Celebrating Shirley O’Shea

It is a brisk but sunny winter day in Sydney. Light streams through the window and I settle down to talk all things art with centenarian Shirley O’Shea in her home not far from the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Shirley has been a member of the Art Gallery Society of New South Wales since the Art Gallery’s members organisation commenced in 1953, and she is its longest-serving member.

Shirley was born in Sydney in 1923 and has lived in the city most of her life. She grew up within a medical family and attended the Rose Bay convent, now Kincoppal-Rose Bay School of the Sacred Heart, which she can still see from her window. She went on to marry the late Dr Desmond O’Shea, an obstetrician.

Shirley has always been actively involved in Sydney’s cultural and charitable life, earning an MBE for her philanthropic work in 1974. An avid traveller, she has traversed the far reaches of the globe. As Shirley tells me, she’s always travelled ‘seaborne’ to locations as far-reaching as Israel and Switzerland. Some of these travels were even inspired by her involvement with the Art Gallery. Shirley enjoys getting out and about. She laments no longer being able to drive, but tells me that when she did, she always, always drove a red car – which tells you something of her lively character.

Sitting in her cosy living room, Shirley tells me that when it comes to her taste in art, she’s ‘a bit of an old-fashioned girl’. Less keen on modern styles, Shirley describes classical and renaissance art as ‘soothing’ and ‘lovely to sit by’. She admires the art of Edgar Degas and his soft palette. Her interest in international art is closely matched by a similar passion for Australian art by the likes of Judy Cassab, Justin O’Brien and Norman Lindsay, to name a few. When asked if she is an art lover, she replies, ‘well, it’s really just a part of life!’

Shirley’s encounters with the Society have been wide-ranging. She recalls one particularly memorable trip to northern New South Wales she took part in after reading about it in Look some years ago. As part of this journey, a small group of members attended a beautiful country home where the focus was on making and appreciating art in good company, with skilled instruction. Shirley says that participants on this week-long retreat were set up with easels and paint, and that their first subject was a humble pair of shoes. Shirley went on to paint a still life on the trip that she displays in her home today – a beautifully composed scene in ochres, blues and whites.

When asked about how she came to join the Society and remain involved with the Art Gallery, she explains that friends who were volunteer guides were a key factor. ‘Exhibition tours are a great thing,’ she says. ‘I think it gives people a personal interest and the Gallery can whet the appetite of people new to art. It inspires them to buy a painting or join an art class.’ Having attended different events over the years, Shirley recalls society luncheons where ‘you’d see the people who were members all dressed up in our very best. In those days, glamour dos were more out of the Gallery.’

Asking Shirley about how the Art Gallery has changed, she recalls that members used to be toured ‘down into the depths of the building … it was serious stuff. Everyone liked the top parts of the building though … lovely things that you’d see from all over the world. I have to say, everything they’ve done at the Gallery, they’ve done with great aplomb.’ Something that has stayed the same seems to be the popular Art After Hours events which, as Shirley tells, ‘started in my time. There was music and it was great fun. People would come after work.’

On leaving her apartment, Shirley shows me her letters from King Charles and Queen Camilla, the Prime Minister and the Governor General, all received for her 100th birthday. I ask if she has any advice for fellow members. Smiling, Shirley shares some words of wisdom from her mother: ‘if someone takes you to lunch, you should take them right back. In other words, always reciprocate hospitality.’

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A version of this article first appeared in Look – the Gallery’s members magazine