The Hidden Line Art of the Boyd Women

<b>The Hidden Line </b><br> Art of the Boyd Women

22 November 2o25 – 15 February 2026

The Hidden Line: Art of the Boyd Women repositions the creative practices of five generations of women from one of Australia’s most prominent artistic dynasties.

Showcasing more than 300 diverse works, this timely exhibition brings the women of the Boyd family into focus. As artists, designers, photographers, and creative collaborators, their contributions—though historically less celebrated than those of their male counterparts—remain deeply influential.

The exhibition presents works by Emma Minnie Boyd, Doris Boyd, Lady Mary Nolan, Yvonne Boyd, Lucy Boyd Beck, Hermia Boyd and their descendants still practicing today. Drawn largely from the Bundanon Collection, with key loans from national collections and the Boyd family, the exhibition spans painting and printmaking, sculpture and pottery, textiles, design, filmmaking and photography, including several never-before-exhibited works.

New commissions and recent work by contemporary Australian women artists are interspersed throughout the exhibition, including Pat Brassington, Elizabeth Dunn, Diena Georgetti, Helen Johnson, Narelle Jubelin, Camille Laddawan, Tjunkaya Tapaya OAM and Timna Taylor.

Artists

HELEN A’BECKETT READ

MARGOT BECK

EMMA MINNIE BOYD

CASSANDRA BOYD

AMANDA BOYD

DORIS BOYD

JESSICA BOYD

LENORE BOYD

LUCINDA BOYD

LUCY BOYD

POLLY BOYD

LUCY BOYD BECK

ELLEN BOYD GREEN

FLORENCE BOYD WILLIAMS

YVONNE BOYD

MARY NOLAN

CHARLOTTE BOYD

ALICE PERCEVAL

CELIA PERCEVAL

KITTY PERCEVAL

TESSA PERCEVAL

PIP RYAN

HERMIA BOYD

with

PAT BRASSINGTON

ELIZABETH DUNN

DIENA GEORGETTI

HELEN JOHNSON

NARELLE JUBELIN

CAMILLE LADDAWAN

TJUNKAYA TAPAYA OAM

TIMNA TAYLOR

Into Focus: Some thoughts on the Boyd Women

by Jennifer Higgie

Women from the past emerge like apparitions.

But if she is an artist, something else can be glimpsed: the tangible proof of an original mind.

A painting, a drawing, a pot—all declare: ‘I was here.’

Emma Minnie Boyd was born in Naarm/Melbourne in 1858. She was artistic and religious, and enjoyed the good fortune of having a mother who championed her talents and a convict grandfather who had accrued a fortune. She also had the wisdom to fall in love with a fellow artist, Arthur Merric Boyd—someone who could understand what it was she was compelled to do: spin images from experience.

Despite the marginalisation of nineteenth-century women, Emma was no amateur. She trained for six years at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) Art School, studied privately under Louis Buvelot and exhibited regularly from 1874 to 1932—including at the Victorian Artists Society, the Centennial International Exhibition 1888–89, the Royal Academy of Arts in London and, with her husband, at the Como in Melbourne. She was the matriarch of what was to become a great Australian artistic dynasty. She was generous to a fault and endlessly encouraging of her children’s imaginations; of the four who survived childhood, three (Merric, Penleigh and Helen) were to become artists and one (Martin) a writer.

Read the essay

Exhibition Publication

Limited Print Run

Extend your experience of The Hidden Line: Art of the Boyd Women with this limited Bundanon exhibition publication.

With essays by Jennifer Higgie, Helen Hughes, Anne Ryan, Professor Lisa Slade and Sophie O’Brien, and a foreword by Bundanon CEO Rachel Kent, it offers a thoughtful exploration of the exhibition and wider questions of gender, art and visibility.

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ACCESS

The Hidden Line: Art of the Boyd Women is an accessible exhibition with several resources available below and at the Art Museum Reception. Visitors are advised that this season is a 95% visual exhibition, predominantly featuring painting, ceramics, and sculpture.

LARGE PRINT

Large print versions of the exhibition text are available to borrow from museum reception.

TACTILE MATERIALS

Tactile and sensory materials that support the experience of the exhibition are available to visitors at the museum reception.

SEATING

There is a small amount of seating in the exhibition. Individual seating is also available from museum reception, please speak with the friendly staff if you would like extra seating to experience the show.

There is also a wheelchair available to borrow from the museum reception.

Audio Descriptions

Audio descriptions are available below for a selection of works in the exhibition. For support in accessing the descriptions below, please speak to the gallery reception staff.

Audio descriptions are listed by room, clockwise.