Duncan Alexander Macarthur Goldfinch (20 September 1888 – 1960) was a South Australian painter, noted for his watercolors of Central Australia.

History

Duncan was born in the Sydney suburb of St Marys the eldest son of Elizabeth M. Goldfinch, née King (1867–1933) and her husband Henry Edward Goldfinch (ca.1854 – 7 June 1939), a retired

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

officer. Elizabeth was born at

Elizabeth Farm Elizabeth Farm is an historic estate located at 70 Alice Street, Rosehill, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Elizabeth Farm was the family home of wool pioneer, John and his wife Elizabeth Macarthur. The estate was commenced in 17 ...

a granddaughter of both Governor King and Hannibal H. Macarthur. He joined Dalgety & Co at age 16 as a junior clerk, and became a salesman for their

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

division. He married in 1911; they lived at Rose Bay and first moved to Adelaide in 1933, but for some years alternated between Rose Bay and Medindie or (later)

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colon ...

. He was a keen amateur painter in watercolors. He joined the Royal South Australian Society of Arts and had his first showing, of four watercolors, at a Society exhibition in 1941, and his first one-man show in 1948. He made a painting expedition to

Hermannsburg Hermannsburg is a village and a former municipality in the Celle district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the municipality Südheide. It has been a state-recognised resort town since 1971. It is situated on the river ...

with John Goodchild in 1950, and followed this with an expedition to

Uluru Uluru (; pjt, Uluṟu ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone formation in the centre of Australia. It is in the southern part of the Northern Territory, southwest of Alice Springs ...

(then named Ayers Rock) in 1951; he was the first European artist to paint "The Rock" and the

Kata Tjuta Kata Tjuṯa / The Olgas ( Pitjantjatjara: , lit. 'many heads'; ) is a group of large, domed rock formations or bornhardts located about southwest of Alice Springs, in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia. Uluṟu / ...

(then named Mount Olga). He was accompanied by Con Doecke of Strathalbyn, Dick Woods of Mount Crawford, Noel Bantick of Adelaide, Keith Heggarty of Melbourne, and Dr. Ian Darian Smith. The fruits of his expedition when made public the following year, were well received. He succeeded George Whinnen as president of the Royal South Australian Society of Arts 1950–1953. His ''Spirit of Sydney'' was a finalist for the

Wynne Prize The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. As one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne. Now held concurrently with the Sir John Sulman Prize ...

in 1957.

Other activities

He was a keen golfer, with the unusual technique (for a right-hander) of putting left-handed.

Family

Duncan married Mary Medora Cowper on 7 March 1911; they had one son, Malcolm (born 6 June 1916)

Bibliography

*Schrapel, Stephanie ''Duncan Goldfinch'' Royal South Australian Society of Arts 1993

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldfinch, Duncan 1888 births 1960 deaths 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian male artists Australian male painters