miniature portrait painter, was born in Nundle in the New England region of NSW in 1868, second of three daughters and third of the six children of Lee Kong Sing, from China, and Ellen, née Mann. Her father owned butchers’ shops and was a successful miner and the family lived at Tingha (NSW). Her father also had at various times a store in Tamworth NSW and a store and hotel near Nundle NSW. He was an insolvent in 1867 and again in 1881. Justine trained with Julian Ashton in Sydney and completed her studies at the National Gallery School, Melbourne. She exhibited with the Royal Art Society of NSW in 1905, 1909-10 and 1911. Later she went to London where she worked exclusively as a painter of portrait miniatures, with some success, showing work at the Royal Academy in 1915 and 1916, the Paris Salon of 1912 and the Walker & Grosvenor Galleries. She lived in Majorca, Spain, for twenty years until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, then returned to London, subsequently returning to Australia, where she continued to paint miniatures. She died at Kirribilli, Sydney.
The sole work of Justine Kong Sing held by the Art Gallery of NSW is her unusual self-portrait, Me . Her miniature, Madame Ze , is in the National Gallery of Victoria. Other works are held privately.
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- Writers:
- Torres, Alisa De
- Date written:
- 1995
- Last updated:
- 2011
