John Longstaff
(Australia 1862–01 Oct 1941)
- Title
- Henry Lawson
- Year
- 1900
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
-
91.5 x 72.0cm stretcher; 110.0 x 89.7 x 6.5cm frame
- Signature & date
- Signed c.r. on shoulder, red oil "J Longstaff". Dated u.r., brown oil ".../ 1900".
- Credit
- Purchased 1901
- Accession number
- 4829
- Location
- 19th c Australian art
- Further information
By the 1890s, Henry Lawson had established his reputation as a short story writer and poet with 'The drover’s wife' and 'Up the country'. His writing in The Bulletin helped create the image of the Australian bushman as the epitome of egalitarian and national ideals.
This portrait of Lawson was commissioned in 1900 by JF Archibald, editor of The Bulletin. It was painted in Melbourne shortly before Lawson’s departure for England. Working rapidly, Longstaff captured the poet’s characteristic expression. The finished portrait delighted Archibald and prompted him to establish the Archibald Prize, the non-acquisitive annual portraiture prize first awarded in 1921.
- Bibliography (22)
-
John McDonald (Australia, b.1961) (Author), Art of Australia. Vol. 1: Exploration to Federation, Sydney, 2008, 589, 590 (colour illus.).
Look Oct 2004, Oct 2004, 47 (colour illus.).
Experience of Nationhood: modern Australia since 1901 2002, 2002, 7 (illus.).
Prue Joske (Author), Debonair Jack, South Yarra, 1994, 86-91, 89 (illus.), 110-111, 148, 176.
Bernard Smith (Australia, b.1916, d.2011) (Author), Terry Smith (Author), Australian painting 1788-1990, South Melbourne, 1991, 139 (illus.). plate no. 81
S L Goldberg (Editor), F B Smith (Editor), Australian cultural history, Cambridge, 1988, 205 (illus.). plate no. 5
Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Author), Ursula Prunster (Australia) (Author), Face to face: Australian portraits, Sydney, 1986, (illus.). cat.no. 12
Peter Haynes (Australia) (Compilator), Famous people: a selective who's who from works in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1981, 9 (illus.).
William Splatt (Author), Barbara Burton (Author), 100 masterpieces of Australian painting, Adelaide, 1973, 96, 97 (colour illus.). plate no. 45
Author Unknown, The Adelaide Festival of Arts 1964: Souvenir Catalogue of special exhibitions at the National Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 1964. cat. no. 21
Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), A selection of eighty-two reproductions mainly from the Australian collection and including examples from the British, French and Dutch [Art Gallery of New South Wales]., Sydney, 1959, (illus.). plate no. 15
Bernard Smith (Australia, b.1916, d.2011) (Author), A catalogue of Australian oil paintings in the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1875-1952, Sydney, 1953, 129.
Hal Missingham (Australia, b.1906, d.1994) (Author), A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Domain, 1953. cat.no. 52
Nina Murdoch (Author), Portrait in Youth of Sir John Longstaff (1861-1941), North Ryde, 1948, 132 (illus.), 179-182.
Bernard Smith (Australia, b.1916, d.2011) (Author), Trustees of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia), 100 years of Australian painting, Sydney, 1948, 6. cat.no. 17
The Sydney Morning Herald 11 Oct 1941, 11 Oct 1941.
'Loan pictures exhibition: three artists: Sir John Longstaff', pg. 6., The Mercury 19 Aug 1935, 19 Aug 1935, 6.
'Henry Lawson' by A.G. Stephens, Art in Australia [series 3, vol. 1, no. 2] Nov 1922, Nov 1922, (colour illus.).
'25 Years of Australian Art' by Lionel Lindsay, Art in Australia [vol. 1, no. 4] 1918, 1918.
'John Longstaff' by Bertram Stevens, Art in Australia [vol. 1, no. 2] 1917, 1917.
‘National Art Gallery: The Australian Court’ by Julian Ashton., Daily telegraph 27 Sep 1905, 27 Sep 1905, unknown.
National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1899, Sydney, 1899. cat.no. 297L
- Exhibition history (4)
-
Commonwealth Exhibition of Australian Art (1901), Vickery's Chambers, Jan 1901 -.
100 years of Australian painting (1948), Art Gallery of New South Wales, 19 Apr 1948–17 May 1948.
A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 25 Sep 1953–25 Oct 1953.
Famous Australians by famous Australian artists, Art Gallery of South Australia, 07 Mar 1964–21 Mar 1964.
