Edwardians and expatriates

Gallery 10B, QAG

Australian artists reaching maturity during the closing decades of the nineteenth century were born into a relatively prosperous society, well along the path from colonial outposts to Federation in 1901. However, the lure of Europe remained strong, and most ambitious painters or sculptors felt the need to study at the academies and ateliers of Paris and London.

Opportunities for private and public patronage were limited in Australia, particularly after the recession of the 1890s, and the wealthy circles of Paris and London offered the prospect of financial and social success. Many of the artists represented here became successful in Europe, but the triumph of having their work hung ‘on the line’ at either the Old or New Salons in Paris, or at London’s Royal Academy, did not guarantee success on their return home. Australian critics frequently lamented that these prodigal sons and daughters had lost sight of what it was to be an Australian artist, an important issue for the young nation. Arthur Streeton was the exception that proved the rule – he was unable to establish a reputation in London but was fêted as a founder of the national style in Australia.

One of the earliest paintings in this room, Josephine Muntz-Adams’s Care c.1893, represents the kind of narrative painting that was waning in popularity towards the end of the nineteenth century. In its place, painters such as E Philips Fox or John Russell, whose landscapes you can see on the wall opposite, followed the French example, breaking with academic traditions in favour of vibrant new styles. Alternatively, they took inspiration from the bravura style of American painter John Singer Sargent, with a new emphasis on the face and figure in its own right. Rupert Bunny, George W Lambert and Hugh Ramsay are Australia’s most prominent exponents of this style, which they honed in Paris and London.

Australian artists abroad:Grand tours and miniature portraits

For Australian artists at the turn of the twentieth century, the call of Europe was compelling. Spending time in the training grounds of Paris and London was considered essential, and these artists were among the most cosmopolitan in the nation’s history. Many were eager to record their impressions and experiences as they toured Europe. Parallels can be made with young Englishmen taking the ‘Grand Tour’ through Europe’s cultural landmarks as an educational rite of passage, a tradition that dated back to the fifteenth century. North Africa and the Middle East also held a growing allure for many Australian artists of this generation.

David Davies (1864–1939) settled permanently in Europe from 1897, living in France, England and Wales. Lionel Lindsay (1874–1961) also sought inspiration in travel, first exhibiting in London in 1923. He established a lifelong friendship with print dealer, collector and scholar Harold Wright, who led British interest in Lindsay’s work and guaranteed his reputation as a major printmaker and watercolourist.

Brisbane-born artist Bessie Gibson (1868–1961) moved to Europe in 1905 to continue her studies. Settling in Paris in 1906, she made regular trips to England until the German occupation in 1939, when she moved to England. Gibson returned to Paris after the war, and to Brisbane in 1947. She intended her work for the European market, depicting major tourist destinations in France.

In Paris, Gibson studied miniature painting under Mademoiselle Debillemont-Chardon, becoming accomplished in the field. Originally popular as portable mementoes, miniature portraits continued to be appreciated and admired well into the twentieth century. The fashionably dressed women in Gibson’s portraits reflect the desire for leisure, luxury and the theatrical during the years of comfort and stability preceding World War One. A similar group of miniatures by the relatively unknown Queensland artist R Blakemore (c.1880–c.1947) can also be appreciated for their sensitive depictions of elegant Edwardian women.

Landscapes abroad

Landscape painting was central for Australian artists throughout the nineteenth century. Prior to the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901, painting en plein air had attained special significance in a period of strengthening nationalist sentiment. However, the ‘Heidelberg School’ painters, like many Australian artists of the time, eventually found the call of Europe irresistible.

Works by both Charles Conder and Arthur Streeton are displayed here, but the artists had quite different experiences in Europe. Conder returned to England in 1890, eventually establishing a successful career and leading a life of Bohemian elegance in London, and never came back to Australia. He had taken Streeton’s painting Golden summer 1889 with him to exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1891, and it hung on the line in the Paris Salon the following year. Streeton himself arrived in London in 1897, but his subsequent success there was hard won. He returned to Australia permanently in 1923, where he remained immensely popular.

Firsthand contact with French Impressionism enriched the work of other Australian artists. E Phillips Fox returned from England in 1893 to set up a school in Melbourne with Tudor St George Tucker, based loosely on impressionist principles and informed by extensive travel.

John Russell spent the larger part of his artistic life in Europe, and of all the Australian artists, he had the closest contact with important European practitioners such as Van Gogh, Rodin, Matisse and Monet. The pictures he painted in Sicily in the spring of 1887 inspired Van Gogh to paint similar scenes in the south of France. The following year, Russell established a home on Belle-Île, an island off the coast of Brittany and a favourite subject for Monet. He did not return to live in Australia for nearly 40 years.