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Julian Ashton

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For his son the English born Australian journalist, seeJulian Howard Ashton.

Julian Ashton
CBE
Portrait of Ashton byGeorge Washington Lambert,1928,Art Gallery of New South Wales
Born
Julian Rossi Ashton

(1851-01-27)27 January 1851
Addlestone,Surrey,England
Died27 April 1942(1942-04-27)(aged 91)
Bondi,Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
Known for
MovementHeidelberg School
Spouses
  • Eliza Ann Pugh
    (m. 1876; d. 15 July 1900)
  • (Constance) Irene Morley
    (m. 1902; d. 1946)
ElectedTrustee,Art Gallery of New South Wales

Julian Rossi AshtonCBE(27 January 1851 – 27 April 1942) was an English-born Australian artist and teacher. He is best known for founding theJulian Ashton Art SchoolinSydneyand encouraging Australian painters to capture local life and sceneryen plein air,greatly influencing the impressionistHeidelberg Schoolmovement.

He was a principal organiser of the 1898Exhibition of Australian Art in London,the first major exhibition of Australian art internationally.

Biography

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Ashton was born inAddlestone,Surrey,the son of American amateur painter[1]Thomas Briggs Ashton, and his wife Henrietta, daughter of Count Carlo Rossi,[2]aSardiniandiplomat[3]who married the sopranoHenriette Sontag.The family moved toPenzance,Cornwall shortly after, and lived at Burley Grove,Gulval.[4]At the age of 11, the family moved again toTotnes,Devon.[5]His father died in 1864, and around age 15 he began working in the engineers' office of either theGreat Western Railway[6]orGreat Eastern Railway.[7][8]There he remained for six years using his entire leisure time painting atSouth Kensington.During this time he studied at theWest London School of Artfor three years. He then went to study at theAcadémie Julianin Paris and began illustrating books.[9][5]He also had considerable success as a painter, exhibiting at theRoyal Academy of Artsand elsewhere.

Ashton emigrated to Melbourne in 1878 under contract toDavid Syme'sIllustrated Australian Newsand lived there for five years before moving to Sydney.

He was the elected president of theArt Society of New South Walesfrom 1886 to 1892.[10]From 1892 to 1895 he taught classes on behalf of the society but was dismissed after choosing to exhibit his works with the newly formedSociety of Artists.[5]

Ashton'sEvening, Merri Creek(1882), held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, was claimed by the artist to be the first trueplein airlandscape painted in Australia.

He had a background in the contemporary Frenchrealismof theBarbizon School,which emphasised paintingen plein air(i.e. direct from nature, as opposed to studio-based painting), and which laid the basis for theImpressionistmovement. As a trustee of theArt Gallery of New South Waleshe championed emerging Australian artists of the Australian Impressionist orHeidelberg School,and the Gallery's decision to collect these works owes much to his influence. Ashton is known for his paintingsEvening, Merri Creek(1882),A Solitary Ramble(1888) and others.

George Lambertpainted a portrait of Ashton which is in the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Lambert showed Ashton, then 77, with white hair and a military-type moustache, dressed in a grey suit and a dapper bow-tie, cigar in hand, sitting beside a table with a mass of objects. The cigar and wine suggest 'good living' and the flowers and fruit may have referred to Ashton's role as a gardener. Behind him there is a deep red curtain draped over a gold picture frame, behind which there is a curtain, creating an abstract arrangement of bold colours, with the frame suggesting Ashton's role as an artist, teacher and patron.[11]

Julian Ashton Art School

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Main article:Julian Ashton Art School
Julian Ashton Art School building, George Street, The Rocks
Photograph byHenry Kingshowing members of theSociety of Artistsin 1907, including Ashton (far left) andNorman Lindsay(fifth from left)

The Sydney Art School (also known as the Julian Ashton Art School), which Ashton established in 1890 as the "Academy Julian",[12]has been an influential art school in Australia.

Julian Ashton students have includedWilliam Dobell,John Olsen,Fred Leist,Brett Whiteley,Justine Kong Sing,Anne Dangar,andNora Heysen.

(Julian)Howard Ashton's son, J. Richard Ashton, and his wife Wenda ran the School from 1960, when, among many gifted artists, Ian Chapman andArchibald PrizewinnerFrancis Giaccoattended, until 1977 when Phillip Ashton (Richard's son) became Principal, this being the time of Hadyn Wilson, political cartoonistBill Leakand artistPaul Newton.

In 1988 the school was incorporated andPaul Delprat,Julian Ashton's great-grandson, himself an ex-student took over the running of the school, becoming the principal. In 1989 the school's antique casts and easels, which date back to 1890, were classified by theNational Trust.The school's main campus is inThe Rocks, Sydney,located opposite theMuseum of Contemporary Art Australiaat 117–119 George Street, The Rocks. The building is listed on theNew South Wales State Heritage Register.[13]Since 2004 the school has also conducted classes at Headland Park,Georges Heights,Mosman.

Family

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Ashton married twice: toEliza Ann Pugh(died 15 July 1900) in Hackney, London on 1 August 1876, by whom he had four sons and a daughter.

  • Rupert Rossi Ashton (c. 1885 – 4 March 1895).[14]
  • Bertha Ashton married W(illiam) Charlton Hubble (1880 – 17 February 1949)[17]in July 1923.[18]He was the (divorced) ex-husband ofGeorgina Temperley.Their son Tom Hubble went on to become a farmer and artist of no distinction.[19]

He married again, on 8 September 1902 to (Constance) Irene Morley (died 11 April 1946).[20]

On Monday, 27 April 1942 Ashton died at Bondi, Sydney, aged 91, after a long illness. Until his death he had still been an art teacher to others.[21]The service for the 'Grand Old Man of Australian art' was held at the Northern Suburbs Crematorium on 29 April 1942.[22]

Ashton also had a brother, George Rossi Ashton (born 1857), a black-and-white artist who lived in Australia between the years 1878 and 1893 before returning to London. He married Blanche Brooke Coppin, a daughter ofGeorge Coppin,in Melbourne on 23 October 1883.

Recognition

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He was appointed a Commander of theOrder of the British Empire(CBE) in 1930.[12][23]

Selected paintings

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  • Aboriginal Family Group, 1886, Art Gallery of New South Wales
    Aboriginal Family Group,1886, Art Gallery of New South Wales
  • The Corner of the Paddock, 1888, National Gallery of Victoria
    The Corner of the Paddock,1888, National Gallery of Victoria
  • Circular Quay, Sydney, 1888, private collection
    Circular Quay, Sydney,1888, private collection
  • A Solitary Ramble, 1888, Art Gallery of New South Wales
    A Solitary Ramble,1888, Art Gallery of New South Wales
  • The Prospector, 1889, Art Gallery of New South Wales
    The Prospector,1889, Art Gallery of New South Wales
  • Reflections, 1892, private collection
    Reflections,1892, private collection
  • The Old Cemetery, Devonshire Street, 1894, State Library of New South Wales
    The Old Cemetery, Devonshire Street,1894,State Library of New South Wales
  • Tamarama Beach, forty years ago, a summer morning, 1899, Art Gallery of New South Wales
    Tamarama Beach, forty years ago, a summer morning,1899, Art Gallery of New South Wales
  • Golden Willows, 1907, New England Regional Art Museum
    Golden Willows,1907, New England Regional Art Museum

References

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  1. ^Ashton, Thomas Briggs."On the Arno at Florence".artsearch.nga.gov.au.
  2. ^Serle, Percival(1949)."Ashton, Julian Rossi".Dictionary of Australian Biography.Sydney:Angus & Robertson.
  3. ^"Adlib Internet Server 5 – Details".acms.sl.nsw.gov.au.
  4. ^The Cornishman28 March 1889
  5. ^abcFink, Theodore (21 June 1941)."Julian Ashton's story of his life".The Herald.Melbourne. p. 16.Retrieved18 January2020.
  6. ^"Julian Ashton Was Artists' Guide & Friend".The Courier-Mail.Brisbane: National Library of Australia. 29 April 1942. p. 4.Retrieved30 April2013.
  7. ^Harper, Katherine.'Ashton, Julian Rossi (1851–1942)',Australian Dictionary of Biography,National Centre of Biography,Australian National University,accessed 30 April 2013
  8. ^"Mr. J. R. Ashton".Table Talk.24 April 1891. p. 5.Retrieved19 May2021.
  9. ^"Death of veteran artist".The Advertiser.Adelaide. 29 April 1942. p. 7.Retrieved20 January2020.
  10. ^Kusko, Julie (28 January 1970)."The same spot today".The Australian Women's Weekly.Sydney. p. 33.Retrieved19 January2020.
  11. ^Gray,193.
  12. ^ab"Mr Julian Ashton: 80th birthday".The Sydney Morning Herald.27 January 1931.Retrieved26 August2011– viaNational Library of Australia.
  13. ^"Julian Ashton Art School".New South Wales State Heritage Register.Department of Planning & Environment.H01556.Retrieved14 October2018.Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) underCC-BY 4.0licence.
  14. ^"Family notices".The Sydney Morning Herald.Sydney. 6 March 1895. p. 1.Retrieved18 January2020.
  15. ^"Social chat of the day".The Newsletter: An Australian Paper For Australian People.Vol. 16, no. 192. New South Wales, Australia. 18 May 1918. p. 8.Retrieved24 January2021– via National Library of Australia.
  16. ^"Sister artists".News.Vol. V, no. 644. South Australia. 17 August 1925. p. 5 (Home addition).Retrieved24 January2021– via National Library of Australia.
  17. ^"Death of Mr Hubble".The Propeller.Vol. XXXIX, no. 1979. New South Wales, Australia. 24 February 1949. p. 3.Retrieved31 January2023– via National Library of Australia.
  18. ^"Men and women".The Sun.No. 3970. New South Wales, Australia. 24 July 1923. p. 6.Retrieved24 January2021– via National Library of Australia.
  19. ^"Artist Group".News.Vol. 46, no. 7, 007. South Australia. 16 January 1946. p. 7.Retrieved24 January2021– via National Library of Australia.
  20. ^"Family Notices".The Sydney Morning Herald.No. 33, 793. New South Wales, Australia. 15 April 1946. p. 16.Retrieved4 December2017– via National Library of Australia.
  21. ^"Obituary".The Advocate (Australia).Tasmania, Australia. 29 April 1942. p. 2.Retrieved24 January2021– via National Library of Australia.
  22. ^"Funeral Of Julian Ashton".The Sun.No. 10082. New South Wales, Australia. 29 April 1942. p. 5 (Late final extra).Retrieved24 January2021– via National Library of Australia.
  23. ^"It's an Honour – Honours – Search Australian Honours".www.itsanhonour.gov.au.

Bibliography

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