Australian artist Elma May Victoria Roach was born on March 30, 1897, in Shepparton. Affectionately known as 'Dinah’ to her friends, her family had artistic roots; she was the daughter of Cora Valentine (née Liardet), whose father was the colonial watercolour artist Wilbraham Liardet. As the sixth of seven siblings, Elma’s lineage included a direct link to John Evelyn, the famed seventeenth-century diarist and horticulturist. Her father, Charles Robert Roach, the stationmaster at Numurkah, committed suicide in 1904, when Roach was seven.
At the age of sixteen, Elma Roach began her formal art education in the Drawing School of the National Gallery of Victoria Art School in 1913. Under the guidance of Frederick McCubbin and William Beckwith McInnes, she advanced to join the School of Painting at the same institution from 1916 to 1921 under the tutelage of Lindsay Bernard Hall. Her talent was acknowledged in a review in December 1917.
During her time at the National Gallery Art School, Elma Roach formed a close bond with fellow student Madge Freeman, a friendship that would prove instrumental in shaping their artistic careers. In May 1923, Roach and Freeman collaborated on their first joint exhibition of watercolours at the Fine Art Society’s Galleries in Melbourne. The success of the exhibition with sales of their romantic Hilderesque watercolors and painted 'Madgelma’ woodwork, enabled them to set off for England in January 1924.
Upon arriving in London, they briefly attended the Slade School, studying under Henry Tonks. Living in artistic hubs like Chelsea, the duo embraced the bohemian spirit and set off on painting journeys throughout Europe, including France, Italy, Spain, and North Africa. In St Ives, Cornwall, they shared a studio with Gwen Horne.
Elma Roach’s time in Paris brought contact with Adolphe Milich, a French painter with Polish origins, associated with the School of Paris. Milich’s work, heavily influenced by Paul Cézanne, left a profound impact on Roach’s artistic style.
Her return to Australia saw her actively participate in various exhibitions, including those held by the Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors, The Independent Group, and commercial galleries in Melbourne. Her unique talent for crafting stained wood pieces garnered praise and admiration. A Bulletin article in February 1927 described her as a Melbourne girl who had made a name for herself in the artistic world with her craftsmanship in stained wood.
Elma Roach’s first solo show took place at the Fine Art Society in July 1927, and she continued to exhibit her work in Australia and abroad, even gaining recognition at the Paris Salon.
Though Roach’s life was cut short at the age of 45, her work can be found in public collections including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Queensland Art Gallery and Castlemaine Art Museum. After relative obscurity interest in her has revived, with her works fetching higher prices at auctions; her painting “Zinneas,” sold for $5,155 in October 2021 at the Leonard Joel auction house in Melbourne.
