Serle was born on 2 September 1875 in
Melbourne, Australia. She studied at the National Gallery school where she was taught by
Phillips Fox,
Jane Sutherland, and
Walter Withers. She attended the Gallery School with her sister
Elsie Barlow. In 1902 Serle travelled to Paris, France, where she was exposed to the
Impressionists, which influenced her subsequent work. Hacke Place in the Canberra suburb of
Conder is named in her honour and that of her younger sister
Elsie Barlow, a founder of Castlemaine Art Museum, the misspelling of their maiden name being gazetted in 1988. == Exhibitions ==