Ethel Barringer

Who was Ethel Barringer?

Ethel Barringer was a South Australian artist who excelled in various media but was particularly known for her etchings..

Ethel was a daughter of Leonard Barringer and his wife Fanny, nee Page. She was educated at the Advanced School for Girls under Miss Rees George, and was a student of Hans Heysen and also of the Adelaide School of Arts and Crafts. She studied in London for several years and took courses in enamelling, jewellery designing, life work, and etching at the St John's Wood Art School and the Sir John Cass Technical School. On her return to Adelaide she set up a studio of her own in Flinders Street, but gave it up when she gained an appointment as assistant teacher at the School of Arts and Crafts on North Terrace.

She died suddenly of a heart attack in Blackwood after having just completed her fourth year at the school, where she was popular with both teachers and students. Her death came as a shock to members of the staff, who had been with her on the Saturday morning, when she was in excellent spirits, having just been congratulated on her work at an exhibition of the Women Painter-Etchers Society in Sydney.