Julian Rossi Ashton (27 January 185127 April 1942) was an English-born Australian artist and teacher. He is best known for founding the

Julian Ashton Art School The Julian Ashton Art School was established by Julian Ashton in 1890 as the "Academy Julian", (perhaps a reference to the Académie Julian in Paris) has been an influential art school in Australia. For a long time it was known as the Sydney Art ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and encouraging Australian painters to capture local life and scenery ''

en plein air ''En plein air'' (; French language, French for 'outdoors'), or plein-air painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein ai ...

'', greatly influencing the impressionist

Heidelberg School The Heidelberg School was an Australian art movement of the late 19th century. It has been described as Australian impressionism. Melbourne art critic Sidney Dickinson coined the term in an 1891 review of works by Arthur Streeton and Walter ...

movement. He was a principal organiser of the 1898 Exhibition of Australian Art in London, the first major exhibition of Australian art internationally.

Biography

Ashton was born in

Addlestone Addlestone ( or ) is a town in Surrey, England. It is located approximately southwest of London. The town is the administrative centre of the Runnymede (borough), Borough of Runnymede, of which it is the largest settlement. Geography Addlesto ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, the son of American amateur painter Thomas Briggs Ashton, and his wife Henrietta, daughter of Count Carlo Rossi, a

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

n diplomat who married the soprano

Henriette Sontag Henriette Sontag, born Gertrude Walpurgis Sontag, and, after her marriage, entitled Henriette, Countess Rossi (3 January 1806 – 17 June 1854), was a German operatic soprano of great international renown. She possessed a sweet-toned, lyrical voi ...

. The family moved to

Penzance Penzance ( ; ) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the westernmost major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated in the ...

, Cornwall shortly after, and lived at Burley Grove,

Gulval Gulval () is a village in the civil parish of Penzance, in Cornwall, England. Although historically a parish in its own right, Gulval was incorporated into the parishes of Ludgvan, Madron and Penzance in 1934, and is now considered to be a sub ...

. At the age of 11, the family moved again to

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-southwest of Torquay and ab ...

, Devon. His father died in 1864, and around age 15 he began working in the engineers' office of either the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...

. There he remained for six years using his entire leisure time painting at

South Kensington South Kensington is a district at the West End of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with the advent of the ra ...

. During this time he studied at the

West London School of Art The West London School of Art founded in either 1861 or 1862 as the Marylebone and West London School of Art, was an educational establishment in London, England. The school worked with the Science and Art Department in South Kensington and offere ...

for three years. He then went to study at the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

in Paris and began illustrating books. He also had considerable success as a painter, exhibiting at the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

and elsewhere. Ashton emigrated to Melbourne in 1878 under contract to

David Syme David Syme (2 October 1827 – 14 February 1908) was a Scotland, Scottish-Australian newspaper proprietor of ''The Age'' and regarded as "the father of Protectionism, protection in Australia" who had immense influence in the Government of Victor ...

's ''Illustrated Australian News'' and lived there for five years before moving to Sydney. He was the elected president of the

Art Society of New South Wales The Royal Art Society of New South Wales, or Royal Art Society of NSW, was established in 1880 as the Art Society of New South Wales by a group of artists including Arthur and George Collingridge, with the aim of creating an Australian school of ...

from 1886 to 1892. From 1892 to 1895 he taught classes on behalf of the society but was dismissed after choosing to exhibit his works with the newly formed Society of Artists. He had a background in the contemporary French

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *American Realism *Classical Realism *Liter ...

of the Barbizon School, which emphasised painting ''

'' (i.e. direct from nature, as opposed to studio-based painting), and which laid the basis for the

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

movement. As a trustee of the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

he championed emerging Australian artists of the Australian Impressionist or

, and the Gallery's decision to collect these works owes much to his influence. Ashton is known for his paintings ''Evening, Merri Creek'' (1882), ''A Solitary Ramble'' (1888) and others. George Lambert painted a portrait of Ashton which is in the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Lambert showed Ashton, then 77, with white hair and a military-type moustache, dressed in a grey suit and a dapper bow-tie, cigar in hand, sitting beside a table with a mass of objects. The cigar and wine suggest 'good living' and the flowers and fruit may have referred to Ashton's role as a gardener. Behind him there is a deep red curtain draped over a gold picture frame, behind which there is a curtain, creating an abstract arrangement of bold colours, with the frame suggesting Ashton's role as an artist, teacher and patron.

Julian Ashton Art School

The Sydney Art School (also known as the Julian Ashton Art School), which Ashton established in 1890 as the "Academy Julian", has been an influential art school in Australia. Julian Ashton students have included

William Dobell Sir William Dobell (24 September 189913 May 1970) was an Australian portrait and landscape artist of the 20th century. Dobell won the Archibald Prize, Australia's premier award for portrait artists on three occasions. The Dobell Prize is named ...

John Olsen John Wayne Olsen AO (born 7 June 1945) is an Australian politician, diplomat and football commissioner. He was Premier of South Australia between 28 November 1996 and 22 October 2001. He is now President of the Federal Liberal Party, Chairma ...

, Fred Leist,

Brett Whiteley Brett Whiteley Order of Australia, AO (7 April 1939 – 15 June 1992) was an Australian artist. He is represented in the collections of all the large Australian galleries, and was twice winner of the Archibald Prize, Archibald, Wynne Prize, ...

Lola Ridge Lola Ridge (born Rose Emily Ridge; 12 December 1873 – 19 May 1941) was an Irish-born New Zealand-American anarchist and modernist poet, and an influential editor of avant-garde, feminist, and Marxist publications. She is best known for her lon ...

, Justine Kong Sing,

Anne Dangar Anne Dangar (1 December 1885 – 4 September 1951) was an Australian painter and potter. Life and training Dangar was born in Kempsey, New South Wales, Kempsey, a town on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, daughter of Otho Dangar, who wa ...

, and

Nora Heysen Nora Heysen, (11 January 1911 – 30 December 2003) was an Australian artist, the first woman to win the Archibald Prize in 1938 for portraiture and the first Australian woman appointed as an official war artist. Early years Heysen was born in ...

. (Julian) Howard Ashton's son, J. Richard Ashton, and his wife Wenda ran the School from 1960, when, among many gifted artists, Ian Chapman and

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...

winner

Francis Giacco Francis Giacco (born 1955) is an Australian artist who won the Archibald Prize in 1994 with ''Homage to John Reichard''. Giacco has a Bachelor of Architecture from the UNSW and is a longtime teacher at the Julian Ashton Art School, The Rocks, Sy ...

attended, until 1977 when Phillip Ashton (Richard's son) became Principal, this being the time of Hadyn Wilson, political cartoonist

Bill Leak Desmond Robert "Bill" Leak (9 January 1956 – 10 March 2017) was an Australian editorial cartoonist, caricaturist and portraitist. Raised in Condobolin and Beacon Hill, Sydney, Leak attended Julian Ashton Art School during the 1970s. His ca ...

and artist Paul Newton. In 1988 the school was incorporated and

Paul Delprat Paul Ashton Delprat (born 1942) is an Australian artist and the principal of the Julian Ashton Art School, Sydney's oldest continuous fine art school. His work is represented in state, municipal and university galleries as well as numerous p ...

, Julian Ashton's great-grandson, himself an ex-student took over the running of the school, becoming the principal. In 1989 the school's antique casts and easels, which date back to 1890, were classified by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

. The school's main campus is in

The Rocks, Sydney The Rocks is a suburb, tourist precinct, and historic area of Sydney's city centre. It is on the southern shore of Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour, immediately north-west of the Sydney's Sydney central business district, CBD. Boundaries The forma ...

, located opposite the

Museum of Contemporary Art Australia The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), formerly the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, is located on George Street, Sydney, George Street in The Rocks, Sydney, The Rocks neighbourhood of Sydney. The museum is housed in the Stripped Cl ...

at 117–119 George Street, The Rocks. The building is listed on the

New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...

. Since 2004 the school has also conducted classes at Headland Park, Georges Heights,

Mosman Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

Family

Ashton married twice: to Eliza Ann Pugh (died 15 July 1900) in Hackney, London on 1 August 1876, by whom he had four sons and a daughter. * (J)ulian Howard Ashton (9 August 1877 – 30 April 1964), journalist, artist, and writer and critic. * Rupert Rossi Ashton (c. 1885 – 4 March 1895). * Percy G. Ashton established a plantation in the

New Hebrides New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium () and named after the Hebrides in Scotland, was the colonial name for the island group in the South Pacific Ocean that is now Vanuatu. Native people had inhabited the islands for three th ...

, before becoming a soldier in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. His first wife died in May 1918. He later married jewellery designer Rhoda Wager in March 1920. * Bertha Ashton married W(illiam) Charlton Hubble (1880 – 17 February 1949) in July 1923. He was the (divorced) ex-husband of

Georgina Temperley Georgina Temperley, BA MB BS, née Bourke (1880 – 19 August 1936) was an Australian medical doctor, remembered as the founder of One Woman, One Recruit, a patriotic organisation in Victoria during the Great War of 1914–1918. History Temperley ...

. Their son Tom Hubble went on to become a farmer and artist of no distinction. He married again, on 8 September 1902 to (Constance) Irene Morley (died 11 April 1946). On Monday, 27 April 1942 Ashton died at Bondi, Sydney, aged 91, after a long illness. Until his death he had still been an art teacher to others. The service for the 'Grand Old Man of Australian art' was held at the Northern Suburbs Crematorium on 29 April 1942. Ashton also had a brother, George Rossi Ashton (born 1857), a black-and-white artist who lived in Australia between the years 1878 and 1893 before returning to London. He married Blanche Brooke Coppin, a daughter of

George Coppin George Selth Coppin (8 April 1819 – 14 March 1906) was a comic actor, a theatrical entrepreneur, a politician and a philanthropist, active in Australia.Sally O'Neill,Coppin, George Selth (1819–1906), ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', ...

, in Melbourne on 23 October 1883.

Recognition

He was appointed a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in 1930.

Selected paintings

File:Julian Ashton Aboriginal Family Group.jpg, ''Aboriginal Family Group'', 1886, Art Gallery of New South Wales File:Julian Ashton - The Corner of the Paddock, 1888.jpg, ''The Corner of the Paddock'', 1888, National Gallery of Victoria File:Julian Ashton - Circular Quay, Sydney, 1888.jpg, ''Circular Quay, Sydney'', 1888, private collection File:Julian Ashton a solitary ramble 1888.jpg, ''A Solitary Ramble'', 1888, Art Gallery of New South Wales File:Julian Ashton - The prospector - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Prospector'', 1889, Art Gallery of New South Wales File:Julian Ashton - Reflections, 1892.jpg, ''Reflections'', 1892, private collection File:The Old Cemetery, Devonshire Street, 1894, oil painting by Julian Rossi Ashton.jpg, ''The Old Cemetery, Devonshire Street'', 1894,

State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establis ...

File:Julian Ashton - Tamarama Beach, forty years ago, a summer morning - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Tamarama Beach, forty years ago, a summer morning'', 1899, Art Gallery of New South Wales File:Julian Ashton Golden Willows.jpg, ''Golden Willows'', 1907, New England Regional Art Museum

References

Bibliography

* Gray, Anne. ''George W Lambert Retrospective – Heroes and Icons''. Canberra: National Gallery of Australia, 2007. . * *

External links

*
Website for Julian Ashton Art School

Julian Ashton at Australian Art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashton, Julian Australian art educators Australian schoolteachers 1851 births 1942 deaths Artists from New South Wales People from Addlestone People educated at Totnes Grammar School British emigrants to the Colony of New South Wales Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 19th-century Australian painters 19th-century Australian male artists 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian male artists Australian writers Australian etchers 19th-century etchers Australian landscape painters English people of American descent English people of Italian descent Australian male painters 19th-century Australian educators