Olive Cotton and her contemporaries

Published on 04 December 2025

Olive Cotton and her contemporaries is a National Gallery of Australia Touring Exhibition presented as part of the Bowness Family Foundation Photography Touring Program.

Olive Cotton and her contemporaries will be exhibited at Cowra Regional Art Gallery 14 March – 10 May 2026 as the last venue of an exclusive exhibition tour. 

Olive Cotton (1911‒2003) is now recognised as one of Australia’s most significant photographers, especially notable for her images that draw attention to the immersive qualities of photography. Cotton began taking photographs with a Kodak Box Brownie when she was 11, and by the early 1930s was an integral member of a vibrant creative community in Sydney that included her good friend (and later husband) Max Dupain. She spent the decade making some of the most innovative photographs in the history of Australian photography, which she published and exhibited during this period, including internationally.

For the first time, this exhibition brings together Cotton’s photographs and the work of her leading international peers. These include outstanding works from the national collection by key modernist photographers such as Dora Maar, Berenice Abbot, Lucia Moholy, Edward Weston, and Tina Modotti. These are some of the most celebrated figures in international photography, and provide a perfect context for appreciating Cotton’s great work.

Olive Cotton and her contemporaries is part of a program of touring exhibitions drawing on the National Gallery's outstanding photography collection. The program is fully supported by the Bowness Family Foundation, and sees some of the most significant photographs by Australian and International artists tour to regional venues across Australia. The program seeks to elevate awareness of the significant cultural influence of photography in Australia, and to provide communities with access to the best of the history of Australian and international photography.

This is a National Gallery Touring Exhibition presented as part of The Bowness Family Foundation Photography Touring Program.

The exhibition opens 6pm, Friday 13 March 2026 and is accompanied by a comprehensive public program.

Curators: Shaune Lakin, National Gallery, Senior Curator, Photography and Anne O'Hehir, National Gallery, Curator, Photography

Exhibition Dates: 14 March – 10 May 2026

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For more information contact Cassandra Hard Lawrie, Art Gallery Director, Cowra Regional Art Gallery on 0428 779 408 or email Cassandra.Hard.Lawrie@cowra.nsw.gov.au or visit www.cowraartgallery.com.au.

Acknowledgement: Olive Cotton and her contemporaries is a National Gallery Touring Exhibition presented as part of the Bowness Family Foundation Photography Touring Program.

_{Image credit: Olive Cotton, The patterned road, 1938, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/ Canberra, purchased 1983}

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