:'' 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 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, J. F. Archib ...

in 1949 with a portrait of Bonar Dunlop. 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 N ...

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 aga ...

, 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 ...

. His style later became more

Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

. 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 ...

East Sydney Technical College The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts p ...

. Murch spent time training in London at the Chelsea Polytechnic and at

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 ...

, 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 magazine published in Sydney, New South Wales, between 1920 and 1942. Starting as a quarterly publication, the magazine became bimonthly from July/August 1924 until 1926. It was then published month ...

magazine. In 1936, he exhibited works at the

Macquarie Galleries Macquarie Galleries was a Sydney art museum, 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 lo ...

, 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'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

' anti-modernist organisation, the

Australian Academy of Art The Australian Academy of Art was a conservative Australian government-authorised art organisation which operated for ten years between 1937 and 1946 and staged annual exhibitions. Its demise resulted from opposition by Modernist artists, especial ...

. Ironically, Much's painting style displays strong

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

leanings. He was appointed as an official war artist for six months during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial (AWM) is a national war memorial, war museum, museum and archive dedicated to all Australians who died as a result of war, including peacekeeping duties. The AWM is located in Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, C ...

'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 male artists Australian male painters 20th-century Australian painters Australian modern painters {{Australia-painter-stub