Having finally got around to reading Julie Cotter’s biography of Portia Geach, I’ve come away with a new respect for this indomitable personality whose name adorns Australia’s most popular portrait prize for women. Miss Portia Geach (1873-1959) was not only an artist, but a feminist, a philanthropist, and a tireless campaigner on behalf of the Australian housewife. Cotter’s book is subtitled: Portrait of an Activist.
One of Geach’s early claims to fame was a 300-mile ride through the Gippsland countryside, wearing a pair of specially designed “bloomers”. In rejecting the cumbersome long dresses that made riding a chore for women, she created a “mild sensation” and struck a blow for more practical attire. As founder and leading light of the Progressive Housewives’ Association she copped some flak for being a wealthy, unmarried woman who could not hope to understand the day-to-day life of the average housewife – but this did nothing to detract from her fervour.
Geach was a lifelong advocate for causes that riled her political and cultural passions, in a way that puts our own complacency to shame. We need her back to fight the good fight against predatory corporations such as the big grocers, or governments determined to trash our cultural institutions. She would have come in handy at the Art Gallery of NSW last week, as they tried and failed to stave off brutal staff cuts.