bowenterracepark

Paula Rosenstengel, sketching in the park, in the 1930's

from State Library of Queensland

• Vesna Verencevic said:

  Paula Rosenstengel had every advantage in becoming an artist. Born in Brisbane on 14 September 1920, Paula was the child of acclaimed Queensland furniture designer Edward (Ed) Rosenstengel and his wife Evelyn Smith. Paula showed a natural inclination towards the arts from an early age and Edward supported her artistic endeavors, his own success in the industry perhaps providing a model for how art could translate into a sustainable profession. But like many other Queensland artists whose vocations suffered from lack of education, professional networks, and exhibition opportunities, Paula felt isolated in a city later described as an ‘art backwater’ (Langer 1958). While other artists migrated south to Sydney or Melbourne or journeyed further afield to the Continent, a 17-year old Paula found an innovative solution to Brisbane’s paucity of art educators: private art tuition by post. Her correspondence with the English watercolorist Claude Muncaster provides a unique insight into the mind of a young woman artist struggling with self-doubt and isolation. These letters, now housed in the State Library of Queensland, reveal a young woman with a passion for art, a desire for recognition, and a yearning for experiences and education outside of her grasp. Source: adderton.org.au/stories/dear-miss-rosenstengel/