Kathleen 'Kate' Hattam (1923–2004), stylesetter and art collector, was born in London and served with the Women’s Royal Air Force during the Second World War, stationed in radar at Beachey Head. She met her future husband Hal Hattam, a Scottish-born Australian obstetrician and artist, while he was in England with the Australian Imperial Force. She started her career in the advertising department of Harrods before returning with Hal to Melbourne, where she found marketing work with Georges, then the city's most fashionable department store. Balancing work with raising her first three children, she quickly rose to the position of advertising manager, where she was at one time said to be the highest-paid woman in Australia. The couple became friends with a group of inner-city intellectuals and aesthetes, and entertained and encouraged many emerging artists who have since become household names. At Kate's behest, artists such as John Perceval, Arthur Boyd and Leonard French designed wrapping paper and greeting cards for Georges, and she is believed to have been influential in securing fair rates of payment for artists engaged in commercial work. The Hattam family homes in Canterbury and South Yarra housed an unrivalled body of works by artists in their circle and beyond, including John Brack, Clifton Pugh, Fred Williams and Sid Nolan, who came to play a substantial role in Australian art in the twentieth century.
