John Mather (artist)

For the South Australian painter and newspaperman, see John Baxter Mather.
For other people named John Mather, see John Mather (disambiguation).

Mosman's Bay, 1889, by Mather, showing the ferry from the city to the artists' camps

John Mather (1848 – 18 February 1916) was a Scottish-Australian plein-air painter and etcher.[1]

Early life

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Mather was born in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, son of John Mather, a surveyor, and his wife Margaret, née Allan.[1] Mather worked as a house decorator.[2] Mather studied art at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts and migrated to Australia in 1878.[1][3] He was married in 1882[4] to Miss Jessie Pines Best, a daughter of Captain James Best, a pilot of Hobson's Bay. Together they had one daughter and three sons; Margaret Playfair, John Allan, Louis Melville (died in infancy), and Leslie Frank Strand (died in 1919).[5][6]

Career

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In 1880, Mather was partly responsible for the decoration of the dome of the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne.[2][7] He joined the bohemian Buonarotti Club, camping with other members on plein-air painting expeditions, and from 1886 served, with Frederick McCubbin, Louis Abrahams and Jane Sutherland, on its exhibition selection committee established by Tom Roberts.[8] In 1892 he was appointed to the board of trustees of the Public Library, Museums and National Gallery of Victoria,[1] then was a founding member of the Victorian Artists' Society, and its president in 1893–1900, 1906–1908 and 1911.[1] Mather was a member of the Felton Bequest Committee from 1905 to 1916 and as trustee, strongly supported Australian art.[1]

As a painter, Mather was also involved in the bohemian Artists' Camps of Sydney. In 1912 along with Frederick McCubbin, Max Meldrum, Walter Withers Mather formed the breakaway Australian Art Association.[1]

Three of Mather's own paintings, Autumn in the Fitzroy Gardens in oils, and Morning, Lake Omeo and Wintry Weather, Yarra Glen, both watercolours, were purchased by the National Gallery of Victoria.[1]

Residences, Studios and other Addresses

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Mather had a number of homes, studios and other addresses throughout his career, including:

1879 83 Swanston Street Melbourne[9] Address
1880 5 Royal Terrace Nicholson Street[10] Address
1881 1 Eaton Terrace Grattan Street Carlton[11] Address
1881 Davis Street South Yarra,[12] Residence
1881 - 1887 95 Collins Street Melbourne [13][14][15][16][17] Studio
1885 - 1888 33 Darling Street, South Yarra [18] Residence
1885 Artistic Stationery Company (Buxton's) incorporating business of F. Hyman & J. Mather, Artists, Colormen and Stationers and Decorating Business, 69, 71, 131 Swanston Street and 84 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne [15] Business
1886 - 1888 Owned property in Castella Street (now Maroondah Highway) (1879) Lilydale Road overlooking the river (1880) and Blannin Street Healesville (1881) [19] Studio [20]
1888 - 1889 3 Murphy Street, South Yarra [21][22][23][24] Residence
1889 c.1894 Koombahla, Healesville [25][26][27] Residence and for some years prior a studio
1891 - 1891 Grosvenor Chambers, 9 Collins Street Melbourne

(Occupied Tom Robert's studio)[28]

Studio
1891 c.1913 Austral Building 117-119 Collins Street, Melbourne [29] Studio
1895 c.1901 The Pines, Wellington Street, Brighton [30] Residence
1900 - 1902 136 Alma Rd East St. Kilda (Carhue School for Girls)[31] Studio
1901 - 1912 156 Alma Rd, East St. Kilda [32] Residence and Studio
1912 - 1916 Cadzow, 383 Toorak Road, South Yarra [33][34] Residence and Studio

Students

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Mr John Mather is reported to have, had a wide celebrity as a teacher, and ... there are artists of repute in Melbourne now who commenced their careers in his Austral School in Collins Street.[35] As well as studio lessons he led outdoor sketching excursions, often along the coast, where students used pencil, pen and ink and watercolor.[36]

His students include:

Death

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Mather died of diabetes at his home, Cadzow, South Yarra, Victoria on 18 February 1916; he was buried in the Cheltenham Pioneer Cemetery[1] and lay in a grave with no memorial for more than 100 years.[51]

John Mather's grave with no memorial, Cheltenham Pioneer Cemetery

Written just thirteen years after his death, "The war claimed his only son and his daughter who was well known in Melbourne music circles, lives now in the United States. It is as if "the place thereof knoweth him no more " But how can an artist ever be forgotten as long as human eyes are irresistibly drawn to the quiet beauty of his pictures on the wall?"[52]

In July 2023 a small plaque was placed on the grave simply stating:

Mr John Mather 1848 – 1916 The beauty of his Art endures.

The words, his Art endures, refers to his painting and etching but also the art he nurtured as a mentor, teacher and one of the founding fathers of art in Victoria.[53]

Collections

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  • National Gallery of Australia [54]
  • National Gallery of Victoria[7]
  • Art Gallery of New South Wales[7]
  • Art Gallery of Western Australia[7]
  • Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery[7]
  • Queensland Art Gallery [55]
  • Geelong Art Gallery[7]
  • Ballarat Art Gallery[7]
  • Castlemaine Art Museum[7]
  • Benalla Art Gallery [56]
  • Launceston Art Gallery[7]
  • Newcastle Art Gallery [57]
  • Latrobe Regional Gallery [58]
  • National Library of New Zealand [59]
  • State Library of Victoria [60]
  • Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery[7]
  • Bayside Gallery, Bayside City Council [61]

Notes and References

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Notes

  1. ^ Jessie Traill took lessons in etching from John Mather at his Austral Art School. In 1903 she kept a notebook of her lessons commenting on the etchings within it as they progress through various states. The notebook details her active engagement in the print making process and the tuition of John Mather. Together with jottings of sales, news clippings and a congratulatory letter from John Mather, her early success with the medium is documented. Jessie Traill's 1903 notebook [38] reveals in intimate detail her lessons with John Mather. For example, the notes on an etching that Jessie Traill considered a failure: Ground marked twice lines far too open & apart no mysterious depths drawing shaky, confused & altogether a failure, Mr Mather could not tell which way up. Mounted at 90 degrees from her notes and without visual cues, the correct orientation of the etching is difficult to determine. Later in the etching, Boat Builder's Shop, she includes some common place items in the foreground that leave no doubt as to the orientation of that etching. Boat Builder's Shop is exhibited in Melbourne, Adelaide and Launceston in 1905. The etching is praised in reviews and sold for 15/0. John Mather sends her a congratulatory letter which she mounts in the notebook together with news clippings of the day. In 1906 she notes that the etching has been sold to Lady Northcote, wife of Australia's Governor-General Sir Henry Northcote 1904 -1908.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Judy Blyth, 'Mather, John (1848? - 1916)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, MUP, 1986, pp 438-439. Retrieved 2010-04-01
  2. ^ a b Serle, Percival (1949). "Mather, John". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  3. ^ Loch Long Passenger List 8 October 1877
  4. ^ Ancestory.com John Mather family tree accessed 6 Oct 2022
  5. ^ "The Argus, 21 Feb 1916".
  6. ^ Ancestry.com John Mather Family Tree accessed 6 Oct 2022
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j McCulloch, Alan; McCulloch, Susan; McCulloch Childs, Emily (2006). The new McCulloch's encyclopedia of Australian art (4th ed.). Fitzroy: AUS Art Editions ; The Miegunyah Press. p. 667. ISBN 0-522-85317-X. OCLC 80568976.
  8. ^ Mead, Stephen F. (December 2011). "The Search for Artistic Professionalism in Melbourne: the activities of the Buonarotti Club, 1883 -1887". The Latrobe Journal. 88.
  9. ^ Victorian Academy of Arts, 1879 The Ninth Exhibition Catalogue p.13
  10. ^ Victorian Academy of Arts, 1879 The Tenth Exhibition Catalogue p.14
  11. ^ Victorian Academy of Arts, 1879 The Eleventh Exhibition Catalogue p.15
  12. ^ Prahran City Council Rates Records 1881
  13. ^ The Argus 20 Aug 1881 Page 10 Advertising
  14. ^ Victorian Academy of Arts The Twelfth Exhibition Mar 1882
  15. ^ a b Sands and McDougall’s Melbourne and Suburban Directory 1885
  16. ^ Evening Journal, Latest News, 13 Dec 1886 p.2
  17. ^ Victorian Academy of Arts, Apr 1887 The Seventeenth Exhibition Catalogue p.14
  18. ^ Prahran City Council Rates Records 1885 -1888
  19. ^ Symonds S., Healesville, History of the Hills, Lilydale, Pioneer Design Studio, 1982 p.24-25
  20. ^ Evening Journal, Latest News, 13 Dec 1886 p.2 notes Mr J. Mather of, Healesville and, Collins Street East, Melbourne
  21. ^ Prahran City Council Rates Records 1885 -1888
  22. ^ Thallon's Ledger 1888 -1903, National Gallery of Victoria accessed 13 Feb 2024
  23. ^ The Age, 18 Feb 1888, p.8 Situations Vacant
  24. ^ Autumn Exhibition Catalogue, Victorian Artists' Society May 1888 p.20
  25. ^ The Age 31 Mar 1888 Country Sketches p.4 refers to John Mather having studio but does not mention a residence
  26. ^ Table Talk 2 Nov 1888 p.3 notes John Mather has had a studio at Healesville for some years and is now building a residence.
  27. ^ Leader 10 Mar 1894 Fine Arts Amongst the Country Studios p. 32
  28. ^ Table Talk 27 Feb 1891 page 7
  29. ^ Table Talk 26 March 1891 page 12, Victorian Artists Society Exhibition Catalogues 1898 -1913, Sands and McDougall’s Melbourne and Suburban Directory 1900 & 1910
  30. ^ Brighton City Council Rates Records 1895-1900, Sands & McDougall’s Melbourne and Suburban Directory 1900
  31. ^ Victorian Artists Society Exhibition Catalogues 1900,1901 & 1902, The Argus 5 Oct 1901, Advertisements p. 14
  32. ^ Victorian Artists Society Exhibition Catalogues 1903 - 1912, The Age 1 Jun 1901 Art Notes p 8, Sands & McDougall’s Melbourne and Suburban Directory 1905-1910
  33. ^ The Bulletin, Vol.33 No.1668 1 Feb 1912 p.22 Melbourne Chatter
  34. ^ Exhibition of Mr J. Mather’s Paintings 26 September 1912 Catalogue
  35. ^ The Age 5 Nov 1932 p4. Australian Artists of the Past
  36. ^ Lee, M.A, 1982 The Etched Work of Jessie C.A. Traill 1881 -1967 pp. 22 & 24
  37. ^ Jo Oliver, 2020, Jessie Traill A Biography, pp 29-30
  38. ^ Jessie Traill (1903) 'Copper Plate Etchings and Notes thereon, J.C.A. Traill 1903'. Jessie Traill Papers, State Library of Victoria, Ms 7975, Box F798/5 (b)
  39. ^ The Argus 28 Sep 1929 p5, Memories of Mather
  40. ^ http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/cumbrae-stewart-janet-agnes-5842 Accessed 29 Apr2024
  41. ^ Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 1956. A Catalogue of Australian Paintings and Drawings in the Tasmanian Art Gallery p 44
  42. ^ The Argus The Argus 28 Sep 1929 p5, Memories of Mather
  43. ^ Table Talk, 29 May 1891. p5 Mr John Mather
  44. ^ The Registrar, 9 Sept 1913, p10, The Mail 13 Sept 1913 p1
  45. ^ a b The Mail 13 Sept 1913 p1, A Lifetime of Art
  46. ^ The Mail 13 Sept 1913 p1, A Lifetime of Art
  47. ^ The Australasian 28 Jan 1922 p34, Art Notes
  48. ^ Design and Art Australia Online accessed 4 Apr 2024
  49. ^ Punch 27 Jun 1901 p.9 Mr James Fawcett
  50. ^ The Bulletin, 18 Feb 1948 vol. 69, no. 3549, pp. 18.
  51. ^ Site Visit 18 Aug 2022
  52. ^ MacGregor, L.F (28 September 1929). "The Argus". Memories of Mather A PAINTER OF SUNSHINE. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  53. ^ Site Inspection and commission for plaque 5 Aug 2023
  54. ^ National Gallery of Australia website collections search accessed 17 August 2024
  55. ^ Queensland Art Gallery website collections search accessed 17 August 2024
  56. ^ Benalla Art Gallery website collections search accessed 29 May 2024
  57. ^ Newcastle Art Gallery website collections search accessed 29 May 2024
  58. ^ Latrobe Regional Gallery website collections search accessed 17 August 2024
  59. ^ National Library of New Zealand website collections search accessed 17 August 2024
  60. ^ State Library of Victoria website collections search accessed 17 August 2024
  61. ^ Bayside Gallery website collections search accessed 17 August 2024
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