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Details
- Date
- 1900
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 91.5 x 72.0 cm stretcher; 110.0 x 89.7 x 6.5 cm frame
- Signature & date
Signed c.r. on shoulder, red oil "J Longstaff". Dated u.r., brown oil ".../ 1900".
- Credit
- Purchased 1901
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 4829
- Copyright
- Artist information
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John Longstaff
Works in the collection
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About
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.
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Exhibition history
Shown in 4 exhibitions
Commonwealth Exhibition of Australian Art (1901), Vickery's Chambers, Sydney, Jan 1901 -
100 years of Australian painting (1948), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 19 Apr 1948–17 May 1948
A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 25 Sep 1953–25 Oct 1953
Famous Australians by famous Australian artists, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 07 Mar 1964–21 Mar 1964
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Bibliography
Referenced in 22 publications
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Art Gallery of New South Wales, 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
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Famous Australian artists', The Adelaide Festival of Arts 1964: Souvenir Catalogue of special exhibitions at the National Gallery of South Australia, 'Famous Australians, Adelaide, 1964. cat. no. 21
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Julian Ashton., Daily telegraph, ‘National Art Gallery: The Australian Court’, Sydney, 27 Sep 1905, unknown.
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Edmund Capon AM, OBE and Ursula Prunster, Face to face: Australian portraits, Sydney, 1986, (illus.). cat.no. 12
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Peter Haynes (Compilator), Famous people: a selective who's who from works in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1981, 9 (illus.).
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Prue Joske, Debonair Jack, 'Portraits 1895-1901', pg.70-95, South Yarra, 1994, 86-91, 89 (illus.), 110-111, 148, 176.
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Lionel Lindsay, Art in Australia [vol. 1, no. 4], '25 Years of Australian Art', Sydney, 1918.
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K J Mason, Experience of Nationhood: modern Australia since 1901, Sydney, 2002, 7 (illus.).
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John McDonald, Art of Australia. Vol 1: Exploration to Federation, ‘Individual and national feeling’, pg. 545-610, Sydney, 2008, 589, 590 (colour illus.).
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Hal Missingham, A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Sydney, 1953. cat.no. 52
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Nina Murdoch, Portrait in Youth of Sir John Longstaff (1861-1941), North Ryde, 1948, 132 (illus.), 179-182.
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National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1899, Sydney, 1899. cat.no. 297L
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Bernard Smith, 100 years of Australian painting, 'Foreword', pg. 2-4, Sydney, 1948, 6. cat.no. 17
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Bernard William Smith and Terry Smith, Australian painting 1788-1990, 'Exodus 1881-1919', pg. 126-166, South Melbourne, 1991, 139 (illus.). plate no. 81
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Bernard William Smith, A catalogue of Australian oil paintings in the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1875-1952, Sydney, 1953, 129.
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Terry Smith, Australian cultural history, 'Populism and Privilege in Australian Painting', pg. 190-210, Cambridge, 1988, 205 (illus.). plate no. 5
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William Splatt and Barbara Burton, 100 masterpieces of Australian painting, Adelaide, 1973, 96, 97 (colour illus.). plate no. 45
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A.G. Stephens, Art in Australia [series 3, no. 2], 'Henry Lawson', Sydney, Nov 1922, (colour illus.).
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Bertram Stevens, Art in Australia [vol. 1, no. 2], 'John Longstaff', Sydney, 1917.
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Jill Sykes (Editor), Look, Sydney, Oct 2004, 47 (colour illus.).
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Editor Unknown (Editor), The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, 11 Oct 1941.
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Editor Unknown (Editor), The Mercury, 'Loan pictures exhibition: three artists: Sir John Longstaff', pg. 6, Hobart, 19 Aug 1935, 6.
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