JOHN EDMONDSON HIGH SCHOOL Assessment Notification

Faculty: Creative and Performing Arts Course: Visual Arts Year: 11 Assessment Task: Task 1: Body of Work #1 (Artmaking 25%) & Written Analysis (H/C studies 10%) Assessment Weighting: 35% Due: Term 2 Week 1 Date: 03/05/2019 Task Type: Hand in Task In Class Task Practical Task Outcomes assessed (NESA) P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6 Task Description/Overview Assessment Weighting : 35% (25% Artmaking + 10% H/C Studies) *Artmaking 25% Hand in TWO resolved Still life drawing artworks *H/C Studies 10 % Complete TWO Analysis templates Detailed Assessment Task Description Component 1: A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made. Students must submit two resolved drawings completed this term. Students choose two resolved still life artworks from the collection they have produced over Term 1 to be marked for assessment – both works are worth a total of 25%. In resolving the artworks consideration should be given to size, line, shape, colour, tone, texture, direction, repetition, contrast and balance– structural qualities of the work. Component 2: Students will complete two Analysis templates. 1. Finalist from the Dobel Drawing Prize (AGNSW/NAS) - Drawing. 2. Finalist from the Archibald Prize (AGNSW) - Painting. Both templates are worth a total of 10%. Students must submit a hard copy of both templates. All work to be submitted to class teacher by 2.40pm.

Assessment Criteria : Artmaking Grade Description Mark Range Outstanding (O) Highly developed skills

Demonstrates an understanding of the still life genre and how the structural and subjective frames develop meaning and represent ideas Demonstrates highly developed technical accomplishment in making and resolving sophisticated artworks in 2D form Students experiment, work with autonomy, and reflect on their actions, judgements and artistic intentions to make informed choices about their artworks.

9-10

High (H) Well-developed skills Makes artworks with an understanding of the still life genre and how the structural and subjective frames develop meaning and represent ideas Demonstrates well-developed technical accomplishment and refinement to make artworks in 2D form Displays technical sensitivity and moderation, although some aspects are more refined while others are elaborated and/or overworked

7-8

Sound (S) Sound

Makes artworks with an understanding of the still life genre and how the structural and subjective frames develop meaning but in limited ways Demonstrates sound technical accomplishment in making artworks in 2D form Displays technical proficiency yet not very sensitive or refined Some display for display’s sake, little moderation

5-6

Basic (B) Basic Identifies how the still life genre, the structural and subjective frames can be used to explore ideas Represents their artistic intentions in 2D form, demonstrating some technical accomplishment Displays little refinement or subtlety

3-4

Limited (L) Elementary

Demonstrates a simplistic, immediate articulation of idea/concept with an elementary understanding of the still life genre, the structural and subjective frames Displays neither technical accomplishment nor moderation Unsubtle, unrefined, incongruous, superficial Limited consideration of the conditions set by selection of materials

1-2

Assessment Criteria : H/C Studies Grade Description Mark Range Outstanding (O) Highly developed skills

Completes all components of the analysis - detailed and accurate. Provides a detailed bibliography clearly showing all sources

5

High (H) Well-developed skills Completes most components of the analysis template. Provides a detailed bibliography showing most sources.

4

Sound (S) Sound Completes some components of the analysis template. Provides a bibliography showing some sources.

3

Basic (B) Basic completion of the analysis template. Includes a bibliography.

3

Limited (L) Limited completion of the analysis template. Includes a bibliography.

1

Satisfactory completion of courses A course has been satisfactorily completed, when the student has: • Followed the course developed/endorsed by the NSW Educational Standards Authority (NESA) • Applied himself/herself with diligence and sustained effort to the set tasks and experiences provided in the course. • Achieved some or all of the course outcomes

Art Gallery of NSW Archibald Prize

Archibald Prize

Archibald Prize 1976 Brett Whiteley's winning self-portrait The Archibald Prize is awarded annually to the best portrait, 'preferentially of some man or woman distinguished in art, letters, science or politics, painted by any artist resident in Australasia’.

This open competition is judged by the trustees of the Art Gallery of NSW. Finalists are displayed in an exhibition at the Gallery (although in the early years all entrants were hung). Although it is a non-acquisitive prize, several of the entries are now part of the Gallery’s collection.

The Archibald Prize was first awarded in 1921. In establishing the prize, JF Archibald’s aim was to foster portraiture as well as support artists and perpetuate the memory of great Australians. Over the years some of Australia’s most prominent artists have entered and the subjects have been equally celebrated in their fields.

Related prizes

Entries in the Archibald Prize are also eligible for the following prizes.

Packing Room Prize First awarded in 1991 and chosen by the Gallery staff who receive, unpack and hang the entries

ANZ People’s Choice First awarded in 1988 – now supported by presenting partner ANZ – and voted for by the public visiting the Archibald exhibition

Florence Rodway Jules François

Archibald 1921, Art Gallery of New South

Wales Left

Who was JF Archibald?

JF Archibald (1856-1919) was a journalist and founder of the Bulletin magazine, who also served as a trustee of the Art Gallery of NSW.

He is the man behind one of Australia’s oldest and best known art prizes for portraiture. Yet Archibald had no desire to become famous and, during his lifetime, shunned publicity and remained evasive and enigmatic. A portrait of him, commissioned by the Art Gallery of NSW trustees, was made after his death and remains as one of the pictorial records of a man who avoided having his photograph taken.

The journalist

Archibald was born in Victoria and christened with the name John Feltham. When he was 15, he started his career in journalism on a country newspaper in Warrnambool, Victoria. His passion for newspapers led him to Melbourne, searching for work in ‘the big smoke’. He lived a bohemian life, frequenting Melbourne’s city boarding houses, streets, theatres and cafes – a life he imagined to be quite European, which led him to change his name to Jules François and later to leave money in his will for a large fountain to be built in the middle of Sydney’s Hyde Park to commemorate the association of France and Australia in World War I.

Realising the power of print, in 1880 he and a friend founded the Bulletin magazine, a radical journal for its time, addressing issues of nationhood, culture and identity. This journal was influential in shaping opinions and raising issues in the public’s consciousness. He also employed the best young artists to be its illustrators.

The art supporter

Archibald’s interest in art led him in his later years to serve as a trustee for the Art Gallery of NSW, keen to promote the work of younger artists and writers. In 1900, he commissioned Melbourne portrait artist John Longstaff to paint a portrait of poet Henry Lawson for 50 guineas. Apparently he was so pleased with this portrait that he left money in his will for an annual portrait prize, which was first awarded in 1921. His primary aim was to foster portraiture, as well as support artists and perpetuate the memory of great Australians.

Controversy and debate

The Archibald Prize, from its outset, has aroused controversy, while chronicling the changing face of Australian society. Numerous legal battles and much debate have focused on the evolving definitions of portraiture.

First awarded in 1921, the Archibald quickly became a prize eagerly sought by artists, not only because of the money it offered and the publicity and public exposure it generated, but because it also gave portrait artists an opportunity to have their work shown in a major gallery. Previously, portraitists had been largely restricted to public or private commissions. These Archibald exhibitions allowed their artwork to be viewed as a serious art form.

A conservative start

Early in its history the Archibald Prize attracted conservative artists who were not involved in the modernist movement that characterised the Sydney art scene in the 1920s. Academic and tonal realism dominated the Archibald in its first decade, with WB McInnes winning the prize five times between 1921 and 1926. As a result, through the 1920s and 1930s many artists seeking the prestigious Archibald Prize painted ‘prize’ paintings, adapting their own styles to conform with the prize-winning aesthetic.

With the Archibald terms stipulating a portrait of a ‘distinguished’ man or woman, the award mostly attracted celebratory portraits of notable Australians. Many of the Archibald contenders turned to the traditions of public portraiture of the 17th and 18th centuries, which focused on the social role of the sitter – for example, as a monarch, bishop, landowner or merchant – rather than an individual with a unique personality and psychological make-up.

William Dargie’s winning paintings from the 1940s very much reflected this ideal of the social role of the sitter, but his seventh portrait in 1952, Mr Essington Lewis, CH, a technically conservative and predictable portrait, sparked art students’ demonstrations and the first exhibition of rejected Archibald entries.

Nevertheless, even in its first two decades, there were occasional diversions from the social role of the sitter, such as Henry Hanks’ self portrait in 1934, in which he depicted himself as an unemployed painter and tattily dressed. He was criticised for apparently ignoring the award’s terms specifying the portrayal of a ‘distinguished’ man or woman.

Dobell breaks with conventions

It was William Dobell’s prize-winning portrait of fellow artist Joshua Smith in 1943 that finally broke with the conventions that had been established with the Archibald.

Opposition to the win was intense and two Royal Art Society members, Joseph Wolinski and Mary Edwards (also known as Mary Edwell-Burke), took legal action against Dobell and the Gallery’s trustees, alleging that Joshua Smith was ‘a distorted and caricatured form’ and therefore not a portrait. In contrast, the supporters of Dobell described the portrait as both ‘a likeness or resemblance of the sitter and a work of art’, which allowed for distortion for the purpose of art.

In response to critics, Dobell said that when he painted a portrait he was ‘… trying to create something, instead of copying something. To me, a sincere artist is not one who makes a faithful attempt to put on canvas what is in front of him, but one who tries to create something which is living in itself, regardless of its subject. So long as people expect paintings to be simply coloured photographs they get no individuality and in the case of portraits, no characterisation. The real artist is striving to depict his subject’s character and to stress the caricature, but at least it is art which is alive.’

The case stimulated massive press coverage and public comment – by those both familiar and totally unfamiliar with art. Ultimately, the Dobell case became a lively debate about modernism. The question of whether the painting was portraiture or caricature equally asked the questions of what constituted a portrait and what was the relationship of realism to art in

general. Justice Roper upheld Dobell’s award on the grounds that the painting, ‘although characterised by some startling exaggeration and distortion… nevertheless bore a strong degree of likeness to the subject and undoubtedly was a pictorial representation of him.’

Whiteley’s win marks a turning point

While the Archibald Prize never failed to stimulate debate, controversy yet again loomed when, in 1976, Brett Whiteley won, with his painting Self portrait in the studio, marking a turning point for the prize. The self portrait is seemingly reduced to the artist’s face reflected in a hand-mirror within the vast expanse of the blue of his studio and its collection of objects.

Whiteley followed this win with an even more expressive work in 1978: Art, life and the other thing, a triptych that explored three issues – the status of photographic representation in portraiture, the Dobell controversy and the representation of Whiteley’s own battle with heroin addiction.

Whiteley’s reference to photographic representation presumably dealt with yet another Archibald controversy: portraits painted from photographs. In 1975, John Bloomfield’s large photo-realist portrait of Tim Burstall, the filmmaker, was disqualified as it was painted from a photograph and because Bloomfield had never met Burstall. In this case the debated point was the justification of portraiture as revealing the inner self of the sitter rather than being simply a faithful rendering of facial features.

Bloomfield struck back in 1981 when he threatened legal action over that year’s winning portrait of Rudy Komon by Eric Smith, which strongly resembled a 1974 photograph of Komon. Komon defended the award, saying he had been sitting for Smith for 21 years. These two cases highlight the debate about the nature of portraiture: is it about getting a good likeness or is it about character revelation?

But they aren’t the only cases or the last. Further controversies are chronicled in the Archibald chronology of events

Chronology of events

1900

Jules François Archibald, then editor of the Bulletin, commissioned John Longstaff to paint a portrait of the poet Henry Lawson. Apparently Archibald was so pleased with the portrait that he decided to 'write his name across Sydney’ by bequeathing money to the arts. When he died in 1919, he left one tenth of his estate of £89,061 in trust for a non-acquisitive annual art prize to be awarded by the trustees of the (then) National Art Gallery of New South Wales (now Art Gallery of New South Wales).

1921

The first Archibald Prize of £400 was awarded to WB McInnes for his portrait of Desbrowe Annear.

1922

Gother Mann, director of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales, in listing the conditions of the prize, stated that 'portraits should be as far as practicable painted from life and may be of any size. No direct copies from photographs will be considered eligible.’

1923

WB McInnes’ winning Portrait of a lady was criticised as the sitter was not named and it was therefore impossible to determine if the condition of the prize – that the portrait be 'preferentially’ of a man or woman 'distinguished in the Arts, Letters, Science or Politics’ – was fulfilled.

1938

Nora Heysen was the first woman to win the Archibald Prize with her portrait of Madame Elink Schuurman, the wife of the Consul General for the Netherlands. Max Meldrum made the much quoted statement, 'If I were a woman, I would certainly prefer raising a healthy family to a career in art. Women are more closely attached to the physical things of life. They are not to blame. They cannot help it, and to expect them to do some things equally as well as men is sheer lunacy.’

1942

William Dargie won the prize with his portrait of Corporal Jim Gordon, VC. The work was painted when Dargie was an official war artist in Syria. The ship carrying the portrait back to Sydney sank and the painting spent some time underwater.

1943

William Dobell won the award for Joshua Smith. Raymond Lindsay, writing for the Daily Telegraph, noted, 'it is daring to the point of caricature, but its intense vitality lifts it from any such moribund definition. It has all the qualities of a good painting’. When the award was announced, two other entrants, Mary Edwards and Joseph Wolinski, took legal action against Dobell and the trustees on the ground that the painting was not a portrait as defined by the Archibald Bequest. The case was heard in the Supreme Court of NSW before Justice Roper, who dismissed the suit and ordered the claimant to pay costs for Dobell and the trustees. This was followed by an appeal and an unsuccessful demand to the Equity Court to restrain the trustees from handing over the money.

1946

For the first time the trustees had to insist upon a pre-selection of works. More than half of the entries were eliminated.

1948

William Dobell won both the Archibald and Wynne Prizes. His winning portrait of Margaret Olley was purchased by the Gallery.

1952

William Dargie’s winning portrait, Mr Essington Lewis, CH, provoked an art students’ demonstration. Students, including John Olsen, marched around the Gallery, gave three cheers for Picasso and left. A woman in the demonstration tied a placard around the neck of her dachshund, which read 'Winner Archibald Prize – William Doggie’.

1953

The first show of the Archibald ‘rejects’ took place from 20 to 27 February at the Educational Galleries, Bridge Street.

1964

The trustees decided not to award the prize on the grounds that the entries were not of a sufficient standard.

1975

John Bloomfield’s portrait of Tim Burstall, painted from a blown-up photograph, was disqualified on the grounds that the portrait had to be painted from life. The prize was rejudged and awarded to Kevin Connor.

1976

Brett Whiteley’s Self portrait in the studio was a turning point as it challenged traditional tenets of likeness and realism and stretched the definition of portraiture.

1978

Brett Whiteley won the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes, becoming the first artist to win all three prizes in one year.

1980

The trustees, for the second time, decided not to award the prize on the grounds that there was no entry worthy of the award.

1981

John Bloomfield threatened to take legal action to prevent Eric Smith being awarded the prize for his painting of Rudy Komon, as he claimed Smith had not adhered to a condition of entry, that the portrait should be painted from life.

1985

The Perpetual Trustee Company, which administered Archibald’s will, took the Australian Journalists Association Benevolent Fund to court. The AJA was

named as first defendant in the case because it stood to inherit the money if the Archibald Prize failed to fulfil the criteria that the prize was still a ‘good charitable bequest’. Justice Powell found that the Archibald Prize did fulfil this and directed that the Perpetual Trustees Company should transfer administration of the Trust to the Art Gallery of NSW.

1988

The People’s Choice Award was established.

1991

The Packing Room Prize is introduced in the 1991/92 exhibition, awarded by the Gallery staff who receive the entries for the Archibald Prize.

1994

The entry fee for artists was increased to $25, and there were 174 fewer entries than the previous year.

1995

The Archibald Prize application form was amended to read: ‘For the purpose of this prize the trustees apply the definition of a portrait as determined in the judgment of 1983: “a picture of a person painted from life”.’ This refers to John Bloomfield’s unsuccessful attempt in 1983 to sue for the return of the 1975 Archibald Prize.

1996

To coincide with the 75th anniversary of the prize, a mini-retrospective of selected past winners was mounted.

1997

The eligibility of a painting of Bananas in pyjamas television characters B1 and B2 was questioned by the trustees, as it was not a portrait of a ‘man or woman’. Artist Evert Ploeg pointed out that his subjects were distinguished in the arts and that the portrait was painted from life, the only difference being that the subjects were in costume. The now-annual Salon des Refusés exhibition of works that were not hung in the Archibald Prize was organised at

an external venue to protest against the predominance of established regulars in the Archibald exhibition.

1999

Euan Macleod’s winning work, Self portrait/head like a hole, received widespread acclaim as a strong, imaginative painting. It was described by the Daily Telegraph (20 March 1999) as ‘arguably the most abstract painting ever to win the prize’. The trustees’ announcement was greeted with raucous whooping and cheering.

2000

Rendered in Dulux house paints, because they were ‘rich, inexpensive and bright’, Adam Cullen’s winning work, Portrait of David Wenham, drew praise for the trustees from the Sydney Morning Herald (25 March 2000) for their imaginative choice, commenting that ‘the daggiest award in Australian art is beginning to look serious’.

2001

A record increase in the number of entries may have been stimulated by awards to more adventurous works during the previous two years. Public attendance at the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman exhibitions reached its highest ever daily average, at 1725 visitors per day (compared with 1388 per day in 2000).

2003

A size limitation was introduced. Entries could be no larger than 90,000 square centimetres (for example, 3 metres by 3 metres, or 4.5 metres by 2 metres). This was a decision made after the 2002 exhibition, with excessively large works creating handling, judging and storing difficulties, as well as restricting the number that could fit in the exhibition. Another restriction introduced for the 2003 Archibald Prize was the limit of one work per artist. The inaugural Citigroup Private Bank Australian Photographic Portraiture Prize was held in conjunction with the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes, with the aim of promoting outstanding works of both professional and aspiring Australian photographers. This prize was discontinued in 2007.

2004

Craig Ruddy’s portrait David Gulpilil – two worlds won the 2004 Archibald Prize and the People’s Choice Award. It was only the second time in 16 years the public agreed with the judges’ decision.

2010

Sam Leach won both the Archibald and the Wynne Prizes. It was only the second time an artist had won both prizes: the first being William Dobell in 1948. Brett Whiteley won all three prizes – Archibald, Wynne and Sulman – in 1978.

2013

The inaugural Young Archie competition is held for budding artists between the ages of 5 and 18.

2016

This is the first year that there is close to gender parity for the Archibald artists, with 25 women and 26 men among the finalists.

2017

Retiring head packer Steve Peters judges his 26th and final Packing Room Prize, having held 51% of the vote among the Gallery staff who receive, unpack and hang the entries.

Assessment Resource Booklet THE DOBELL DRAWING PRIZE 2019 The Dobell Drawing Prize is a new biennial prize and exhibition presented by the National Art School in association with the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation. The Prize is an open call to all artists and aims to explore the enduring importance of drawing and the breadth and dynamism of contemporary approaches to drawing. The exhibition showcases the finalists’ artworks across a broad range of media that acknowledges the foundational principals of drawing, while also encouraging challenging and expansive approaches to drawing. Submissions are invited for artworks on paper, but may also include wall drawings and larger-scale works and works utilising electronic media. National Art School envisions the Prize as a platform for the celebration and examination of current drawing practices. The Prize builds on the energy of both emerging artists who make art through drawing, while also celebrating innovation and technical skill of experienced artists. A drawing symposium, workshops and a range of artist talks will be held in conjunction with the Prize and exhibition, positioning the National Art School and Sydney at the core of contemporary drawing, research and the exploration of ideas. Drawing continues to be central to the National Art School’s curriculum, and the opportunity to present and reflect the many facets of contemporary drawing offers artists another forum to explore the dynamic medium of drawing. The new Dobell Drawing Prize is an acquisitive art award that runs in alternative years to the Dobell Australian Drawing Biennial at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, affirming the Dobell Foundation’s commitment to continuing the development of drawing as a medium in its own right, and a fundamental element of the visual arts. SIR WILLIAM DOBELL ART FOUNDATION The Sir William Dobell Art Foundation was formed in 1971 from the artist’s bequest with instructions that a Foundation be established for the benefit and promotion of art in NSW." The Foundation has sponsored a wide variety of projects since then, establishing art exhibitions, funding publications and acquisitions, supporting educational projects, art schools and scholarships and has made possible major public art commissions. Art Director of The Sir William Dobell Art Foundation Paula Latos-Valier states: “The Dobell Drawing Prize has many great attributes – it is very democratic in that any artist can enter and there are no restrictions to subject matter or medium. This freedom from curatorial constraint is a distinguishing feature. The Prize has always championed the idea of peer group assessment by inviting respected practicing artists to select the finalists and determine the prize-winner. Lastly, being an acquisitive prize means that the winning work goes into a public collection and leaves a tangible legacy for future generations. The Foundation is excited that this will continue in this new partnership with NAS.” The new Dobell Drawing Prize runs in alternative years to the Dobell Australian Drawing Biennial at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, affirming the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation’s commitment to continuing the development of drawing as a medium in its own right, and a fundamental element of the visual arts. SIR WILLIAM DOBELL OBE William Dobell was born in Newcastle, NSW, on 24 September, 1899. He moved to Sydney in 1924 to study at the Julian Ashton Art School, where he met many artists who would later teach at the National Art School. In 1929 he won the Society of Artists Travelling Scholarship, and lived in London for ten years, painting and studying at the Slade School of Fine Art. When his scholarship ran out after three years, he

supported himself by producing posters and illustrations for magazines, acting as an extra in films, and working with fellow Australian artists decorating the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow in 1937. On his return to Sydney in 1939, Dobell’s friend Douglas Dundas offered him a part-time teaching position at East Sydney Technical College (the National Art School). At first he taught drawing from nature, costume drawing, and painting, and became highly respected as the life master, teaching life drawing in the studios on the top floor of building 16. Although a reserved and unassuming man, William Dobell had a profound effect on his National Art School students. Many describe his love for drawing, and his outstanding draughtsmanship was apparent when he demonstrated drawing in his classes. He taught at the NAS until 1941, when he left to work as a camouflage artist during WW2. After the war, Dobell occasionally filled in as a lecturer at the NAS, teaching the students studying there under the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme. In 1943 Dobell won the Archibald Prize, Australia's principal award for portraiture, for a painting of fellow artist, former NAS student Joshua Smith. The award was immediately challenged on the grounds that Dobell's entry showed a degree of distortion, thought to be a caricature rather than a true portrait, but the court upheld the judging panel's decision. Resultant newspaper publicity greatly expanded interest in Dobell's work, but as a result of the controversy Dobell withdrew to Wangi Wangi, a small coastal town north of Sydney, where he set up a studio. He won the Archibald Prize twice more, in 1948 with a portrait of former NAS student Margaret Olley, and in 1959 with a portrait of Dr Edward McMahon. He continued to draw all his life, filling sketchbooks and recording the life and people of Wangi Wangi. He was knighted in 1966 and died in Wangi Wangi on 14 May, 1970. ABOUT THE NATIONAL ART SCHOOL With origins that can be traced back to 1873, the National Art School is a leading Australian visual arts institution with a rich tradition of artistic practice and generations of world-renowned alumni. NAS offers a select number of full time programs: a Bachelor of Fine Art and Master of Fine Art, and for the community, a comprehensive range of part-time and intensive short courses. NAS is a practitioner’s art school. We are committed to teaching the vital practical skills that form the foundation of a career in the visual arts. Students have access to over 80 eminent practising artists and art historians, who lecture, lead by example and provide intensive studio-based tuition. It is through this model that we continue to produce award-winning, distinguished graduates. Since 1922 we have occupied the old Darlinghurst gaol, an unrivalled sandstone campus that is both a colonial site of immense historical significance and a working school – with authentic artist studios, workshops, the NAS Gallery, specialist fine art Library and the famed Cell Block Theatre. https://www.dobell.nas.edu.au/ Dobell Prize for Drawing (discontinued)

Dobell Prize 2006 Winner Nick Mourtzakis's 'nature. insects plants flowers...'

The annual Dobell Prize aimed to encourage excellence in drawing and draughtsmanship among Australian artists.

Held annually from 1993 to 2012, it was initiated by the Art Gallery of N SW and the trustees of the Sir William Dobell Art

Foundation (established from the estate of Australian artist William Dobell).

Each year the foundation’s trustees invited a guest – often an artist – to judge this open competition, and finalists were

displayed in an exhibition at the Gallery. The winning work automatically became part of the Gallery’s collection, and over

the years a small selection of finalist works were also acquired. Together these form the Dobell Australian Drawing

Collection.

What constitutes a drawing was deliberately not outlined in the conditions of entry. This flexible approach ensured a great

variety of drawings were submitted, ranging from those made using materials traditionally associated with drawing (pencil,

pen and ink, charcoal etc) to those that are part of

contemporary practice (including pastel, watercolour

and collage).

Changes to the Dobell

The Dobell Drawing Prize 2012 marked the final year of

this competition at the Art Gallery of N SW . From 2019,

the National Art School in Sydney will host a new

approach to the prize. At the Gallery, rather than an

open competition, a curated exhibition called the Dobell

Australian Drawing Biennial has been presented since

2014.

Nicholas Harding Eddy Avenue black ink, scraping out on two sheets of white wove paper

Who was William Dobell? Born in Newcastle in 1899, William Dobell came to art late. A poor student, he left school as soon as he could and was

apprenticed to a local architect to train as a draftsman because he had revealed some talent for drawing as a youth. Dobell

moved to Sydney in 1924, where he worked for a time as a draftsman at the Redfern workshops of Wunderlich,

manufacturers of architectural metalwork and terracotta. His flair for drawing resulted in a move to the firm’s advertising

department and evening classes at Julian Ashton’s Sydney Art School, where he began serious studies in drawing and

painting. It was only then, as he approached the age of 30, that Dobell realised his true vocation.

Awarded the Society of Artists Travelling Scholarship in 1929, Dobell left for London and stayed for ten years. While there

he studied briefly at the Slade School, but spent most of his time consolidating his formal training by drawing as much as he

could and painting, often painstakingly, small-scale oils. He exhibited little, preferring to quietly develop his skills and powers

of observation, making genre, landscape, portrait and character studies and supplementing his income with commercial art

and odd jobs. He associated with other artists, mostly Australians, who supported each other materially, as well as

artistically, in hard economic times. However, he gained most from his

concentrated observation of the work of the old masters in London and various

European museums.

On his return, Dobell was received almost immediately as an artist of considerable

substance. Hailed by many as the greatest Australian portraitist ever, official

acclaim and popular fame attended much of his career. In large part, this stemmed

from the widespread controversy generated by the Archibald Prize of 1943 – which

Dobell was awarded for a portrait of Joshua Smith – and the infamous court case

that followed it.

While he was known for landscapes and genre paintings, it was his major portraits,

including those of Margaret Olley (1948), Dame Mary Gilmore (1957) and Helena

Rubinstein (1963), that cemented his reputation. He was knighted in 1966, and

died in 1970. William Dobell Self portrait 1932

Sir William Dobell Foundation The Sir William Dobell Art Foundation was established upon the death of William Dobell in 1970 for ‘the benefit and

promotion of art in New South Wales’, according to the terms of his will. It was a deliberately broad brief and decisions

regarding projects the foundation would fund were left at the discretion of the trustees. Tony Clune, Dobell’s sole executor,

appointed Charles Lloyd Jones and Franco Belgiorno-Nettis as trustees, while Dobell’s biographer, the artist James

Gleeson, was appointed art director and Thelma Clune, archivist.

The foundation was established from the proceeds of the disposal of Dobell’s estate, which included an auction of works

from his studio. Dobell’s work had become increasingly popular with collectors, and the sale was held three years after his

death, at the (then) new Sydney Opera House, ensuring the greatest possible attention. It was also the first auction

conducted by Sotheby’s in Australia.

In his will, Dobell suggested a broad range of possible activities for the foundation, including the establishment of an art

prize or prizes, but his intention was to allow the trustees of the foundation to use their own judgment in allotting funds to

various projects for the encouragement of Australian art and artists. Over the years the foundation has sponsored many

diverse projects. The Dobell Prize for Drawing at the Art Gallery of N SW was largely the initiative of one of the foundation

directors, James Gleeson. Established in 1993, it pays due recognition to the importance of drawing in William Dobell’s art,

as well as encouraging excellence in draughtsmanship by artists working now.

Dobell and drawing Support for a drawing prize by the Sir William Dobell Foundation is particularly apt because of the importance William Dobell

placed on drawing. Drawing was the foundation for all his art – it was his way of forming and developing ideas, and how he

came to realise his intentions in paint.

The artist and Dobell Foundation director James Gleeson noted: 'He was essentially a draughtsman. Even his paintings

were usually “drawn” in oils, for he preferred to use the brush like a pencil, building up the forms from an accumulation of

lines. It was a method he used in his early London works and it remained a basic characteristic of his painting style, reaching

its fullest development in the “white drawing” works of his late years.’

Dobell’s early inclinations and training had led naturally to drawing. The Sydney Art School (later renamed the Julian Ashton

Art School), where Dobell received his first instruction, was renowned for its focus on drawing from life. Distinguished

alumni, particularly George Lambert and its founder Julian Ashton, had left their mark on the school in their focus on

drawing. The school’s approach echoed that practised in many schools in Europe and England, emphasising the linear

rendering of form. An understanding of anatomy was expected, though not formally taught – drawing from observation was

of foremost importance.

London’s Slade School also had a reputation for excellence in drawing, and a similar regime for teaching it. Henry Tonks,

who taught Dobell there in 1939, was one of the school’s most celebrated teachers of drawing, and instilled a disciplined

approach that incorporated drawing from casts of antique sculpture and from life and the study of anatomy, so that students

acquired sufficient skill from which to develop their individual vision as painters or sculptors. Dobell continued to focus on

drawing for the remainder of his life, stating from time to time that it was essential to his work.

For Dobell, quickly executed sketches were his means of capturing observations of a subject on paper, as an aide-mémoire.

He mostly drew his subjects from life, often from several angles. Observation and memory were combined in drawing before

he was able to elaborate upon his initial impressions in paint. Drawing was a way of solving visual problems and

understanding his subject, grasping it before he developed it into a final composition.

The majority of his extant drawings seem slight at first sight. They are often on scrappy pieces of paper, occasionally using

poor materials and in some cases creased and worn, indicative perhaps of the

urgency of their creation and the frequency of their use as references. Further

study, however, reveals them as critical to the conception and development of

Dobell’s subjects. Drawing was for him a private activity – very few of his

drawings were intended as finished works in their own right – rather they were

his way of understanding his subjects and realising his ideas pictorially.

https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/prizes/dobell/

William Dobell recto: Self portrait 1937, pencil, brush, brown ink

National Art School resurrects drawing prize in honour of William Dobell By Linda Morris Updated1 March 2018 — 6:39pm First published 27 February 2018 — 3:01pm One of Australia's most prestigious prizes for drawing is to be revived after it was discontinued six years ago.

The National Art School will become the new home of the Dobell Drawing Prize when it is reinstituted from March 2019 during a 10-week ''mini festival'' dedicated to the art form.

Longer term, Australia's oldest art school is keen to develop a national centre for drawing to underline the importance of the fundamental visual skill in traditional art practice as well as conceptual, performance and digital art, video and film.

Once seen to be a dying art, even photo media artists are now putting drawing at the heart of their work.

The refreshed Dobell Drawing Prize will run alternative years and, like the Archibald Prize, be an open competition but with artists, rather than trustees, as judges.

Finalists of the $30,000 prize will be exhibited at the art school alongside a drawing symposium and drawing workshops and their works toured to western Sydney and regional galleries.

Archibald Prize winner William Dobell, for whom the prize is named, would call into the Darlinghurst art school on his way to the Supreme Court in 1944 where two disaffected prize entrants challenged the authenticity of Dobell's exaggerated study of his painter friend, Joshua Smith.

As a graphic artist who painted camouflage at the outbreak of war, drawing was the foundation for all Dobell's work.

The artist was eventually vindicated in the famous decision Attorney-General v Trustees of the Art Gallery of NSW, but the legal action almost broke him, says art school director Steven Alderton, though Dobell went on to win the Archibald again with a more conventional study of art school alumni, Margaret Olley. On his death, Dobell's estate provided funding for an annual drawing competition and prize. In 2012, on the 20th anniversary of the Dobell Prize for Drawing, the Art Gallery of NSW announced the prize would be replaced with a biennial invitation-only exhibition.

"We don't know why the Art Gallery of NSW repurposed the prize. But we want the Dobell Drawing Prize to be an open call to artists and what we want to continue and build on is the energy of so many artists in the room making art through drawing.

"It's not just an exhibition. We want to use the Dobell Drawing Prize to be a vehicle in which drawing is successful and celebrated.''

Drawing was at the core of Australia's longest running art school, Mr Alderton said. Photo media graduate Justine Varga controversially won the Olive Cotton Prize for her work, Maternal Line, a portrait of her grandmother who inscribed her mark and spittle on a sheet of negatives. The prize would be open to performance and digital art and physical size would be about the only constraint limiting entrants, Mr Alderton said.

Paula Latos-Valier, art director of prize sponsors, the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, said the prize would champion the idea of peer group assessment by inviting respected practising artists to select the finalists and determine the prize-winner.

"The Dobell Foundation is thrilled that an acquisitive prize means that the winning work goes into a public collection and leaves a tangible legacy for future generations."

https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/national-art-school-resurrects-drawing-prize-in-honour-of-william-dobell-20180227-h0wq3f.html

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