Painter | Doctor | Anaesthetist | Psychoanalyst

Description The extraordinary Dr Lily Jörgensen, was the first woman anaesthetist at St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne in 1929. She studied science and medicine at the Universities of Queensland and Melbourne, and art at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School.

Lily was quite the polymath; she painted, she built houses, and she was one of the early practitioners of psychotherapy. She spoke seven languages and, owing to her fascination with the work of psychiatrist Carl Jung, was one of the first translators of his work into English. Lily ran her own medical consultancy in Bourke Street specialising in women’s reproductive health, including birth control. She continued her psychotherapy practice when she moved to Montsalvat.

Lily was the first financial backer of the Montsalvat artists’ colony, purchasing the land it is built on.

Sculptor | Builder | Painter | Writer | Ceramicist

Sonia Skipper was a superstar builder. At Montsalvat, she built with mudbrick, mudstone, pisé de terre (rammed earth,) limestone and bluestone. Owing to her knowledge of these building materials, particularly mudbrick, Sonia served as Alistair Knox’s first foreman on his building projects. Initially shocked at sexist behaviour from the labourers she managed, she eventually became well respected in the local building industry.

Sonia mastered wood and stone carving; many of the corbels and crenulations at Montsalvat were created by her. Her carved faces of Montsalvat’s founders adorn the interior of the bluestone chapel. She carved many of the stone embellishments around the Great Hall, including one of the large entrance gargoyles, and the gothic window above the entrance to the Upper Gallery.

Sigmund Jörgensen described Sonia as “...a Renaissance woman of great skill and intellect...”

Painter | Sculptor | Builder | Lithographer | Flimmaker

Helen Lempriere was a talented sculptor, painter, printmaker, and one of Montsalvat’s key builders. She carved many of Montsalvat’s stone architectural features. She sourced funding and materials for the Montsalvat ornamental pool, and lime and mortar for construction of the Great Hall.

Writer Betty Roland notes her, ‘rollicking good-humour’ that often verged ‘on the bawdy.’

Helen became an accomplished painter with an international reputation, rare for an Australian women artist in the 1950s-70s. She appeared in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Paris, Milan, London, Utrecht, New York, The Hague, and Amsterdam.

With her husband Keith Wood, she formed a production company to make documentary and educational films.

After her death, her husband founded the prestigious Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Prize which have become part of Sydney’s annual Sculpture by the Sea.

Painter | Poet | Chef | Writer

Sue Vanderkelen produced many poems, drawings and paintings during her time at Montsalvat. She was a patron of Montsalvat, contributing funds towards the buildings, notably the stone tower (known as Sue’s Tower) that links the first two buildings at Montsalvat; Lily’s cottage and Justus’ painting studio. Sue is credited for naming the colony Montsalvat, from the medieval Parsifal tale.

Sue was known for her skills in traditional French cooking and spent most weekends at Montsalvat cooking for the artists and builders. Sigmund Jörgensen says of her; “It was Sue, who brought many of what seemed exotic flavours from Europe to the Montsalvat table and encouraged the other ‘cooks’ to be more experimental…”

Together with journalist Beth Thwaites, in 1952 she founded Brides of Bacchus; an all-women’s dining club which sought to change attitudes about how men and women enjoyed food.tion goes here

Silversmith | Jeweller | Painter | Builder

Myra Skipper was a beloved figure at Montsalvat, well known for her unique talent with silver and enamelled jewellery. Her designs often included bright colours, particularly blues and greens contrasted by gold, while her subjects were inspired by figures of mythology, animals, and Jungian archetypes.

Myra began her training in a metal workshop during the Second World War, which specialised in etching, engraving and enamelling badges and labels. She carried on the techniques she learned there throughout her artistic practice.

Prior to moving to Montsalvat, Myra’s Richmond home with her husband Matcham was an impromptu salon for the intellectuals and artists of bohemian Melbourne.

At Montsalvat, Myra contributed to the construction of buildings, including assisting with the install of the stained-glass windows of the Montsalvat chapel. She often assisted her husband Matcham Skipper in jewellery making, sculptures and architectural steelwork.

Painter | Textile Artist | Builder

Helen Skipper was responsible for the day to day running of Montsalvat, and steered the colony though the difficult war years and beyond until her son, Sigmund took over. She ensured the colony’s financial viability, contributed to the building and maintenance of Montsalvat, raised twin boys and bred livestock.

Helen had a passion for animals, particularly ponies, horses, cattle and dogs. She established a Montsalvat pony stud; the ponies she bred won prizes at several shows, including the Royal Melbourne Show.  She ran a dairy at Montsalvat with her sister Sonia and a small vegetable delivery round transporting fresh produce, milk, cream and butter to the local community.

Despite her many responsibilities, she managed to produce a collection of exquisite small paintings. Later in life she developed a keen interest in textiles, and produced some fine tapestries here

Painter | Painting Teacher | Commercial Artist

Lesley Sinclair was the heart of painting education at Montsalvat for many years. She taught many people at Montsalvat, and in her studio in the St James Building in Melbourne.

Lesley studied art at the National Gallery School in Melbourne in the 1920s, and lithography at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. She became a member of the Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors, but rarely exhibited her work during her life.

Her work is painterly and colourful, displaying strong brushwork. Her works feature in state and regional galleries, as well as private collections. She painted outside nearly every day; although she produced some remarkable still lifes and portraits, her work is predominantly landscapes and street scenes.

In her later years, Lesley was the face at the entrance of Montsalvat, greeting guests every day and collecting entrance fees.

Writer | Journalist | Screenwriter | Playwright

Betty Roland was the scandalous, poisoned-pen wielder of Montsalvat.

Betty’s artistic temperament, liberal social views and left-wing political stance, meant she circulated within male-dominated bohemian cultures and radical art theatre movements in Sydney and Melbourne in the 1930s and 40s.

She was tough, insightful and a fearsome critic. Her body of work comprises three volumes of autobiography, one of which, Eye of the Beholder, chronicles her time living at Montsalvat, a travel memoir, four children’s books, four romance novels, newspaper and magazine articles, as well as film and comic book scripts. She was a founding member (1963) of the Australian Society of Authors.

She wrote radio dramas for the Australian Broadcasting Commission and commercial radio stations. One of her radio dramas, a popular soap opera called A Woman Scorned (1951) later inspired the 1983 television miniseries Return to Eden.

Painter | Diarist

Lena, mother of Helen, Sonia and Matcham, was a skilled painter in her own right. Her landscapes are filled with vivid colours and she painted quickly and expressively.

Lena was married to writer and art critic Mervyn Skipper. Their Eaglemont home was something of a centre for the Melbourne arts and intellectual community, and Lena hosted lively Sunday afternoon gatherings there.

After Justus and Lily relocated to Eltham to build Montsalvat, Lena and her family joined them, and she and her husband Mervyn remained there for the rest of their lives.

As well as being a loyal supporter of Justus and his theories, Lena and her husband Mervyn helped provide financial support for Montsalvat. Her diaries, in the Montsalvat archives, chronicle the people and events at Montsalvat over many years.

Photographer | Photojournalist | Painter | Illustrator | Neon Designer

Heather, a cousin of the Skippers, was a designer and painter, but was best known as a commercial photographer with a focus on industrial, fashion and outback photography.

As a photographer, Heather documented the urban development of Sydney and Melbourne, providing a record of Australia’s changing urban landscape in the 1950s and 60s. In the late 1950s she photographed the construction of the mud-brick buildings of Eltham. She also documented the life of the Warlpiri people of the Northern Territory.

Heather’s photographs appeared in numerous magazines, including Walkabout, Australian Scene, Hoofs and Horns, Pix, Women’s Day, as well as the National Trust magazine.

Heather was the first woman to be on the council of the Artists’ Society of Canberra. She also practised as a commercial artist designing in the then-emerging field of neon signs for businesses and theatres.

Textile Designer | Entrepreneur

Vida Turner set up a textile design house in Queen Street, Melbourne in 1935, at the age of 19. Within a few years, she employed 35 women in her Melbourne factory and opened a branch in Sydney.

Her company produced over 10,000 designs for dress fabrics, men’s shirting, tweeds, upholstery fabrics, carpets, linoleum and china which were sent to buyers in Canada, U.S.A., Japan, Belgium and England.

As well as designing the textiles, Vida had knowledge of the technical complexities of textile printing including mechanised roller printing, block printing, and silk screen methods.

Vida lived at Montsalvat with her young son after her husband, a RAAF pilot, was killed in an air crash. At Montsalvat, she painted and participated in the building and provided the colony with financial support.