ADELAIDE.- Dangerously Modern: Australian Women Artists in Europe 1890-1940 is a major exhibition presented by the Art Gallery of South Australia and the Art Gallery of New South Wales that reveals a new Australian art history. Illuminating the stories of fifty trailblazing women artists who were once dismissed as ‘messenger girls’ by influential Australian art historian Bernard Smith, Dangerously Modern is the first exhibition to focus on their vital role in the development of international modernism.

Dangerously Modern will feature more than 200 works of art by both celebrated and rediscovered women artists, encompassing paintings, prints, sculpture and ceramics. The exhibition will premiere at AGSA in Adelaide from 24 May to 7 September 2025 before being presented at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney from 11 October 2025 to 1 February 2026.

Part of an unprecedented wave of women travelling to Europe at the turn of the twentieth century, these artists pursued international professional careers, taking advantage of opportunities newly available for women and exhibiting widely at the salons and academies in London and Paris. They embraced modern ideas and achieved creative and professional success abroad, yet many remain little known in Australia.

Exhibition co-curators Elle Freak (Associate Curator of Australian Art, AGSA), Tracey Lock (Curator of Australian Art, AGSA) and Wayne Tunnicliffe (Acting Director of Collections, Art Gallery of NSW) said, ‘Dangerously misconceived, misunderstood and largely obscured from Australian art history, this project reconsiders the contributions of fifty women artists. Aligning with new scholarship, it challenges definitions of Australian art, recognising the active role of these women as catalysts for change, both at home and away.’

Dangerously Modern will invite visitors to embark on a journey of the senses. Artistic explorations of colour, light, form and movement will offer moments of contemplation, love, loss and transcendence. Ranging from large public statements to private portrait miniatures, Dangerously Modern will include breakthrough works of professional intent alongside personal, diary-like expressions – spells of intimacy, internal battles, triumphs and tragedy. The exhibition will also expand understandings of modern art movements such as realism, impressionism, post-impressionism, cubism and the emergence of abstraction.

Jason Smith, Director, AGSA, commented, ‘Beginning as early as 1883, both the Art Gallery of South Australia and the Art Gallery of New South Wales started to acquire the work of women artists. Dangerously Modern builds on the strengths of those collections, especially AGSA’s representation of South Australian-born modern women artists, such as Dorrit Black, Stella Bowen, Bessie Davidson, Nora Heysen, Margaret Preston, Gladys Reynell and Marie Tuck. We’re thrilled to collaborate with the Art Gallery of New South Wales on an exhibition that adds such depth to our understanding of Australian women artists during this period.’

Maud Page, Director, Art Gallery of New South Wales, said, ‘Dangerously Modern celebrates the bold and influential work of an impressive group of groundbreaking women artists who made their mark in early 20th-century Europe, and whose artistic vision continues to inspire and engage audiences today. It’s a pleasure to join forces with our colleagues at the Art Gallery of South Australia to explore the work of these celebrated artists more deeply and to shine a light on those whose contributions have been less widely recognised. We are especially proud to showcase works by Sydney born artists of the period, including Grace Crowley, Anne Dangar, Daphne Mayo, Thea Proctor, Alison Rehfisch, Justine Kong Sing, and Grace Cossington Smith, whose artworks form a highly valued part of our permanent collection.’

The exhibition takes its name from an article written by Thea Proctor, who, upon her return to Sydney from London in 1921, was surprised to find her art labelled as ‘dangerously modern’. This title serves as a reminder of the boundaries these women artists were breaking, celebrating their contribution and critical successes as active participants in the development of international modernism.

Offering a deeper understanding of a connected global network of artists, Dangerously Modern traces the continual ebb and flow of cultural exchange not only between Australia and Europe but also New Zealand. It will feature the work of several key New Zealand-born and European-born women artists, whose transnational connections to Australia and its artists were intimate.