Mervyn Napier Waller CMG

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(19 June 189330 March 1972) was an Australian

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

ist,

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

ist and painter in

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

and other media. He is perhaps best known for the mosaics and stained glass for the Hall of Memory at 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 ...

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, completed in 1958. However,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

has been described as "a gallery of Napier Waller’s work", as eleven monumental murals by Waller are on display in the central business district and at 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 ...

’s main campus. Nicholas Draffin, author of a monograph on Waller, in the ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', writes that his work "was strongly influenced by

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, ...

and late-nineteenth century British painters; his monumental works show an increasingly classical and calmly formal style, using timeless and heroic figure compositions to express ideas and ideals, sometimes with

theosophical Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neo ...

gnostic Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: , romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among early Christian sects. These diverse g ...

overtones".

Early life

Napier Waller was born in

Penshurst, Victoria Penshurst is a town in Victoria, Australia. It is in the Shire of Southern Grampians local government area and is located at the foot of Mount Rouse, an extinct volcano. At the , Penshurst had a population of 461. Basic facilities include a hospi ...

in 1893. His parents were Australians Sarah (née Napier) and William Waller, a contractor. He left the local school aged 14 to work on his father's farm, then in 1913 began studies at the

National Gallery school The National Gallery of Victoria Art School, associated with the National Gallery of Victoria, was a private fine arts college founded in 1867 and was Australia's leading art school of 50 years. It is also referred to as the 'National Gallery S ...

in Melbourne in drawing, under

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 ...

, graduating to Bernard Hall's painting classes, winning ten prizes and exhibiting in 1915.

War years

Waller enlisted in August 1915 in the 22nd Infantry Battalion, later being transferred to the Artillery. and in October married Christian Yandell, from Castlemaine, a fellow student who had graduated before him in 1914. He went into action in France as a bombardier in the 111th Howitzer battery of the 4th Division, Australian Imperial Force serving there from 1916 then in May 1917 at

Bullecourt Bullecourt () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department department in the Hauts-de-France region region of northern France. Geography Bullecourt is situated on the Upper Cretaceous plain of Artois between Arras and Bapaume, east of the A1 ...

where he sustained wounds from an exploding artillery necessitating the amputation of his right arm. Born right-handed, he learned to use his left hand while recuperating, during which time Christian nursed him and supported them through her commercial

illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

, and they spent time in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

recovering from influenza acquired during the

Spanish Flu epidemic The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest document ...

Career

On return to Melbourne in 1918 Waller illustrated Leo C. Galli's ''Scattered War Leaves'' and poet Rupert Atkinson's ''A Nocturne'' in August 1919'','' and in September 1919 exhibited with the Victorian Artists Society in East Melbourne as one of the five soldier artists included, with H. J. Sennett, David Barker,

William McInnes Darryl William McInnes (born 10 September 1963) is an Australian film and television actor and writer. He is best known for his roles as Senior Constable Nick Schultz in ''Blue Heelers'', as Max Connors in '' SeaChange'', and more recently as ...

and David Walker. In 1923 he exhibited a series of

linocut Linocut, also known as lino print, lino printing or linoleum art, is a printmaking technique, a variant of relief printing in which a sheet of linoleum (sometimes mounted on a wooden block) is used for a relief printing, relief surface. A design i ...

s, being the first to make and exhibit linocuts in Australia.

Muralist

Waller's first mural design failed to win a competition in 1921. His first major mural was for the Menzies Hotel in Melbourne, in 1927. In 1927 he completed murals at the

Melbourne Town Hall Melbourne Town Hall, often referred to as simply Town Hall, is the administrative seat of the local municipality of the City of Melbourne and the primary offices of the Lord Mayor and city councillors of Melbourne. Located on the northeast co ...

commissioned for £1,700 (a 2021 value of A$138,340.00) and which are classified by the National Trust as historically significant at the State level. They were painted directly, as line drawings, onto the newly installed

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

Celotex Celotex Corporation is a defunct American manufacturer of insulation and construction materials. It was the subject of a number of high-profile lawsuits over products containing asbestos in the 1980s, eventually declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy in ...

acoustic tiles in a redecoration of the Auditorium after a fire in 1925. Given a free hand in devising the artworks he explained that the figures were not intended to be allegorical, but to create rhythm, and that line-work was used because a skin of paint would interfere with the panels' sound-absorbing quality. The actual painting on the series of 7 metre high by 4m wide wall sections from Waller's half-scale

cartoons A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

produced in his

Darebin The City of Darebin () is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of and in June 2018 Darebin had a population of 161,609. Municipal offices are located at 350 High Street, Preston. ...

studio was undertaken by H. Oliver and Sons under the artist's supervision. The

State Library of Victoria State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in th ...

accepted his mural ''Peace After Victory'' in 1928.

Mosaics and stained glass

Waller studied mosaics in

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

and

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

in 1929. On his return, he worked almost exclusively in mosaic and stained glass. His major pieces during the 1930s were a monumental mosaic for the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

, and mosaics and murals for Newspaper House (1933), the first street mosaic in Australia, and the dining hall in the Myer Emporium (1935). He took no major commissions during

World War II 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 ...

, but worked mainly as an illustrator then, post-war, designed and completed the mosaics and stained glass for the Hall of Memory at the

, completed in 1958.

Teaching

He became senior art teacher in the Applied Art School of the

Working Men's College The Working Men's College (also known as the St Pancras Working Men's College, WMC, The Camden College or WM College), is among the earliest adult education institutions established in the United Kingdom, and Europe's oldest extant centre for adu ...

, Melbourne (now the

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...

). His students there included Loudon Sainthill. When in 1927 ''

Home Beautiful Pacific Magazines was a magazine publisher operating in Australia owned by Seven West Media. In March 2020, it was acquired by Bauer Media Australia in April 2020. In June 2020, Mercury Capital acquired Pacific Magazines as part of its purchas ...

'' magazine discussed mural decoration with him and its application in Australian buildings, including private dwellings, he responded;

Mural decoration should be an architectural embellishment. It should be a complement to and in unity with the order and mood of the building. Decoration is the first essential—the quality that we expect as the initial reason for any painting. And wall decoration is as old as architecture itself; for we can easily imagine the prehistoric man playing with colored earths on the walls of his cave. There should be considerable scope in Australia for mural decoration, particularly at the present time, when we are just beginning to develop our own styles in architecture. Architects and artists must, of course, work together in such undertakings, the artist being controlled by the shape of his painting space and its surrounding architectural lines, as well as by the character of the building, its intention, its lighting, and the materials of which it is constructed. Let us remember the perfect cohesion between the painters and architects in Egypt and Assyria. How splendidly the heroic and monumental Phidias endures with the noble Parthenon’s severe beauty; then later, the change of mood producing the graceful Praxiteles and the Erechtheum.

On 6 May 1930 Waller addressed the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects on ''Stained Glass and Its History''

Good stained glass may be summed up as a thought in colour, for to the stained-glass man, white is but another coloured light to set in the darkness. Then on the cartoon, what is needed is the planning of colour, of one colour quantity against others, of countering or repeating until the whole is ordered into a delightfully, well-balanced colour-pattern of pleasing shape; the whole should be a reposeful unity yet containing intensity and crackle. It is well that the artist should have a good knowledge of iconography and traditional symbolism. It affords him an equipment that he may mould into new decorative and architectural shapes without losing their connected meaning.

Reception

In 1925,

Julian Ashton Julian Rossi Ashton (27 January 185127 April 1942) was an English-born Australian artist and teacher. He is best known for founding the Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney and encouraging Australian painters to capture local life and scenery ' ...

writing on Waller in ''Art in Australia'' considered him the 'very antithesis' of

Norman Lindsay Norman Alfred William Lindsay (22 February 1879 – 21 November 1969) was an Australian artist, etcher, sculptor, writer, art critic, novelist, cartoonist and amateur boxing, boxer. One of the most prolific and popular Australian artists of hi ...

, who was then enjoying notoriety for his erotic imagery, and rated Waller's works by comparison as "dignified; they have a certain grandeur about them; the figures suggest a statuesque nobility of character; his coloration is rich but low-toned...It pleased me to imagine this young Australian sitting with his Homer on his knee, while he dreamed of that more spacious period when no hunter might roam the woods without Arcadian adventure."

Personal life

The Wallers' Ivanhoe half-timbered English

Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

style house was constructed in the Ivanhoe precinct known as Fairy Hills by builder Phillip Millsom in 1922, through a War Services loan, to the artists' design and specifications, lit by windows high up on a mezzanine 'minstrel gallery' above a large hall in which they entertained their friends including Percy Meldrum, architect of Newspaper House decorated with Waller's mosaic ''I'll put a girdle round about the earth,'' designed fixed furniture in a Moderne style constructed by H. Goldman Manufacturing Co. Meldrum and installed in the 1931, 1934 and 1937 alterations to the Wallers' house and studios. In 1925 Christian's niece

Klytie Pate Klytie Pate (20 October 1912 – 10 June 2010) was an Australian studio potter who emerged as an innovator in the use of unusual glazes and the extensive incising, piercing and ornamentation of earthenware pottery. She was one of a small group ...

came to live with them, assisted in the studio and became a significant artist and ceramicist. In the 1930s Waller began an

affair An affair is a relationship typically between two people, one or both of whom are either married or in a long-term Monogamy, monogamous or emotionally-exclusive relationship with someone else. The affair can be solely sexual, solely physical or ...

with Lorna Reyburn a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

-born artist and his assistant which was discovered by his wife Christian in 1936 or 1937. Christian consequently left him in 1939, first going to America then returning to live at Ivanhoe though apart from Napier, and sometimes in her Spring Street apartment, tolerating Napier's ongoing relationship with Reyburn, before she died aged 59 of

hypertensive heart disease Hypertensive heart disease includes a number of complications of high blood pressure that affect the heart. While there are several definitions of hypertensive heart disease in the medical literature, the term is most widely used in the context of ...

in May 1955. In 1958 Waller subsequently married Reyburn. Those who knew Waller described him as a modest, self-effacing man of considerable erudition which could be attributed to his love of literature begun as a child, especially of

Thomas Malory Sir Thomas Malory was an English writer, the author of ''Le Morte d'Arthur'', the classic English-language chronicle of the Arthurian legend, compiled and in most cases translated from French sources. The most popular version of ''Le Morte d'A ...

and

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

; during WW1 he read

James Macpherson James Macpherson ( Gaelic: ''Seumas MacMhuirich'' or ''Seumas Mac a' Phearsain''; 27 October 1736 – 17 February 1796) was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector, and politician. He is known for the Ossian cycle of epic poems, which he ...

and in the 1920s he read

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

and

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

Legacy

Waller died in 1972, in Melbourne and his widow Lorna arranged for the preservation of the Waller House through her will, which specified that her trustees establish it as a centre for the study of monumental art in Australia and prevent the sale or disposal of any artworks and artefacts kept there. The grounds, building and the collection housed in it have been classified by the National Trust as a World Heritage site;

...significant as the creation and home of nationally renowned artists hotogether ..designed the house and much of its interior decoration and furnishings. Waller also lived there for fifty years. The house and contents are intact. Waller's studios, examples of his art and items connected with his work remain as he left them (Criterion H.1). Architecturally the house design is innovative in its internal use of space, specifically in the organisation of the studio/living room and displays a high degree of artistic creativity in the interior decoration (Criterion F.1).

The house is under the custodianship of the

National Trust of Australia The National Trust of Australia, officially the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT), is the Australian national peak body for community-based, non-government non-profit organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's Ind ...

. A bronze plaque beside Waller Road (Mount Rouse Tourist Road), Mount Rouse overlooking Penshurst was placed, in commemoration of Waller, by Shire President,

Shire of Mount Rouse The Shire of Mount Rouse was a Local government in Australia, local government area about west of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1860 until 1994. Histo ...

T. D. Hutton in August, 1991.

Honours

Napier Waller was appointed an Officer (OBE) of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1953 and a Companion (CMG) of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

in 1959.

Major works

* 1926: linocut ''The Man in Black'' (a self-portrait, showing him with both arms intact) * 1927: mural for the Menzies Hotel,

(the building was demolished in 1969, and the mural was sold privately) * 1927: murals at the

* 1928: mural ''Peace After Victory'',

(1928) * 1928: stained glass window, south window, Wilson Hall, Melbourne University destroyed in the Wilson Hall fire of 1952) * 1928: mural ''Better Than to Squander Life’s Gifts is to Conserve Them and Ensure a Fearless Future'', T&G Life Building, Collins and Russell Sts, Melbourne * 1931: mosaic ''The Five Lamps of Knowledge'', Great Gate, Winthrop Hall,

* 1933: mosaic ''I’ll Put a Girdle Around the Earth'', Newspaper House, Collins St, Melbourne * 1934: murals at the Florentino Restaurant, Bourke St, Melbourne (now Grossi Restaurant); executed by four of his students under his supervision. * 1935: stained glass window, Wesley Church, Lonsdale St, Melbourne * 1935: stained glass window, Wilson Hall, University of Melbourne (hall gutted by fire 1952, then demolished, but the window survived, and is now the Leckie Window in foyer of the

Ian Potter Museum of Art The Potter Museum of Art at the University of Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia was established in 1972. The Potter, as it is known locally, presents a curated exhibition program of historical and contemporary art. Through its activities the Pot ...

) * 1933: mural ''Women through the ages'' for the dining hall in the Myer Emporium, Bourke St, Melbourne * 1937: stained glass window, Orchid Window, Botany School, University of Melbourne * 1955: stained glass window, St Mark's Anglican Church, Camberwell * 1940: mural ''Australian Symbolic Figures'', Royal Insurance Co, Collins St, Melbourne (the building was demolished in 1969 and the mural was donated to the Architecture School at the University of Melbourne, where it is on display in the architecture library) * 1958: mosaics and stained glass for the Hall of Memory at the

* 1960: three stained glass windows for

The Armidale School The Armidale School (abbreviated as TAS) is an independent Anglican co-educational early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school, located in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. Administration of the schools is formalised as a ...

War Memorial Assembly Hall, Armidale NSW * 1962: mural "Pioneer Chapel Memorial", St Andrew's Church, Brighton, Melbourne * 1963: mural ''The Eight Aboriginal Tribal Headmen'' (Temple Court foyer, Collins St, Melbourne, feared lost when an arcade put through in c1990, however, during renovations of a front shop in 2003 it was rediscovered, and reported to be displayed once more, but a new wall built in front instead) * 1967: mosaic ''Prometheus'' (Monash House foyer, William St, Melbourne, recently restored) * portrait in oils of his friend and near-neighbour

Norman Macgeorge Norman Macgeorge (8 July 1872 – 2 September 1952) was an artist and art critic in the colony and State of Victoria. History Norman Macgeorge, artist and collector, was a son of Rachel Elizabeth Macgeorge, née Luxmoore and Alexander Macgeorge, ...

held by University of Melbourne

In popular culture

External shots of his former house and studio in Crown Road,

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...

are used as a backdrop to represent Dr Blake's house in the television series ''

The Doctor Blake Mysteries ''The Doctor Blake Mysteries'' (also ''The Blake Mysteries'') is an Australian television series that premiered on ABC TV on 1 February 2013 at 8:30 pm. The series stars Craig McLachlan in the lead role of Dr. Lucien Blake, who returns home to ...

''.Flickr
Retrieved 28 May 2016

References

Bibliography

* Draffin, Nicholas, “The Art of M. Napier Waller”

External links

* [https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20100517003100/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/44356/20100517-1031/www.slv.vic.gov.au/about/news/focus_on/conservation.html Conservation in Action: Preserving and Cleaning the Queen's Hall Murals]
Napier Waller’s Leckie Window

Video of Waller at the Australian War Memorial: construction of Hall of Memory Mosaic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waller, Napier Australian muralists Artists from Victoria (state) 1893 births 1972 deaths Australian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century Australian painters Australian military personnel of World War I People from Ivanhoe, Victoria Australian stained glass artists and manufacturers Australian amputees Military personnel from Victoria (state) National Gallery of Victoria Art School alumni