Frederick Christian Britton (21 May 1889 – 14 December 1931) was an artist and arts educator in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

History

Britton was born in

Peckham Peckham ( ) is a district in south-east London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vi ...

, London and studied painting at the

Brook Green Brook Green is an affluent sub-neighbourhood of Hammersmith in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Located approximately west of Charing Cross, it is bordered by Kensington, Holland Park, Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith and Brackenbury ...

School of Art, then the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

, London under Professor

Henry Tonks Henry Tonks, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, FRCS (9 April 1862 – 8 January 1937) was a British surgeon and later draughtsman and painter of figure subjects, chiefly interiors, and a Caricature, caricaturist. He became an influentia ...

and the Hammersmith School of Arts and Crafts. In 1908 he served as official artist for

Flinders Petrie Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie ( – ), commonly known as simply Sir Flinders Petrie, was an English people, English Egyptology, Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and the preservation of artefacts. ...

's archaeological expedition to Egypt and moved to

Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

in 1910 or 1911, and joined the staff of the South Australian School of Art under J. Christie Wright, then in 1916 served as his replacement when he went off to war. He enlisted in April 1918 and served as an official War Artist, in the same unit as Web Gilbert and Louis McCubbin. He returned to Adelaide and for a time worked for publishers Tyrrell's Ltd., then in August 1921 was appointed by Edith Napier Birks as founding painting master of the School of Fine Arts, North Adelaide. He was a member of the

South Australian Society of Arts The South Australian Society of Arts was a society for artists in South Australia, later with a royal warrant renamed The Royal South Australian Society of Arts in 1935. History A meeting of persons interested in the formation of a society for th ...

, but quite critical of a section of its membership. In 1927 he moved to

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 ...

, replaced by F. Millward Grey, to join the advertising studio of Smith and Julius, then was appointed to the

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 ...

Works

Britton is represented in the following collections: *

Carrick Hill Carrick Hill is a publicly accessible historic property at the foot of the Adelaide Hills, in the suburb of Springfield, South Australia, Springfield, in South Australia. It was the Adelaide home of Edward Hayward, Sir Edward "Bill" Hayward an ...

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

''On the Murray'' (etching
view here
*

Powerhouse Museum The Powerhouse Museum, formerly known as the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS), is a collection of 4 museums in Sydney, owned by the Government of New South Wales. Powerhouse is a contemporary museum of applied arts and sciences, explori ...

''Demolition of the Old Sydney Mint'' (1927 Etching) *Historic Houses Trust ''Hyde Park Barracks & District Court'
view here
*

Art Gallery of South Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...

:*''Railway Station, Adelaide'' (1924 pencil drawing
view here
:*''"Granny" Euniapon'' of

Point McLeay Raukkan is an Australian Aboriginal community situated on the south-eastern shore of Lake Alexandrina in the locality of Narrung, southeast of the centre of South Australia's capital, Adelaide. Raukkan is "regarded as the home and heartland o ...

(1916 crayon sketch). Elsewhere spelled "Unaipon". :*''Pininbingerie'', companion piece to the above.

Family

He married Annie "Nance" Russell in 1912; they had one daughter Zara.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Britton, Frederick Christian Australian art educators 20th-century Australian lithographers Australian etchers Australian war artists Australian advertising artists and illustrators Australian designers 1889 births 1931 deaths 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian male artists Australian male painters British emigrants to Australia