Inverell Art Gallery is placing one of it’s most prized paintings on display as it celebrates local talent with a student exhibition.
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The painting, Studio Trio is significant in the development of the work of one of Australia’s most respected 20th century artists, Douglas Dundas - who also happens to have grown up in Inverell. Alongside the piece is a display outline Douglas’ career and the painting’s sometimes turbulent local history.
Douglas Dundas was born on January 25, 1900 at Inverell and lived at Nullamanna with his family for about 16 years, where he attended Nullamanna Public Provisional School. While at school one of his classmates, Agnes Cole recalls Douglas as “a shy, quiet boy, well liked and respected by all his classmates; very good at schoolwork, but more interested in drawing then in playing sport”.
Both Douglas and his sister, Thelma were encouraged by their mother to draw. It was Douglas’s grandmother who gave him his first tin of water colour paints. In 1910 both children entered drawings in the Inverell Show where Douglas was awarded first prize and Thelma was placed second.
The family purchased and moved to a Wallangra property “Glen Ross” (now named Gullengutta) in 1917. Douglas’ job on the property was to shepherd sheep as there were only boundary fences on the property.
Sherlock Heron, who was their neighbour recalls that: “Douglas would sit and sketch, forgetting all about the sheep, which would wander all over the place, much to the annoyance of his father”.
Douglas purchased his first box of water colour paints in 1918 by trapping rabbits and selling their skins.
In 1921, the artist Elioth Gruner was visiting the Inverell district on a roving commission for the NSW Art Gallery, staying with Mr Campbell of MacIntyre Park.
Mr Campbell took Mr Gruner to Wallangra to view Douglas’s work. Gruner was so impressed by the young artist’s work that he volunteered to sponsor and supervise his studies in Sydney.
In 1922 Douglas enrolled at the Sydney Art School, studying under Julian Ashton. He obtained a job as a window dresser at Farmers to enable him to further his art career.
As well as being mentored by Elioth Gruner, moving to Sydney and studying at Julian Ashton’s School of Art enabled Douglas to mix with his professional peers, becoming friends with young artists such as John Brackenridge, John Passmore, Rah Fizelle and Grace Crowley all of whom are now recognised as leading Australian modernist artists of the early to mid 20th century.
In 1927 Dundas won the Society of Artists’ Travelling scholarship, beating William Dobell who had also entered the competition. This opportunity for Douglas to immerse himself in developments in contemporary art in London and Paris was pivotal to him in developing his Modernist style.
Years later, when considering a painting suitable for the Inverell Art Society to purchase, Douglas said of Studio Trio “It has some historical significance since it helped pave the way to my becoming a professional painter”.
After returning to Australia in 1929, Dundas went on to develop a successful career for himself as an artist and teacher at the East Sydney Technical College, where he was head teacher of painting from 1938 to 1960.
He was a trustee of the NSW Art Gallery from 1948 until his retirement in 1970. He received the Society of Artist’s medal for distinguished services to Australian Art in 1958 and was awarded an MBE in 1968.
Fate took a turn in bringing Douglas back to Inverell in 1967 to tutor an art course conducted by the Inverell Art Society under the auspices of the NSW Arts Council.
At this time the Arts Council was sponsoring leading Australian artists to conduct workshops in regional areas. The Art Society, thirsty for exposure to artists outside of Inverell, was quick to jump on the opportunity.
As they came to know Douglas, his work and his background history, the Art Society decided to approach him with a request to buy one of his paintings.
After some discussion and reflection Douglas decided to sell ‘Studio Trio’ to the Inverell Art Society for $500. In a letter to Mrs Poppy McCosker dated March 31, 1980, Douglas writes: “Thank you for your letter of 23-3-80 enclosing a cheque for $500 for the painting”.
The painting arrived in Inverell on the North West Airlines. At the end of this letter Douglas concludes: “I want to thank you for arranging this matter, as I am glad to think that “Studio Trio” will have a home in my home town”.
The painting was seriously damaged in the flood of 1991. Photos and accounts from the time indicate that it was submerged in flood water, leaving much of the paint peeling away and the canvas looking like a jigsaw puzzle.
The Inverell Art Society made a valiant effort in raising over $5000 to have the painting repaired by a professional art restorer. As a member of the Art Society, Mr Peter Champion was quoted as saying at the time, “This painting is not only the art society’s possession, but rather all of Inverell’s”.
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