Artist Profiles

Sybil Craig
1901-1989

Sybil Craig was born in England in 1901 and came to Australia with her family at the age of one. As an art student, she was privately taught by John Shirlow and George Bell, and later attended the National Gallery School in Melbourne from 1924-31.

In March 1945, Craig became the third female official war artist appointed by the Australian War Memorial. She was recommended by members of the Memorial's art advisory panel, who were bowing to public pressure to appoint modernist artists. Initially, it was Craig's parents who urged her to accept, as she was uncertain whether her artistic abilities were worthy of the responsibility.

ART22137
Sybil Craig
Soldering bay (Cartridge Bundling Section, Commonwealth explosives factory, Maribyrnong)
AWM ART22137

She worked for four months at the Commonwealth Explosives Factory at Maribyrnong in Melbourne, recording the activities of the munition workers. Because she was working in a civilian factory, Craig retained her civilian status and was not required to wear a uniform. She found the factory noisy, but enjoyed the companionship of the women workers.

The seventy-nine works that Craig completed are mostly small in size and make use of vivid colour and pattern. She captured the variety of often-dangerous tasks that the women performed, demonstrating the importance of women's contributions to the war effort.

Craig continued to live and work in Melbourne after the war. She is remembered for her paintings filled with light and colour. She died in 1989.

AWM P00950.001
Portrait of Sybil Craig and her cousin in the garden of her home in the late 1930s, Melbourne, 1939.
AWM P00950.001