LANDSCAPE ART IN AUSTRALIA 



widely known. His work is marked by strong individuality, and he is 

 intensely sensitive to impressions ; uninfluenced by any particular 

 school, he paints as he feels, with thorough understanding of his subject, 

 and an earnest desire to truthfully depict nature in its ever-changing, 

 mysterious moods and the Australian Bush is full of mystery. He re- 

 frains from all that is startling and discordant, and applies his colours in 

 perfect harmony. The subjects for his brush are all around him, and in 

 his landscapes there is a certain reposefulness which is both effective 

 and pleasing. Fred McCubbin is, perhaps, the most versatile artist in 

 Australia, and few men have met with such continuous and sustained 

 success. Not only was he the first Australian-born artist to paint the 

 scenery of his native land, but he has ever maintained a high position, 

 and by his work has done much to reveal to Australians themselves the 

 many natural beauties of this vast island-continent. That he will be 

 always recognized as one of the founders of the Australian school we 

 can be certain, and whatever view may be held as to the exact place in 

 art which in the future will be accorded him, it can with confidence be 

 said no one of his contemporaries has displayed a more entire devotion 

 to art, nor merged his life so completely into his work. He is represented 

 in the Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, and Geelong Art Galleries. 

 W. Lister Lister (pp. 66 to 70), who for the past eighteen years has been 

 President of the Royal Art Society of New South Wales, was born in 

 Sydney in 1 859, but in 1 868 left Australia with his parents for England, 

 where and in France he studied art, returning to his native land in 1 8 8 3 . 

 He works both in oil and water-colour, and paints all his pictures in the 

 open and usually on a large scale so as to indicate the bigness of his 

 subject. He is a realistic painter, and the productions from his brush 

 are true transcripts from nature; there is no struggling after mere 

 prettiness, rather is there displayed in all his work a depth of feeling 

 and sincerity of purpose. A few years ago the Commonwealth Govern- 

 ment offered a prize of 250 guineasfor the best painting of the site ofthe 

 new Federal Capital (Canberra). Thirty pictures were sent in, and the 

 judges, 'four in number, were unanimous in awarding the prize to 

 Lister Lister. On four occasions he has been awarded the Wynne prize, 

 and is represented by many paintings in the Art Galleries ofthe differ- 

 ent States ofthe Commonwealth. 



Julian R. Ashton (pp. 48 to 50) was born in England in 1851, studied 

 art at South Kensington and Paris, came out to Australia in 1878, and 

 has ever since resided in Sydney ; so that to all intents and purposes he 

 is an Australian artist, and as such does Australia claim him. Having 

 worked for so long a period under conditions as to weather and atmo- 

 sphere so different to what obtains in England, the influence of his early 

 training may be said to have been materially weakened and to some ex- 

 tent lost ; with the result that he embraces his subject, whether figure 



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