James Stuart MacDonald (28 March 187812 November 1952) was an Australian artist, art critic and Director of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales from 1929 to 1937.

Early life

MacDonald was born on 28 March 1878 in Carlton, Melbourne, the son of

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

Hector MacDonald and his American wife Anna Louisa, née Flett. He attended Kew High School and Hawthorn Grammar School, but proved unsuccessful in his studies. As a child, MacDonald met many painters through family connections and, in the mid-1890s, studied at the

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 ...

's school.Geoffrey Serle, 'MacDonald, James Stuart (Jimmy) (1878 – 1952)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, Melbourne University Press, 1986, pp 251-252. MacDonald left Australia for

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1898 to attend the

Westminster School of Art The Westminster School of Art was an art school in Westminster, London. History The Westminster School of Art was located at 18 Tufton Street, Deans Yard, Westminster, and was part of the old Royal Architectural Museum. H. M. Bateman descri ...

. He then spent five years in Paris where he attended 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 ...

and the

Académie Colarossi The Académie Colarossi (1870–1930) was an art school in Paris founded in 1870 by the Italian model and sculptor Filippo Colarossi. It was originally located on the Île de la Cité, and it moved in 1879 to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the ...

. He exhibited his works in Paris 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 the Old Salon. He returned to Melbourne and married American arts student, Maud Keller, on 4 August 1904. They moved to New York where he taught art at a high school until 1910. Back in Australia he painted some portraits and landscapes, and turned to drawing in charcoal and to lithographic portraits. On 9 September 1914, with the outbreak of the First World War, MacDonald enlisted in the 5th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force. With the rank of private, he served at Gallipoli where, on 26 April 1915, he was wounded in the abdomen and was classified unfit for active service. He served as a pay sergeant in England in 1916 and 1917. In 1918, he worked as a camouflage artist with the 5th Division in France and was medically discharged from the army in April 1919. Returning to Australia, MacDonald took up art study, publishing works on

Frederick McCubbin Frederick McCubbin (25 February 1855 – 20 December 1917) was an Australian artist, art teacher and prominent member of the Heidelberg School art movement, also known as Australian impressionism. Born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria, McCubb ...

, Penleigh Boyd, David Davies and George Lambert. Having given up painting, from 1923 he was art critic for The Melbourne Herald.

Gallery director

In October 1928, MacDonald was appointed as the director of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales. It was in that position that he gained a reputation for artistic conservatism and thus was in harmony with the gallery trustees. MacDonald held more exhibitions of Australian work than was customary and added workshops and storerooms to the gallery. In 1936, he applied successfully to become director of the National Gallery of Victoria. His relationship with the trustees became strained, particularly the chairman, Sir

Keith Murdoch Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch (12 August 1885 – 4 October 1952) was an Australian journalist and media proprietor who was the founder of the Murdoch media empire. He amassed significant media holdings in Australia which after his death were expan ...

, who resented his ferocious attacks on contemporary art. In 1939, The Herald organised an exhibition of French and English painting, which MacDonald described as "exceedingly wretched paintings ... putrid meat ... the product of degenerates and perverts ... filth". In 1940, the trustees recommended against his reappointment and he was effectively dismissed in 1941. In 1943, he was first witness on behalf of those who brought an action against the award of 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 ...

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 ...

for his portrait of Joshua Smith. From 1943 to 1947, he was the art critic for

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

, and was appointed to the Commonwealth Art Advisory Board, becoming chairman from 1949 to 1952. Macdonald lived in Montrose and later joined the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent centre-right political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberal Party was fo ...

. MacDonald died in Melbourne on 12 November 1952 and was cremated. In 1958, a collection of his writings, ''Australian Painting Desiderata'', was published, with a foreword by

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 ...

. His portrait, by

Hugh Ramsay Hugh Ramsay (25 May 1877 – 5 March 1906) was an Australian artist. Early life and education Ramsay was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on 25 May 1877, the son of John Ramsay. He moved with his family to Melbourne in 1878. He was educated at Ess ...

, is held by the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

References

External links

MacDonald letters, 14 June – 24 August 1918 / James Stuart MacDonald
held at State Library of New South Wales, accessed 23 November 2013. {{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, James Stuart 1878 births 1952 deaths Australian curators Artists from Melbourne 20th-century Australian painters Australian war artists 20th-century Australian male artists Académie Colarossi alumni Directors and Presidents of the Art Gallery of New South Wales Australian male painters People from Carlton, Victoria Académie Julian alumni Australian expatriates in France Australian expatriates in the United States Australian military personnel of World War I Military personnel from Melbourne Australian art critics