Vilma Bader

The triptych format of this work serves as both a tribute and a chronicle of the compelling life of Florence Broadhurst (1899 –1977). Broadhurst was in many ways a quintessential feminist. Her sheer resilience and self-reliance was legendary. Born in rural Australia, Broadhurst continuously reinvented herself, embracing a whirlwind of creativity throughout her life. She began as a singer, performing across the colonial outposts of the Far East, then ran a finishing school in Shanghai before reinventing herself again as a couturier for the rich and famous in London under the French pseudonym of Madame Pellier. Upon her return to Australia, she became a landscape painter only to metamorphosise into a world-renowned designer of luxury, hand-printed wallpaper.