Dangerously Modern at the Art Gallery of New South Wales re-centres women in the history of Australian art

After Australian artist Thea Proctor returned from London in the 20s, a critic called her art "dangerously modern".

Sixty years later, critic Bernard Smith dubbed women like Proctor, who travelled to Europe at the turn of the century and returned with new painting styles and techniques, simply "messenger girls".

These artists were celebrated in Europe, as part of Paris and London's flourishing art scenes.

At home, much of their work was dismissed. Loading Instagram content

In fact, few works by some of these artists remain, including most of Edith Collier's nudes, which were burned by her father in New Zealand.

But a new exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) in Sydney — after a first season at the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) in Adelaide earlier this ye