Blog

Sir Wilhelm Ernst Hans Franz Heysen was born in Germany before his family emigrated to Australia. Hans showed early promise as an artist at school. Hans began painting and attended night art classes while he was with his father’s hardware merchant business. In 1894,...

English-born John Glover showed an early interest in wildlife and was to be found sketching birds and nature as a child. He also began painting in oil and watercolour while at the school. For the next nine years or so, Glover exhibited his paintings...

Aspiring to be a poet, Cecil John Brack hadn't decided to become an artist until he came across a reproduction of Vincent van Gogh’s The Night Café in a local bookshop. He was a late-blooming artist. His art studies were interrupted in World War...

Australian Impressionist Frederick McCubbin was the third son of a family who emigrated to Australia. His father secured him a job as a lawyer’s clerk, but this came to a rapid end when Frederick’s father was shown the theatres he created out of paper...

Martin Ritchie Sharp did not have a close relationship with either of his parents, but his mother still encouraged his early leanings towards art. Martin attended his first art exhibition at age nine. His art teacher recognised his talent and recommended that he study...

Australian artist Donald Stuart Leslie Friend was born from a family of a moneyed background. He received early education at prestigious institutions. After a scandalous liaison with a young Thai boy, Donald ran away from home. He returned to Sydney with his first series...

Frank Hurley had quite an adventurous life. Right at the age of thirteen, he ran away from home when he got involved in an incident with his teacher. His passion for photography was born when he was employed as an apprentice fitter. However, this...

Of the ten Lindsay siblings, Norman Lindsay was one of the five who shared a common interest in art. He and his brother Lionel were especially distinguished. Norman taught himself to draw after being forced to remain in the house due to a blood...