Australian Art Association

Australian Art Association, catalogue of exhibition, Athenaeum, Collins Street, Oct. 1920, image courtesy State Library of Victoria

The Australian Art Association, known as 'The Three A's'[1][2] or 'AArtA', was a national body founded in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1912 by Edward Officer (inaugural president)[3] John Mather, Frederick McCubbin, Max Meldrum and Walter Withers.[4][5]

Other organisations

Other organisations have used the same name:

Smith notes that an earlier 'Australian Art Association' was formed when Tom Roberts, returning from overseas in 1885, found the Victorian Artists Society dominated by amateur artists. Leading a group of professional artists Arthur Streeton, Charles Conder, John Mather, Ford Paterson, W. B. Spong, Percival Ball, Artur Loureiro and Ugo Catani, he formed the a break-away academy, the first 'Australian Art Association'. In 1888 it rejoined and merged with the Victorian Artists Society.[6]

Registered under the Companies Act at 395 Collins Street (the National Mutual Building) on 27 May 1901,[7][8] the Association funded Tom Roberts' travel to England[9] to complete portraits for his history painting The Opening of the First Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia,[10][11][12] and issued photogravure prints of it; artist's proofs sold for thirty guineas on parchment and fifteen guineas on Japanese paper, while prints on India paper cost three and a half guineas.[13]

In 1974 the Art Association of Australia was founded to represent art historians, academics, critics, curators, artists, and art students.[14] In 1999 tt incorporated New Zealand interests and to become the Art Association of Australia and New Zealand (AAANZ) .[5]

Establishment of the 1912 Association

Not connected to the first or second so named, another, which is the subject of this article, was established eleven years later as a national organisation exclusively for Australian professional artists (Tom Roberts was to show with them in the 1920s). McGrath,[15] and Williams,[16] note that it too was a break-away group from the Victorian Artists Society in reaction to its acceptance of amateurs as members. As The Argus newspaper article announcing it explains in 1912: [17]

For some time past an endeavour has been on foot amongst the artists of the community to form a society which could fitly represent the highest attainments of the professional painters of Melbourne. The present Victorian Artists Society, it is claimed, fails to do this, as the professional element is a small minority amongst several hundred members, and the principle of one man one vote, it is said, renders them powerless to control the affairs of the society.

Proceedings culminated in a meeting held on Friday night in the Cafe Francais, attended by Messrs Mather, McCubbin, Withers, Innes, McClintock, Patterson, Meldrum and Officer. Amongst other resolutions it was decided unanimously to hold a first exhibition in May next, for which the Athenaeum is already secured. These names should guarantee the quality of the new body. Almost all have pictures in one or more of the National Galleries of Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide, and two are trustees of the Felton Bequest.

The name chosen for the new organisation is "The Australian Art Association". They will incur no expenses beyond those of exhibition, and thereby avoid the necessity for the large membership roll with they claim hampers the Victorian Artists' Society.

Members and office holders

Members included Norman Macgeorge (second president),[18] Rupert Bunny, James Ranalph Jackson, Leslie Wilkie,[5] and William Dunn Knox whose first exhibition was in 1918 with the Association in Melbourne before he was elected to it in 1919 and later served as its Treasurer in 1924 with Edith Lucy Antoinette Hobbs (wife of George Bell and the subject of his 1926 The Green Turban).[19]

Other council members included Louis McCubbin, elected as President in 1912,[20][21] Norman Macgeorge, Alexander Colquhoun, Napier Waller, Charles Wheeler, Harry (Henry Broomilow) Harrison, and Charles Web Gilbert, under President W. B. McInnes, with Leslie Wilkie secretary.[5] Edward Officer was Secretary in 1914,[22] when Clara Southern became the first woman to join the Association and the first to serve on its committee.[23][24] George Bell joined the committee in 1922.[25]

Ethos

The Argus, after the Association had recently formed with members expressing "complete sympathy with the Federal art movement",[26] reported that its aim was to reject "conventional, precise, and mechanical reproductions of nature" in preference for "a personal message, musical quality of line and colour."[27] The writer was likely to have been the cartoonist and Max Meldrum disciple, Henry Bromilow Harrison who was freelance critic for that Melbourne paper for the lifetime of the Association[28]

In 1920, Edward Officer, President of the Association, in a letter to The Argus, represented its opposition to the import duty then being imposed on imported art, remarking that "This year it happens that many of the Australian artists who have made names for themselves in England and Europe will come to us with exhibitions of their work, and will be, as Mr [Arthur] Streeton was, confronted with this ridiculous duty."[29] Their deputation in June to the Customs Minister discovered that he conceded, and that works of Australian artists and art students residing less than five years abroad would be free of import duty.[30]

Exhibitions

George W Lambert (1910) Chesham Street, shown in the 1913 exhibition. National Gallery of Australia

Starting in May 1913,[31][32] the Association held annual exhibitions of its members' work, usually in the Athenaeum gallery,

1913

The first, opened by Lady Denman,[33] included works by Clewin Harcourt, Norman Macgeorge, Frederick McCubbin, Charles Webb Gilbert,[34] John Shirlow, W. Lister Lister, Norman Carter, Howard Ashton, Hans Heysen, John Mather, Ambrose Patterson, George Washington Lambert,[35] Janet Cumbrae Stewart, Walter Withers, and Josephine Muntz Adams[26][27] and those exhibiting with the AArtA on other occasions included these significant women artists:

1914

The second exhibition, described (again probably by Henry B. Harrison) as "a sincere and very earnest endeavour to grapple with the problem of raising Australian painting from the despondency into which it has fallen,"[37] and more "widely representative of the best Art of Australia",[38] was opened by Lady Helen Munro Ferguson in June 1914.[39] She remarked that in leaving Australia, artists acquire the styles and character of other countries, but that the exhibitors, "who had stayed behind", appeared to her to be "purely Australian in character," and "should be regarded as benefactors."[40] Joining with the founding group were Arthur Streeton, Penleigh Boyd, Percy Leason, Rupert Bunny, Harold Herbert, Herbert McClintock, George Coates, James Quinn, Clara Southern, David Davies, Ruth Sutherland, the American F. C. Frieske, Walter Withers, who died following a stroke that year,[41] and E. Phillips Fox, who died in the following year.[38][42]

1915

An 'art union' sale of work by one guinea subscriptions was held at the Athenaeum on 23 March 1915 to raise 500 guineas for the support of the Red Cross, with expenses borne by the AArtA,[43] was fully subscribed,[44] with a cheque for £665/12/00 (2025 value: A$84,380.00) presented to Lady Ferguson.[45][46] Hans Heysen was one who contributed a painting, however, such was the intensity of anti-German sentiment that the National Gallery declined his work and he felt obliged to quit the Association due to similar attitudes he encountered there,[47] declaring that “if a man’s feeling for Australia cannot be judged by the work he has done then no explanation on his part would dispel the mistrust ."[48]

The annual exhibiton was held that year on 7 October, opened by the Governor Sir Arthur Stanley,[49][50] who remarked that the association should offer no apology exhibiting in war time because it was essential to keep art alive in such times of turmoil; "in fact, they should especially exert themselves at such a period. When the mind of the world was diverted towards destruction it was well that there were people who continued to devote themselves to a creative work." Twenty percent of profits—£19/12/8 (2025 value: A$2,484.00)[51]—was reserved to fund the Red Cross.[52][53] Later that year the AArtA joined the Women's Art Club, the Arts and Crafts Society, and the National Gallery School students in a 17 December 'Remembrance Day' effort to sell works to provide a special ambulance for use in the war.[54]

1916

The fourth AArtA annual exhibition, again at the Athenaeum and opened by the Governor and his A.D.C. the screenwriter Capt. Conant,[55][56] was held in October 1916,[57] in which was "the most beautiful portrait study she has ever accomplished" by Janet Cumbrae Stewart, with her Red Cross Worker, and "vibrating light" in Leslie Wilkie's study of an interior, were praised in an upbeat Argus review written by another journalist, since HB Harrison, the usual commentator, was showing works, "realising...textures, and play of light."[58] In America, The Christian Science Monitor published a report on the show by a Melbourne-based 'special correspondent' in its December issue.[59]

1917

On 12 September 1917 the fifth AArtA exhibition, opened again by Governor Stanley at the Athenaeum,[60] included works by Clara Southern, James Jackson, Florence Rodway, Janet Cumbrae Stewart, Leslie Wilkie, H. B. Harrison, Edward Officer, Frederick McCubbin, Clewin Harcourt, Norman Carter, Alexander Colquhoun, Jo Sweatman (whose first solo show, of 150 works opened next at the Athenaeum),[61] Herbert McClintock, Ruth Sutherland, John Shirlow, Louis McCubbin, Albert E. Newbury, and Norman MacGeorge.[62] On 17 September The Australasian published reproductions of selections from the show.[63]

1918

In the last months of WWI, funds from the sixth exhibition, held in June 1918, were donated to the Red Cross.[64] Penleigh Boyd, A. E. Newbury, Leslie Wilkie, Clewin Harcourt, Norman McGeorge, Edward Officer, W. Beckwith McInnes, William Dunn Knox, L. Bernard Hall, Frederick George Reynolds, Ruth Sutherland, Jo Sweatman, Marion Jones, Dora Wilson, Clara Southern, Janet Cumbrae Stewart, Alexander C. McClintock, Harold Herbert, J. R .Jackson, William Frater, Alexander Colquhoun, W. Nicholls Anderson, Charles Wheeler, and (the late) Frederick McCubbin exhibited.[65][66]

1919

The Art Association's annual exhibition in October 1919 was preceded in August-September by that of its rival organisation, the Victorian Artists Society.[67] Penleigh Boyd, W. B. McInnes, Edward Officer, Norman McGeorge, William Dunn Knox, R. H. Harrison, Edwin Harcourt, Leslie Wilkie, Bernard Hall, Jo Sweatman, Ruth Sutherland, J. McNally, Harold Herbert, Dora Wilson, Janet Cumbrae Stewart, Will Ashton, Florence Rodway, Norman Carter, and Constance Jenkins were among the exhibitors.[1] During the exhibition, the members dined at J. Richardson's 'Café Francais' at 257 Little Collins St.[68] to honour their President, Edward Officer and to toast soldier artists.[69]

1920

Opening on 1 October 1920, The Argus made special mention of works by work by Arthur Streeton, Penleigh Boyd, Louis McCubbin, Edward Officer, Alexander Colquhoun, Norman Macgeorge, William Dunn Knox, Clewin Harcourt, James Jackson, Charles Wheeler, Bernard Hall, Leslie Wilkie, W. H. Mcinnes, H. B. Harrison, Jo Sweatman, Will Ashton, Janet Cumbrae Stewart, Dora Wilson, Harold Herbert, Alexander C. McClintock C. Webb Gilbert, and newcomers Napier Waller, James Ranalph Jackson, Frank R. Crozier, David Alison, George Clausen, Christian Hampel, and George Bell.[70]

1921

After the death that year of President, Edward Officer, and his replacement by Norman Macgeorge on an unanimous vote, a new venue, the Fine Art Society's Gallery, 100 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, was chosen for the Association's annual exhibition opening 15 September 1921,[71] and was hailed in the press as "one of the strongest yet held by that body, the work throughout being of a uniformly high standard." Those showing included H. B Mcinnes, Clewin Harcourt, George Coates, Leslie Wllkie, Charles Wheeler, George Bell, Bernard Hall, Alexander Colquhoun, Harry B Harrison, George Washington Lambert, Harold Septimus Power, Arthur Streeton, Louis McCubbin, Penleigh Boyd, W. B. McInnes, Norman Macgeorge, William Dunn Knox, Harold Herbert, John Eldershaw, Matthew MacNally, Napier Waller, Janet Cumbrae Stewart, Dora Wilson, and sculptor C Web Gilbert.[72] The Governor, with his A.D.C. Capt. Keppel-Palmer and the Countess of Stradbroke attended on 20 September.[73] Purchases of several works, including one by W. D. Knox were made by Lord Northcliffe during the world tour that preceded his death the following year.[74]

1922

W. B. McInnes (1922) Malcolm and Gyp. Oil on canvas 153.4 × 122.8 cm. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Felton Bequest, 1922

Treasurer Alexander McClintock had died early in 1922,[75][76] the year a Camille Corot painting previously unseen in Melbourne was an attraction in the July annual exhibition, the tenth, held again at the Fine Art Society's Gallery and opened by Theodore Fink.[77] Though the Corot failed to appear due to the owner's discomfort over its safety,[78] Augustus John's unfinished but "vivid and Real" portrait of the Prime Minister Billy Hughes was loaned by Robert D. Elliott.[79]

An 'at home' was held at the gallery, catered by the wives of Norman Macgeorge, W.H. McInnes, Leslie Wilkie, Bernard Hall, and George Bell, with Dora Wilson.[80][81] Sydney Ure Smith, editor of Art in Australia traveled from New South Wales to attend the exhibition.[82][83]

Artists from New South Wales, Tasmania, and Queensland were exhibitors, including John Longstaff, who showed a full length portrait of Dame Nellie Melba. Other interstate artists included George Lambert, Septimus Power, Will Ashton, J Jackson, Elioth Gruner, Collins, Thea Proctor, Vida Lahey, J R. Eldershaw. Canvases by Britons Sir William Orpen and Augustus John invited further interest. Among Victorians exhibiting were W. B. McInnes, Norman Macgeorge, Alexander Colquhoun, Leslie Wilkie, A. E. Newbury. Webb Gilbert, W. D. Knox, George Bell, Penleigh Boyd, H. B. Harrison, Louis McCubbin, Napier Waller, Charles Wheeler, Jo Sweatman, and others.[84]

Alexander Colquhoun, writing in The Herald remarked that the exhibiton was "not quite up to the standard of last year, which probably marks the highwater level of the association's endeavours,"[85] which drew an offended letter to the editor from Norman Macgeorge.[86][87] The Australasian critic concurred.[88] However Colquhoun and all other commentators were impressed by the portraits, especially W. B. McInnes' portrait of his son, Malcolm and Gyp.[89][78][90] The work was purchased from the exhibition by the National Gallery of Victoria through the Felton Bequest.[91]

1923

Charles Wheeler (1923) The Amber Necklace. Oil on canvas 167 x 120 cm. Exhibited: 1923 annual AArtA exhibition
Penleigh Boyd (1923) The Warburton Ranges. Oil on cardboard, 22.8 × 55.5 cm. Purchased by Governor-General from 1923 annual AArtA exhibition. National Gallery of Victoria

Discussions were had in February at Melbourne's Cafe Francais, led by frequent exhibitor with the AArtA, Norman Carter, who had traveled from Sydney,[92] about the London exhibition, planned for two and a half years,[93] of Australian art at the Royal Academy,[94] for which the Association assured him support,[95] entailing £2,000 from them and Sydney's Society of Artists for rental of four rooms in Burlington House in which to show around 250 paintings including loans from the state galleries. Lord Rothemere, Dame Nellie Melba, and state governors promised their patronage.[96] It was discovered that the terms of the Felton Bequest would limit the selection of works to be sent, as artworks acquired through it could not leave the country.[97]

In March at the Cafe Francais W. B. Mcinnes was elected President of the Association, with Leslie Wilkie appointed as hon. secretary, W. D. Knox, hon secretary while all members of the council were re-elected. Gratitude was expressed to Norman McGeorge, the retiring president.[98] In May, the colleagues toasted Clewin Harcourt before his departure for Europe.[97]

It was announced that members Rupert Bunny, George Coates, James Quinn, Dora Meeson, Violet Teague, Marion Jones, and Cumbrae Stewart were exhibiting in the Paris Salon. George Bell, W. Beckwiith Mclnness, Hans Heysen and H. Desbrowe Annear had traveled to Sydney to select works for the London exhibition. They joined Sydney judges S. Ure Smith , Norman Lindsay, Howard Ashton, and John Longstaff.[99]

The annual exhibition that year returned to the Athenaeum and opened on 13 November, in which Table Talk hailed "the revival of figure work".[100] Exhibitors included L. Bernard Hall, H. S. Power, W.B. McInnes, Blamire Young, H. B. Harrison, W.D. Knox, George Bell,[101] Charles Wheeler, Tom Roberts, L. Wilkie, S. Ure Smith, Penleigh Boyd, John Eldershaw, Harold Herbert, Harry Harrison, Dora Wilson, Napier Waller, Jo Sweatman, A. E. Newbury, Daryl Lindsay, A.M.E. Bale, Frank Crozier, A Colquhoun, Will Ashton, and J.D. Moore, Margaret Preston and Thea Proctor.[102][103][104] The Age lauded the show as "undoubtedly the best art offering that has been made in Melbourne. It comprises the work of leading artists in Australia..." and only the watercolour landscapes were "not up to standard."[105] Governor-General Lord Forster attended the exhbiition on 14 November 1923,[106][107] and purchased Penleigh Boyd's Warburton Ranges, now in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria.[108][109] Boyd died in a car accident only a fortnight later, 28 November, at Warragul.[110][111] Pall-bearers at his funeral and burial at Brighton cemetery on 31 November were Association members W.B. McInnes, Norman MacGeorge, L. Bernard Hall, Harold Herbert, C. Web-Gilbert, Frank Crozier, Napier Waller, James S. MacDonald, Alexander Colquhoun, John Longstaff, John Shirlow and M. J. MacNally.[112]

1924

Dora Wilson (1924) Entr'acte. Pastel on paper on card 73 x 53 cm, exhibited at the 1924 AArtA exhibition

In January Sydney Association member Will Ashton left for Europe. Interviewed in The News of his home state, he said he intended seeing new art "Otherwise one is likely to get into a groove. By keeping in touch with the latest trend of artistic thought that danger is eliminated".[113]

Meeting in Charles Wheeler's studio in June, Wheeler (president), Wilkie (secretary) Knox (treasurer) were re-elected to those positions, and G. Bell, L. McCubbin, N. McGeorge, A. Colquhoun, Napier Waller, C. Wheeler, H. B. Harrison, and C. Web Gilbert were elected to the council.[114][115]

At a dinner at the Cafe Francais, architect Rodney Alsop and Sydney Ure Smith, editor of Art in Australia attended. Smith praised NGV director Bernard Hall’s role in fostering Victorian art, but criticised the Felton Bequest for its acquisitions, usually old masters of interest only to connoisseurs and more suited to a museum, and insufficient purchase of contemporary Australian works, compared to the Sydney Gallery’s support of local art. He considered a Federal society not possible, given opinions of what constituted worthy art varied so amongst the various States.[116]

12 November marked the opening of the annual exhibition with a private viewing at 2:30pm,[117][118] again at the Athenaeum,[119][120] with The Argus summarily commenting that "It is a little more than 12 years since a number of the leading artists of Victoria banded together to hold exhibitions annually of work produced in this State, combined with contributions from the best painters in other parts of Australia. The exhibition has been always Federal in character"[121] and "the aims of the society have been always from the ideal point of view and the uplifting of the artistic standard."[122] Exhibitors included George Bell, L. Bernard Hall, W. B. Mcinnes. H. B. Harrison, Norman Macgeorge, Leslie Wilkie, A. Colquhoun, M. Napier Waller, Harold Herbert, A.E. Newbury, W. D. Knox, Louis McCubbin, Charles Wheeler, Sydney Ure Smith, John D. Moore, Fred Leist, James Quinn, and Rupert Bunny.[123]

Of the latter, Alexander Colquhoun of The Age condemned works:[124]

from Australian artists abroad. Messrs. Leist, Quinn and Bunny [which are] lamentable...Leist is as hard as unsympathetic as a paving stone. Quinn is merely impertinent, with a ton of affectation, in his two portrait studies, while Bunny, who has done some really great work in times gone by, shows signs of decaying mentality in two hideous panels, devoid of charm, draftsmanship or color. With the exception of the lastmentioned offerings, the exhibition is remarkable for its honesty. There is no attempt to distribute any of that so-called "truth in art" propaganda.

Colquhoun's article praised McInnes' portrait Miss Neville Collins which that year won the Archibald Prize,[125][126] and singled out Napier Waller's The Amazons—which was purchased from the exhibition for the collection of the NGV through the Felton Bequest[127]—"Waller has a vivid and romantic soul. One has never seen such glorious rhythm as in...The Amazons, or such masterly grouping of figures and such delicate, reticent color. It is a masterpiece, in fact the whole of the offerings of this brilliant genius are."[5] Member J. S. McDonald wrote his Herald review that as a mark of its quality that "there are a large number of good portraits and figure work, and plenty of evidence of high ability."[128]

With its usual flippancy The Bulletin remarked on "a lady covered (in places) by a green dress, and obviously embarrassed by her shoulder-straps, has engaged the attention of Dora Wilson in “Entr’acte’".[129] Better than usual sales during the exhibition encouraged the plan to mount a show of smaller works in addition to the annual event.[130]

1925

The year opened with The Age, whose critic at the time was frequent AArtA co-exhibitor Alexander Colquhoun, issuing the Association a challenge based on a 'campaign' being conducted by The National Art Association of New Zealand in issuing a 'circular' in which it broadly proclaimed that "Art in its widest meaning is the expression of life, the individual's expression of his ideas of use and beauty beauty in different ways, in different materials.'. The Age article concludes: "the Australian Art Association is now given a friendly lead to get up and do something instead of sitting back in splendid Turneresque isolation and degenerating into a mutual admiration society. As at present constituted, to use an Americanism, 'from the chin up it is dead.' An exhibition once a year, when the members meet like long-lost brothers, is not any use. There must be some concerted effort to help both public and artists. The Victorian Artists Society is making a valiant effort, but this is not enough. It is up to the Australian Art Association to throw off this stupid suburban lethargy and also the sinister influence of a coterie of alleged connoisseurs, studio lizards and artistic poseurs, and make an effort to better the enterprise of these vimful New Zealanders..."[131]

George Bell (1925) The Green Turban, oil on canvas, 61.3h x 51.1w cm. New England Regional Art Museum

The energy and commitment George Bell, President in 1925, and his earning of accolades and memberships of worthy international art institutions, was praised in a June Age article acknowledging that with "his teaching, his solid work as president of the Australian Art Association and his many commissions, Mr. Bell spends a strenuous time."[132] Mary Allen was elected 'associate member' of the Association.[133]

The annual exhibition was to be launched on 27 August at the Athenaeum,[134][135] by Speaker of the House of Representatives the conservatives' William Watt[136] (not, as was reported elsewhere, Solicitor-General Sir Robert Garran).[137] Chief Secretary Stanley Argyle[138][139] filled the role and after his speech broadcast on radio the day before,[140][141] mentioned that several of the paintings exhibited "had been painted by artists whose works were known and highly appreciated in' other parts of the world:[142] member exhibitors Arthur Streeton, George Bell, W. B. McInnes, Charles Wheeler, Leslie Wilkie, Louis McCubbin, Norman Macgeorge, Harold Herbert. W. D. Knox, H. B. Harrison, M. J. MacNally. Charles Wheeler entered a portrait of Herald critic 'Jimmy' MacDonald which had won the 1924 Archibald.[143] The show on this occasion was without paintings by Bernard Hall, John Longstaff, Max Meldrum, and "not so outstanding in the number of large and ambitious exhibits as the last memorable show according to The Sun.[144] Sydney painters included were Norman Carter, B.E. Minns, Charles Bryant, J. D. Moore,[145] Thea Proctor, Margaret Preston; with John Eldershaw of Tasmania; Hans Heysen from South Australia; and Vida Lahey of Brisbane.[146] S. Ure Smith, who was a guest at the Association's dinner at the Cafe Francais on 24 August, also exhibited.[147] He brought a proposal by his Sydney Society to send pictures to the imminent New Zealand exhibition, and to accept pictures by Victorian artists in the consignment.[148]

John Longstaff (1927) Dr Alexander Leeper, oil on canvas 115.2 × 93.0 cm. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Felton Bequest

The Herald critic James Stuart MacDonald (an Association member himself) admired George Bell's A Lady in Black (now held but the Art Gallery of New South Wales),[149] but singled out, in has absence abroad, W. B. McInnes's Tom Luxton[150] as "well painted" despite its "forced studio lighting", Mary Allen's The Yellow Jacket as "closely observed" but "needing development", found the subject of Leslie Wilkie's Bonnie Jean "A sweet little girl in which every bit of girlish sweetness is conveyed", but considered that Norman Carter's Portrait in Black lacked "substance", Jo Sweatman's and A.M.E. Bale's portraits "too dumpy".[151] Colquhoun in The Age found "too much of a tendency...to stick to the conventional landscape and the orthodox portrait study...particularly noticeable in the Melbourne efforts" while finding Sydney artist Margaret Preston striking "a new note". Nevertheless, he wrote that George Bell's portrait of his wife "pulsates with humanity, and is posed delightfully." He was in agreement with McDonald in saying that Allen's The Yellow Jacket was "not carried far enough,"[152] but by contrast considered Vida Lahey's still life "the most delightful flower study imaginable."[153][154] Later, The Herald reported on the success of the exhibition with "sales [that] have exceeded those of any former year, and that with less than a third of the duration of the exhibition having passed."[155]

Dining with the committee at the Ritz Cafe, Lonsdale Street, toward the end of the exhibition the opening speaker Argyle addressed complaints voiced by the Association about the selection process for acquisitions at the National Gallery of Victoria, commenting that the institution was gallery, museum and library, but necessarily with only one set of trustees to manage all. To applause he posed the question: Did you not think that it is the function of Victorian artists to educate the people so that there will be a demand for a new national gallery devoted entirely to Australian art?" Collector Dr Samuel Arthur Ewing, also present, agreed, acknowledging that there might be a better method of selection of artworks.[156][157] Alexander Leeper, Chairman of the Felton Bequest in a letter to The Argus doubted that artists, if they joined in the selection process, would be able to be independent and to avoid "professional jealousies". He explained that Bernard Hall, a member of the Association, was consulted by the trustees, but that the committee was appointed by, and operated under, the rules of Felton's will. Even if artists set up a separate gallery devoted to Australian art, they would receive no support from the bequest, which in fact set aside a percentage of funds for purchase of local art.[158]

In October, the Association held another dinner, also at the Ritz Cafe, for Will Ashton, one of a series through which "painters of interstate fame (and their aims) [would be made] better known to each other."[159] Soon after, on 3 October, member Charles Webb Gibert died, coincidental with the arrival of his bronze group Matthew Flinders, cast in England. Members of the Association served as pallbearers at his burial at Coburg Cemetery.[160][161]

At another dinner occasion S. Ure Smith arrived to present a bronze medial to John Connell (in his unavoidable absence) for services rendered to art. [162]

International exposure

Albert J. Hanson (1911) Fair Droving Weather, watercolour, 62 x 90cm. QAGOMA

The English publication The Studio in a 1914 article 'Australian Landscape Painters' mentions that McCubbin was "one time president of the Victorian Artists Society, but he now belongs to the new Australian Art Association which was started a few months ago by certain members of the older society who were not satisfied with the policy it was pursuing. Mr Withers is also among those who have joined the new body."[163] Sydney artst Albert J. Hanson's 1911 watercolour Fair Droving Weather, was an illustration, and was exhibited in the Association's second, 1914 exhibition; the year of his death.

The 1928 American Christian Science Monitor included an uncredited Melbourne writer's report on 'Art in Australia' in the annual show by the Association,[164]

the chief of its kind in this country, probably represents as fairly as can be the condition of the painting art in this Commonwealth. As an indication of the esteem in which the work of this association is held in England, King George has recently knighted its president, Sir John Longstaff...Far from Montparnasse, Utrillo, Van Dongen and Matisse, painters in the Antipodes probably miss the influences that have acquired vogue and value in the northern hemisphere. Still, to us, most of the current work that at present finds favor abroad seems to be the result of premeditation which Australians, at the risk of being branded as conservative, avoid in favor of the development of the traditions bequeathed us by their artistic ancestors. These beliefs are steadfastly held and are manifested in the bulk of the work of Australia's more accomplished practitioners.

The efforts of Australian entrepreneur Herbert Brookes,[165] who promoted his country in America, persuaded the International Art Center of the Roerich Museum, to accept an exhibition of about a hundred paintings by members of the Australian Art Association for a tour starting in New York early in 1931 and Washington in March, then through American galleries. Included was work by prominent figures; the Association's then president Sir John Longstaff, W. Lister Lister of the Royal Art Society of New South Wales, and Director of the National Gallery of Victoria, Bernard Hall. The American Magazine of Art reported that:[166]

from it one learns that the majority of painters in this far-off land are still working along academic lines, though there are included a few examples of modernistic expression.

Demise

McCulloch does not explain the Association's 1933 demise other than to say that "interest in the association waned as the original members died",[5] but the Great Depression, very severe in Australia, was in progress which especially affected younger artists, who might otherwise have joined.[167][168]

Addressing the AartA's ambition to be a national body, as early as 1914 The Argus was commenting that "it is devoutly hoped that the Federal-ness of its aim will assume greater force and definiteness,"[169] an aim more nearly achieved in 1937 by the more conservative Australian Academy of Art with government support, though with members not as notable; and independently by the modernist, but factionalised, Contemporary Art Society in 1938.

With regard to organisation's position within the rise of modernism, Gino NIbbi critcised the parochialism of Australian art being 'stilted and half-dead,'[170] in his Herald review of the 1931 annual exhibition of the Association in which he wrote, as quoted by the Brisbane Courier critic William Moore:[171]

"the artists give the impression that they have matured on easy glories tributed to them by the Australian public, which is in its nature enthusiastic. These works, so generical in quality, are almost totally devoid of personality. We note, for instance, in Mr. L. Bernard Hall's pictures ability irreparably constricted by academic influences, lifeless realities against dead backgrounds. Charles Wheeler appears as an intelligent illustrator, but his manner belongs to our childhood, and is already forgotten. A conventionally treated portrait of a charming lady by W. Beckwith McInnes is only a pale reflection of vitality"

Moore notes Nibbi's observation of Australia artists who were 'studying new problems', and were 'discerning citizens' with genuine appreciation of modern art, but also summarised the way Nibbi's views, decried vehemently by many, had supporters like Rah Fizelle and others including Daryl Lindsay and Arnold Shore who at least conceded that the new art had 'been accepted by the majority', or 'could not be denied.' Protesting the 'incontestable' authority of conventional realism most strongly, Moore wrote, was A.M.E. Bale, whom Cézanne could teach 'nothing about the reality of representation', while Jo Sweatman, regarding modernism was a fad of the times, called for its suppression as an evil.[171]

The Herald gave Nibbi a column of over 1,000 words in its 10 December 1931 issue,[6] in which he responded that the 'moderns', subject to 'intense critical passion of the last 10 years', were no longer a 'vogue' but were 'more than ever the centre of universal interest'. Cézanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh, De Chirico, Utrillo, Derain, Dufy, Segonzac, Braque, Rouault, Gromaire, Kisling and Lurcat, were visionary inheritors of the 'unique intuitions,' 'faithful to their times' of Giotto, El Greco, Tintoretto, and Rembrandt, in their 'painting, for instance, a face, not as we believe we see it, but painting the emotion that gives us that particular face. Avoiding on one hand the platitude of colour photography, and on the other the deceitful reproduction of objects which results in the cold and conventional appearance of a fictitious entity.'[172]

Bibiography

  • Joyce McGrath, The Australian Art Association, 1912-1933 (B. Soc. Sci. special study, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, 1974)

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