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Light afternoon tea provided

Join us for an enlightening presentation on master printmaker Janet Dawson, delivered by Art Gallery of New South Wales curator Monique Leslie Watkins.

Janet Dawson (born 1935) is one of Australia’s pre-eminent artists. Although best known for the striking abstract paintings she produced in Melbourne and Sydney during the 1960s, Dawson has never allowed herself to be defined by a single style or medium. Her mastery of lithographic printmaking—honed while working in a Paris atelier in 1960—had a transformative impact on Australia’s printmaking scene.

This lecture explores Dawson’s enduring influence as a master printmaker, highlighting both her own mesmerising lithographs and her work as a technician for some of the biggest names in Australian art.

The exhibition Janet Dawson: Far Away, So Close is on display at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 19 July 2025 to 18 January 2026.

About the speaker

Monique Leslie Watkins is Assistant Curator of Australian Art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. She was the assistant curator for Janet Dawson: Far Away, So Close and contributed an essay on Dawson’s printmaking and drawing for the accompanying publication. She is the former deputy editor of the Gallery’s Look magazine, and her writing was recently published in Dangerously Modern: Australian Women Artists in Europe 1890–1940 (2025). She is the curator of the current exhibition Raquel Caballero: The Patchwork Portal.

Contact the host of Janet Dawson: Master Printmaker | Special Lecture Event with Art Gallery of New South Wales Curator Monique Leslie Watkins