $43m collection was housed in new gallery.

Today it hosts his historic homestead, studio and art gallery including a collection of 1,200+ works by Arthur, his family and other artists, including Sidney Nolan and Brett Whiteley. The new exhibition tells Arthur’s story, the women in his family who encouraged him to become an artist and were artists themselves, as well as the generations of Boyd women artists. This survey of five generations of women artists is The Hidden Line: Art of the Boyd Women, open now at Bundanon Art Museum until mid Feb 2026.

A jug by Doris Boyd née Gough, Arthur's mother, was the first she ever made in 1915, at the Melbourne studio workshop shared with her husband, William Merric Boyd. See her painting style really translated from painting to ceramic, gesturing to watercolour and oil works by Doris that hang on the gallery wall. Often Doris worked with Merric on related pots: Merric made them from clay while she painted them, and then the couple took them to sell. To distinguish between ceramics painted by Merric or Doris, look for a Boyd blue or a Merric crazy handle. It drew attention to how Doris influenced and cultivated her son Arthur as a painter. She really helped him to be an artist; he thanked mum for her mentoring, care and financial support.

Emma Minnie Boyd née a' Beckett, Arthur's grandmother, was an artist who often painted watercolour landscapes. Supported by her mother, she also painted narrative and religious paintings, in watercolour and oil, and exhibited in London's Royal Academy. But the thrills from this c1914 watercolour demonstrated the experimentation and forward-thinking of the Boyd women. It had what she described as delicacy of colour and was packed with tiny details, like an abstract. This would be her working out something, almost privately. It was a study of how to look and see; to use watercolour and look at the landscape painted en plein air.

Yet "female" Emma Boyd wasn't allowed to join the Box Hill artists, including Tom Roberts and Arthur Streeton, as they camped on outer Melbourne from the mid-1880s, painting rural landscapes. We think of en plein air painting as a European tradition, but it was the most obvious thing to do in Australia. The weather was good enough to sit outside, but also to show who Australians were. Exactly how the family all painted the works!

Melbourne Tram by Yvonne Boyd, 1944

Bundanon

Yvonne nee Lennie Boyd painted Melbourne Tram in 1944, the year before she married Arthur. They had met in drawing class 4 years earlier and later, Yvonne became Arthur's business manager and had their 3 children. In 1944 Yvonne was part of the tradition of Australian artists, including Albert Tucker, Sidney Nolan and Charles Blackman who used their art to illustrate the impact of the war. But rather than painting returned soldiers like Arthur did, Yvonne depicted the effect of the war on the people at home in Australia: immediate and domestic. 

Tessa Perceval (1947-), daughter of John Perceval & Mary Boyd, painted professionally since 1965 and was also included in the display. Celia Perceval (1949-) also developed her inspiration for art from her Perceval parents and their close artistic circle, including the Boyds and Nolans. In a lifestyle of en plein air painting, Celia focused upon the coastal bushlands of Australia. Heavily textured with exuberant colours, she showed harsh Australian wilderness with a dense, expressive brush.

Celia Perceval, River Gums, 1980

askART

The last descendant discussed here is Hermia née Lloyd-Jones (1931–2000), who married David Boyd in 1948, was an artist, writer and a Boyd dynasty member. Hermia was an Australian artist and writer worked together with David in Italy, England and France, before closing their last pottery workshop outside Melbourne in 1968. Then they focused instead on their individual practices: Hermia on etching and sculpture; David on painting.

Lucy Boyd Beck

Orpheus & Euridice, c1975

Bundanon Collection