Painter and art teacher, was born Margaret Ellen Walker in Auckland, NZ, on 1 December 1904. She came to Australia about 1907 and while a high-school student in Hobart attended Saturday art classes with Lucien Dechaineux at the Hobart Technical College. He encouraged her to enrol at HTC (1923-26), where she was also taught by Mildred Lovett and where she was subequently to teach herself. In about 1934 she took leave to observe art teaching at ESTC and study drawing in private evening classes with Rah Fizelle and Grace Crowley . She resigned from teaching at the end of 1935, married Keith McNeil in Sydney in December then moved to Brisbane with him in January 1936. She taught art to children there in 1937-39, was in charge of retouching at photographers S.A. Best during WWII and taught art part-time at Ipswich Technical College 1947-68 and took over holding children’s creative art classes at QAG after Vida Lahey retired (1952-68). She had a Brisbane exhibition with her husband in 1936, a solo exhibition in 1951 and two in 1959, including one at the Johnstone Gallery.
Madge McNeil moved to Caloundra in 1972, where she continued to live until she returned to Hobart in June 1980. In 1988 she was living at Bellerive, Tasmania, and continuing to draw.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1999
- Last updated:
- 2011
