A NEVER-before-seen oil painting of Mundaring Weir in 1977 features in an incredible history-chronicling exhibition which has just opened at the Holmes à Court Gallery in West Perth.

Along with a watercolour work entitled Spring Morning Gooseberry Hill from the same period, it is part of a stunning showcase of the life and work of Western Australian artist Elizabeth Blair Barber (1909 – 2001).

Living a seemingly double life for many of her nine decades, this avid storyteller’s public face was as Betty Bunning, the socialite wife of prominent WA businessman, the late Charles Bunning.

But to the art world, she was Elizabeth Blair Barber, the gifted and prolific painter who chronicled WA history, persuaded celebrated figures of the day to sit for portraits, and played a pivotal role in nurturing young artists.

Elizabeth Blair Barber: A Life Amongst Painters is a heartfelt celebration of a gifted artist whose work was overlooked for far too long but who was instrumental in forging a new appreciation of female artists in society.

The exhibition of around 200 of Blair Barber’s artworks, many meticulously restored, has been a labour of love for the Bunning family, the name behind Australia’s best-known hardware and garden centre chain.

The late artist’s son, Bob Bunning, said his mother had been an extraordinary Australian painter whose legacy captured eight decades of WA history, along with many treasured family memories.

“The result of the restoration and framing works has been transformational. It has been a great feeling of satisfaction to me to see these works come to life again,” Mr Bunning said.

“Much of my mother’s work has never seen the light of day until now.

“Partly because society considered female artists an oddity at the time, but also because she was busy juggling life as Betty Bunning, society wife and mother of three, whose husband, my father, was busy building the family business.

“It is my hope that others attending the exhibition will delight in her work as I do.”

Preparing for the exhibition over the past few years has been a journey of discovery for its curator Connie Petrillo.

“As curator I really grew to understand Elizabeth Blair Barber the artist,” Mrs Petrillo said.

“Her work was highly individualist, and her approach to painting was about the spontaneous recording of the moments around her.

“Her work is built from expressive brushstrokes that once laid down, remain as a trace of her experience.”

Mrs Petrillo worked closely with Mr Bunning to decide which of the paintings – from the hundreds the family had safely stored over the decades – to include in the show.

It’s the largest time-span involving a single artist that Mrs Petrillo has curated, with about 90 per cent of the works being shown for the first time.

Many towns depicted no longer exist, giving these artworks extra significance as snapshots of WA history.

The exhibition runs until Saturday, August 10 at the Holmes à Court Gallery.