Heidelberg School

The Heidelberg School was an Australian art movement of the late 19th century. The movement has latterly been described as Australian Impressionism.

The term was coined in July 1891 by Melbourne critic Sidney Dickinson, reviewing the works of local artists Arthur Streeton and Walter Withers. Dickinson noted that these artists, who painted en plein air in the Heidelberg area, could be considered as the "Heidelberg School". Since that time, the term has taken on a wider meaning and covers Melbourne and Sydney artists of the late nineteenth century who were inspired by the broader impressionist movement. Along with Streeton and Withers, Tom Roberts, Charles Conder and Frederick McCubbin are considered key figures of the Heidelberg School. They sought to capture Australian life, the bush, and the harsh sunlight that typifies the country.

The works of these artists are notable, not only for their merits as compositions, but as part of Australia's historical record. The period leading up to Federation is the setting for many classic stories of Australian folklore, made famous in the works of bush poets associated with the Bulletin School, such as Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson. The Heidelberg School's work provides a visual complement to these tales and their images have embedded themselves into Australia's historical subconscious. Many of the artworks can be seen in Australian galleries, notably the National Gallery of Victoria, the National Gallery of Australia and the Art Gallery of Ballarat.

History

The name refers to the then rural area of Heidelberg east of Melbourne where practitioners of the style found their subject matter, though usage expanded to cover other Australian artists working in similar areas. The core group painted there on several occasions at "artist's camps" in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Besides Arthur Streeton and Walter Withers, other major artists in the movement included Tom Roberts, Frederick McCubbin and Charles Conder. See below for a list of other associated artists.

9 by 5 Impression Exhibition

In August 1889, several artists of the Heidelberg School staged the 9 by 5 Impression Exhibition at Buxton's Rooms, Swanston Street, opposite the Melbourne Town Hall. The exhibition's three principal artists were Charles Conder, Tom Roberts and Arthur Streeton, with minor contributions from Frederick McCubbin, National Gallery students R.E. Falls and Herbert Daly, and sculptor Charles Douglas Richardson, who exhibited five sculpted impressions. Most of the 183 works included in the exhibition were painted on wooden cigar-box panels, measuring 9 by 5 inches (23 Ã— 13Â cm), hence the name of the exhibition. Louis Abrahams scrounged most of the panels from his family's tobacconist shop. The works were displayed in broad Red Gum frames, some left unornamented, others decorated with verse and small sketches, giving the works an "unconventional, avant garde look". The artists wrote in the catalogue:

An effect is only momentary: so an impressionist tries to find his place. Two half-hours are never alike, and he who tries to paint a sunset on two successive evenings, must be more or less painting from memory. So, in these works, it has been the object of the artists to render faithfully, and thus obtain first records of effects widely differing, and often of very fleeting character.

Response from critics and the public was mixed. The most scathing review came from leading critic James Smith, who said the 9 by 5s were "destitute of all sense of the beautiful" and "whatever influence [the exhibition] was likely to exercise could scarcely be otherwise than misleading and pernicious." The artists pasted up the review outside the entrance of the venueâ€"attracting many more passing pedestriansâ€"and responded with a letter to the Editor of Smith's newspaper, The Argus. Described as a manifesto, the letter defends freedom of choice in subject and technique, concluding:

It is better to give our own idea than to get a merely superficial effect, which is apt to be a repetition of what others have done before us, and may shelter us in a safe mediocrity, which, while it will not attract condemnation, could never help towards the development of what we believe will be a great school of painting in Australia.

The 9 by 5 Impression Exhibition is now regarded as a landmark event in Australian art history. Approximately one-third of the 9 by 5s are known to have survived, many of which are held in Australia's public collections.

Influences and style

The School's artists were clearly influenced by the international Impressionist movement, and took up many of the concepts of the group. They regularly painted plein air landscapes, as well as using art to depict daily life. They showed a keen interest in the instantaneous effects of lighting, and experimented with a variety of brushstroke techniques. McCubbin in particular used the small, contrasting blocks of strong colour that were a trademark of some Impressionist work.

These artists should not be viewed as merely copying an international trend. Works of the Heidelberg school are generally viewed as some of the first Western art to realistically and sensitively depict the Australian landscape as it actually exists. Many earlier works look like European scenes and do not reflect the harsh sunlight, earthier colours, and distinctive vegetation of the land they painted.

Associated artists

Artists associated with the Heidelberg School include:

Louis Abrahams
Alice Boyd
Louis Buvelot
Charles Conder
David Davies
Emanuel Phillips Fox
Ethel Carrick Fox
Eugene Von Guerard
Frederick McCubbin
Leon Pole
Jane Price
Charles Douglas Richardson
Tom Roberts
John Thomas Nightingale Rowell
William Nicholas Rowell
Arthur Streeton
Clara Southern
Jane Sutherland
Tudor St George Tucker
May Vale
Walter Withers
George Folingsby

Locations

Heidelberg
Bulleen
Templestowe
Warrandyte
Eltham
Research
Diamond Creek
Ferntree Gully
Kallista
Olinda
Mount Dandenong
Kalorama
Silvan
Lilydale
Yarra Glen
Coldstream
Yering

Legacy

Writing in 1980, Australian artist and scholar Ian Burn described the Heidelberg School as "mediating the relation to the bush of most people growing up in Australia. ... Perhaps no other local imagery is so much a part of an Australian consciousness and ideological make-up." The movement was included in the Australian citizenship test, overseen by former prime minister John Howard in 2007. Such references to history were removed the following year, instead focusing on "the commitments in the pledge rather than being a general knowledge quiz about Australia."

Many period films of the Australian New Wave drew upon the visual style and subject matter of the Heidelberg School. For Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), director Peter Weir studied the Heidelberg School as a basis for art direction, lighting, and composition. Sunday Too Far Away (1975), set on an outback sheep station, pays homage to Roberts' shearing works, to the extent that Shearing the Rams is recreated within the film. When shooting the landscape in The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978), cinematographer Ian Baker tried to "make every shot a Tom Roberts". The Getting of Wisdom (1977) and My Brilliant Career (1979) each found inspiration in the Heidelberg School; outback scenes in the latter allude directly to works by Streeton, such as The Selector's Hut.

The Heidelberg School is examined in One Summer Again, a three-part docudrama that first aired on ABC television in 1985. Tom Roberts' career, and his relationships with other members of the Heidelberg School, form the basis of the story. The artists' camps are recreated in authentic bush settings, which one critic described as having "the soft warmth of a McCubbin painting". Film sets true to the period are contrasted with shots of contemporary Melbourne. The cast includes John Wood, Michele Fawdon, John Lee, Joan Sydney and Nina Landis.

Gallery

References

External resources

In the Artist's Footsteps
Heidelberg Artists Trail
Heidelberg School - The Encyclopedia of Melbourne Online
Heidelberg School - Stories from Australia's Culture Portal
National Gallery of Victoria: Australian Impressionism Education Resource

Heidelberg School

Wednesday, May 6, 2015