Virginia Cuppaidge


Virginia Cuppaidge is an Australian contemporary abstract expressionist painter. She lived and worked in New York for almost five decades, before returning to live permanently in Australia. Since 1965, Cuppaidge has held thirty-three solo exhibitions in Australia, USA and Canada.

Biography

Born in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1943, Cuppaidge was the daughter of Russell Cuppaidge whose portrait by Jon Molvig was shortlisted for the 1959 Archibald Prize. Cuppaidge moved to Sydne and earned a Master's of Fine Art degree from the Mary White School of Arty. She lived in New York from 1968 until returning to Australia in 2017 and settled in Newcastle, New South Wales.

Early Career

Influenced from a young age by her mother, a botanical painter, Cuppaidge dabbled with textiles in the 1960s. She studied in Sydney with Desiderous Orban, Stanislaus Rapotec, Marea Gazzard, John Olsen and Robert Klippel before moving to New York in 1969. Arriving in New York, she called the only contact she had, Australian sculptor Clement Meadmore. They became a couple that year, and Meadmore found Cuppaidge a studio where she began to work on her large-scale geometric abstractions.

Artistic Development

Cuppaidge's first solo show was in 1973 at AM Sachs Gallery. Her work impressed the New York art critic Clement Greenberg, who commented on Cuppaidge's "sophisticated maturity". Cuppaidge was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1976.
Cuppaidge exhibits regularly in both the United States and Australia. Her work is held by the National Gallery of Australia; Art Gallery of New South Wales; Australian Consulate General, New York; Jazz Museum in Harlem, New York; Australian Embassies; Chase Manhattan Bank, New York City; Neuberger Museum, NY; Whitney Communications, New York City; Westpac Bank, New York City.

External Links

E-gallery of art works: