:'' Not to be confused with the 19th-century illustrator Arthur Murch (illustrator)''. Arthur James Murch (8 July 1902, Croydon (Sydney) – 3 September 1989, Avalon (Sydney)) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal ...

artist who won the

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, the editor ...

in 1949 with a portrait of

Bonar Dunlop John Bonar Dunlop ARBS (1916–1992) was a New Zealand artist, sculptor, and illustrator who excelled at figurative work. He later became known for his sculptures of New Zealand and Welsh rugby players. Born in Dunedin, the son of Francis ...

. Dunlop was a New Zealand artist sculptor and illustrator.

Biography

Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo Antonio Salvatore Dattilo Rubbo (Napoli 21 June 1870 – Sydney 1 June 1955) was an Italian-born artist and art teacher active in Australia from 1897. Rubbo, or Dattilo-Rubbo, was born in Naples in 1870, and spent his early childhood in the ...

introduced him to the French

Post-Impressionists Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction a ...

, Cézanne and

Seurat Georges Pierre Seurat ( , , ; 2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891) was a French post-Impressionist artist. He devised the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism and used conté crayon for drawings on paper with a rough surf ...

. His style later became more

Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

. In 1924, he studied with

Rayner Hoff George Rayner Hoff (27 November 1894 – 19 November 1937) was a British-born sculptor who mainly worked in Australia. He fought in World War I and is chiefly known for his war memorial work, particularly the sculptures on the ANZAC War Memori ...

at East Sydney Technical College. Murch spent time training in London at the

Chelsea Polytechnic Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London based in London, United Kingdom, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation. It offers further and higher educati ...

and at

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

, Paris and visiting Italy after winning the 1925 Society of Artists' Scholarship. From 1927 to 1930 he worked with artist George Lambert, assisting him with sculptural commissions. In 1933, he formed part of an Australian expedition into central Australia to Hermannsberg. He later shared his experiences in

The Home ''The Home'' was a high quality Australian quarterly magazine published in Sydney, New South Wales between 1920 and 1942. It became bimonthly from July/August 1924. Then from 1926 onwards it was published monthly until it ceased publicatio ...

magazine. In 1936, he exhibited works at the

Macquarie Galleries Macquarie Galleries was a Sydney private art gallery established in 1925 by John Henry Young and Basil Burdett. It was located at "Strathkyle", 19 Bligh Street Sydney then moved to 40 King Street in 1945. From 1991 to 1993 it was located at 8 ...

, created after his second "Centralian" expedition, showing landscapes and portraits of the Pentupui indigenous community. In 1937 Murch became a foundation member of, and exhibited with,

Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

' anti-modernist organisation, the Australian Academy of Art. He was appointed as an official war artist for six months during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

covering the American and Australia military activities in Australia — 47 works of his are in the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving p ...

's collection.Arthur James Murch biography
Australian War Memorial Murch wrote occasionally on art subjects for

magazine.

References

External links

*http://www.arthurmurch.com
Works by the artist in the collection of the Art Gallery of NSWWorks by the artist in the collection of the National Gallery of AustraliaPhoto portrait of artist in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery
* Archibald Prize winners 1902 births 1989 deaths Australian portrait painters World War II artists Australian war artists 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian male artists Australian male painters {{Australia-painter-stub