Alice Marian Ellen Bale

Alice Marian Ellen Bale took private art lessons from May Vale and Hugh Ramsay and elected to the Victorian Artists Society, prior to enrolling at the National Gallery School in 1895 where she was awarded many prizes studying under Frederick McCubbin and L. Bernard Hall. She became particularly well known for her paintings of flowers, meticulously painted evocative works of considered composition. She also painted portraits, landscapes and interiors, inspired by her homes in Kew and Castlemaine. Bale was instrumental in the establishment of the Castlemaine Art Gallery. Later studies with Max Meldrum shaped a more tonal approach She was an active member of the Melbourne Society of Painters and a founding member of Twenty Melbourne Painters group. She regularly exhibited her work, including four solo exhibitions during her lifetime and was included in the 1923 exhibition of Australian art in London. She was hung at the Royal Academy in 1933 and the Paris Salon in 1939 and was commissioned to paint a portrait for the Australian War Memorial in 1946. Her work was acquired by the National Gallery of Victoria in 1922 (Scabiosa), proved a popular colour print among the limited examples available.

Bale generously established the biennial AME Bale Travelling Scholarship and Art Prize, supporting artists to this day.

The exhibition Quiet Corners: The Art of AME Bale was held at Town Hall Gallery, Boroondara in 2026.

She is represented in the Castlemaine Art Gallery, National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of South Australia, Art Gallery of Queensland and regional galleries in Ballarat and Mildura.