Betty Curnow

Elizabeth Jamaux Curnow (née Le Cren; 31 October 1911 – 24 September 2005), commonly known as Betty Curnow, was a New Zealand artist.

Background
Born in Timaru, New Zealand, Curnow was the daughter of Charles John Le Cren and Daisy Le Cren (née Roberts). Daisy was also an artist, painting watercolours. She married Allen Curnow at St Mary's Church, Timaru, on 26 August 1936. The marriage was dissolved in 1965, but they had a daughter and two sons, one of whom is New Zealand poet and art critic Wystan Curnow. Curnow died in Geraldine, New Zealand, in 2005.

Career
Curnow was a painter and printmaker. She exhibited with the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, and 'The Group' in 1964

She is depicted in her close friend Rita Angus' painting, Portrait of Betty Curnow. Curnow and Angus collaborated on the painting, selected clothing and objects that would best symbolise the threads of Curnow's life as a daughter, wife and mother. The work also inspired Louise Henderson's Portrait of Betty Curnow.

Works by Curnow are held in the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.