Hilda Rix Nicholas was an Australian artist. Born in the Victorian city of Ballarat, she studied under a leading Australian Impressionist, Frederick McCubbin, at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School from 1902 to 1905 and was an early member of the Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors. Following the death of her father in 1907, Rix, her only sibling Elsie and her mother travelled to Europe where she undertook further study, first in London and then Paris. Her teachers during the period included John Hassall, Richard Emil Miller and Théophile Steinlen.
Rix Nicholas, c. 1920, dressed as "the spirit of the bush"
Self-portrait of Frederick McCubbin, Australian Impressionist painter and Rix Nicholas's first major influence
Arthur Streeton, as painted by Tom Roberts. Rix followed his advice to study under many different teachers.
Detail of Men in the Market Place, Tangier (1914), showing a typical subject of Rix Nicholas's Moroccan work, and her post-impressionist style adopted during this period.
Frederick McCubbin was an Australian artist, art teacher and prominent member of the Heidelberg School art movement, also known as Australian impressionism.
Self-portrait, 1886, Art Gallery of New South Wales
The Pioneer, 1904, National Gallery of Victoria
Bush Idyll, 1893
The Letter (McCubbin), 1884
