Jocelyn Maughan (1955) was recognised in the Queen’s Birthday 2018 Honours with an Order of Australia Medal ‘for service to the visual arts, and to education’.

After MLC School, Jocelyn studied fine art for five years at the National Art School, Darlinghurst. She completed the Diploma of Fine Art, specialising in painting, graduating with honours in 1958.

Concurrent with her career as a practising and exhibiting artist, Jocelyn was also an art educator and administrator in charge of the TAFE Fine Arts School.

Jocelyn has won a number of art prizes, including the Robert Le Gay Brereton Memorial Prize for Draughtsmanship (student award) in 1957, the Portia Geach Memorial Award for Australian Female Portraitists in 1976, the Margaret Fesq Prize for Portrait Painting (RAS award) in 1983, as well as various municipal art awards.

She has exhibited at the Wynne Prize (finalist 1995), the Archibald Prize (finalist 1996 and 1997) as well as various one- and two-person exhibitions: Artarmon Gallery, Woolloomooloo Gallery, Taree Municipal Gallery.

Jocelyn’s works can be found in various private collections, including commissioned portraits at the Grafton Municipal Gallery, MLC School, Ravenswood College, Royal Agricultural Society, Mitchell Library, Sydney, Reserve Bank, Sydney, and Eryldene Trust, Gordon.

Her commissions included a portrait of Professor John Turtle for Sydney University and a portrait of Rev Ken Cornwall, Past Principal of MLC School.

She has published numerous books on draughtsmanship and artmaking, as well as historical works on well-known Australian artists. She supports a number of annual art awards for young Australian artists.

Jocelyn is still actively painting and playing tennis at 81. Her love of tennis began at MLC School where she would hit the ball on the wall adjacent to Abbeythorpe.

A Few Words from Jocelyn

‘It may be of interest that Art was not regarded highly as an educational career/objective. So much so that when I left school to go art school Dr Wade told my mother in writing that had she known that I was going to art school she would not have wasted her school education on me. My mother responded quoting artists such as musician Paderewski and painter Rubens who excelled in world politics as well as their art.

‘Some years after leaving school and completing my diploma in fine art with honours I met Dr Wade at a school reunion function and mentioned that I had been offered a teaching position at Abbotsleigh school and she said she was not interested in my career as I had not taken her advice which was to follow a career in possibly medicine or other university-based profession where as she said I could have brought honour to the school ( I had been in the academic stream class). Such was the attitude of those days.’

Reflections

What would you say are your three proudest achievements?

1. Receiving recognition from one’s peers is rewarding and exciting and it is amazing at now 81 that I am still enjoying my art practice and winning the occasional prize.
2. I still play tennis, a joy established at MLC School.
3. Perhaps greatest satisfaction has been raising two loving sons and being able to enjoy their families.

How did an MLC School education play a role in your life?
MLC School provided a platform for critical and contrary thinking. The School encouraged a value of the simple things of life.

Self-pride was not encouraged at MLC School as it was against the Methodist outlook. The philosophy was doing a job to the best of one’s ability. For me that has been exemplified by being a knowledgeable and inspiring teacher and a competent and skilful artist. Words by R Lytton was our family philosophy and influence, ‘That man is great and he alone, who serves a greatness not his own…’