Merioola Group

The group took its name from Merioola, a Victorian-era mansion converted into a boarding house in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra, managed from 1941 by Chica Edgeworth Lowe.

Tenants included the European-born and trained artists Arthur Fleischmann (sculptor), Roland Strasser, Peter Kaiser, Michael Kmit and George de Olszanski.

[1] Others connected with the visual arts included photographer Alec Murray, painters Justin O'Brien, Mary Edwards, Frank Andrews, artist and later noted costume designer Jocelyn Rickards.

The Sydney Charm School included painters William Dobell, Russell Drysdale, Donald Friend, Lloyd Rees, Justin O'Brien, Jean Bellette, Paul Haefliger, David Strachan, Sali Herman, Eric Wilson, Mary Edwell-Burke, Margaret Olley, Roland Strasser, Michael Kmit, Peter Kaiser, Harry Tatlock Miller, Jocelyn Rickards, Adrian Feint, Arthur Fleischmann, Eileen Haxton and applied artists Wallace Thornton, Loudon Sainthill and Wolfgang Cardamatis.

[8] Later, the name "The Sydney Charm School" was disparagingly used by Australian Art critic Robert Hughes to describe the Merioola group of artists.

And Harry [Tatlock Miller] and Loudon [Sainthill] and Alec [Murray] would combine their talents as editor, designer and photographer for Ballet Rambert and Old Vic programs.