The Artists

Frederick McCubbin

FREDERICK McCUBBIN
MARY McCUBBIN, c. 1893

FREDERICK McCUBBIN
Australia 1855 -1917

MARY McCUBBIN, c. 1893
oil on canvas, 49.5 x 39.4 cm
Private Collection

Mary McCubbin was the second child and first daughter of Frederick and Annie McCubbin, and was born on 4 November 1891, at 86 Rathmines Road, Hawthorn. She was approximately two years of age when this portrait was painted.

Her story is a sad and tragic one, for the records show that she died from convulsions on 30 October 1894, at home, Lot 52, Wolseley Crescent, Blackburn, after climbing out of her pusher and striking her head on cobblestones. When she died, she was only one week away from her third birthday. Annie McCubbin's newest baby, Hugh, was only two months old when Mary died. I believe that Mary's death, was the deciding factor in McCubbin's decision to leave Blackburn, and in his choice of Brighton as their new address, for many of the McCubbin's close friends lived in Brighton at this time.

Left: Arthur Streeton - Above Us The Great Grave Sky, 1890
Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.