Untitled
Dublin Core
Title
Untitled
Subject
Landscape
Description
McInnes’ watercolour landscape depicts three cows grazing. The largely flat horizon of the composition is broken by a towering gumtree - distinctively Australian vegetation - flanked by smaller trees in the distance. The work is tinged with a pink undertone throughout, further generating a particularly Australian atmosphere of sunset. McInnes’ brush marks are loose; twisting and fading organically.
After travelling and painting in Britain, France, Spain and Morocco, McInnes settled in the Melbourne suburb of Alphington, where farmland and the nearby Yarra Valley served as his primary subject matter (Haese, 1986). He was awarded the Wynne prize for landscape painting in 1918 (Haese, 1986). After returning to Europe in 1925, McInnes also found success as a portrait painter, winning the prestigious Archibald prize seven times between 1921 and 1936 (Haese, 1986; Nunn & Kowalski, 2009, p. 51). Along with Harold Septimus Power, McInnes was commissioned to depict the opening of Federal Parliament in Canberra in 1927, solidifying his place as a leading Australian artist of the time (Haese, 1986; National Portrait Gallery). He was also commissioned to paint the Duke of York’s portrait in 1933 (Haese 1986; National Portrait Gallery).
A 1927 portrait of Louise Dyer by McInnes hangs at her school, the Presbyterian Ladies College in Burwood. An article in The Argus records the presentation of the portrait “as a memento of the interest she has always taken in all Australian art and literature” (The Argus, 1 April 1927, p. 8). In her speech, she said "she would take the portrait wherever she went to show the genius of Australia in the work of one of her artists” (The Argus, 1 April 1927, p. 8). The National Gallery of Victoria also holds an oil painting of James Dyer, Louise’s first husband, gifted by the couple in 1932. These portraits are indicative of a sustained relationship between the Dyers and McInnes, beyond the landscape featured in the Visitors’ Book.
References
Haese, 1986: Richard Haese, ‘McInnes, William Beckwith (Billy) (1889-1939)’ in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1986. Accessed online 21 December 2017, URL: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mcinnes-william-beckwith-billy-7371.
Nunn & Kowalski, 2009: Catherine Nunn & Vanessa Kowalski, ‘Saving Sir Walter Baldwin Spencer: The conservation of a 20th century painting’, University of Melbourne Collections, no. 4, 2009, pp. 51-52.
National Portrait Gallery: National Portrait Gallery. This website provides information regarding the collections and exhibitions of the National Portrait Gallery. URL: https://www.portrait.gov.au/people/w-b-mcinnes-1889.
The Argus, 1927: ‘Presentation to Mrs Dyer’, The Argus, 1 April 1927, Social Events, p. 8.
After travelling and painting in Britain, France, Spain and Morocco, McInnes settled in the Melbourne suburb of Alphington, where farmland and the nearby Yarra Valley served as his primary subject matter (Haese, 1986). He was awarded the Wynne prize for landscape painting in 1918 (Haese, 1986). After returning to Europe in 1925, McInnes also found success as a portrait painter, winning the prestigious Archibald prize seven times between 1921 and 1936 (Haese, 1986; Nunn & Kowalski, 2009, p. 51). Along with Harold Septimus Power, McInnes was commissioned to depict the opening of Federal Parliament in Canberra in 1927, solidifying his place as a leading Australian artist of the time (Haese, 1986; National Portrait Gallery). He was also commissioned to paint the Duke of York’s portrait in 1933 (Haese 1986; National Portrait Gallery).
A 1927 portrait of Louise Dyer by McInnes hangs at her school, the Presbyterian Ladies College in Burwood. An article in The Argus records the presentation of the portrait “as a memento of the interest she has always taken in all Australian art and literature” (The Argus, 1 April 1927, p. 8). In her speech, she said "she would take the portrait wherever she went to show the genius of Australia in the work of one of her artists” (The Argus, 1 April 1927, p. 8). The National Gallery of Victoria also holds an oil painting of James Dyer, Louise’s first husband, gifted by the couple in 1932. These portraits are indicative of a sustained relationship between the Dyers and McInnes, beyond the landscape featured in the Visitors’ Book.
References
Haese, 1986: Richard Haese, ‘McInnes, William Beckwith (Billy) (1889-1939)’ in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1986. Accessed online 21 December 2017, URL: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mcinnes-william-beckwith-billy-7371.
Nunn & Kowalski, 2009: Catherine Nunn & Vanessa Kowalski, ‘Saving Sir Walter Baldwin Spencer: The conservation of a 20th century painting’, University of Melbourne Collections, no. 4, 2009, pp. 51-52.
National Portrait Gallery: National Portrait Gallery. This website provides information regarding the collections and exhibitions of the National Portrait Gallery. URL: https://www.portrait.gov.au/people/w-b-mcinnes-1889.
The Argus, 1927: ‘Presentation to Mrs Dyer’, The Argus, 1 April 1927, Social Events, p. 8.
Creator
William McInnes (1889 - 1939)
Source
Book of autographs of visitors to Louise Hanson-Dyer, manuscript, The University of Melbourne
Date
Unknown
Contributor
Reetika Khanna
Format
Watercolour, 268 x 197 mm
Type
Image
Citation
William McInnes (1889 - 1939), “Untitled,” Special Collections and Grainger Museum, accessed April 24, 2024, https://spcgm.omeka.net/items/show/14.