Maisie

Lady Maisie Drysdale (1915–2001), children's librarian and artists' muse, met Peter Purves Smith and Russell Drysdale at George Bell's art school in Melbourne. In 1935 Drysdale married Elizabeth 'Bon' Stephens and two years later, Purves Smith left for Europe, followed in 1938 by Maisie and her mother. After Maisie returned home Purves Smith cabled his proposal to her but they were separated for the duration of the war. They married in 1946 in Melbourne, with Drysdale as best man; however, Purves Smith died following surgery to relieve symptoms of tuberculosis in 1949. Three years later, Maisie completed library studies and became a librarian at the City of Coburg Library and later, the Camberwell City Library. She also served on the Editorial Committee of the Children's Book Council of Victoria. In November 1963, Bon Drysdale died, and seven months later Maisie married Russell Drysdale. They bought a block of land near Gosford, Bouddi Farm, where they lived for the rest of their lives, travelling widely; Maisie outlived Russell by twenty years.

This modernist portrait of Maisie by her husband-to-be Peter Purves Smith is thought to have been painted while they were both in London, before he joined the British Army in 1940. The restricted colour palette focuses attention on Maisie's elegant profile, framed by her fur collar.

Bequest of Lady Maisie Drysdale 2001