miniature portrait painter, was born in Trundle on the north coast of NSW in 1868, second of three daughters and third of the six children of Leo 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). 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. She lived in Majorca, Spain, 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
