Heidelberg School - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Heidelberg School was an Australian art movement

Art movement

An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a restricted period of time, or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defined within a number of years...

of the late 19th century. The movement has latterly been described as Australian Impressionism.

The term was coined in July 1891 by local art critic Sidney Dickenson, reviewing the works of Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

-based artists Arthur Streeton

Arthur Streeton

Sir Arthur Ernest Streeton was an Australian landscape painter.-Early life:Streeton was born in Mount Duneed, near Geelong, and his family moved to Richmond in 1874. In 1882, Streeton commenced art studies with G. F. Folingsby at the National Gallery School.Streeton was influenced by French...

and Walter Withers

Walter Withers

Walter Herbert Withers was an Australian landscape artist and a member of the Heidelberg School of Australian impressionists.- Biography :...

. Dickenson noted that these artists, whose works were mostly painted in the Heidelberg

Heidelberg, Victoria

Heidelberg is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Banyule....

area, could be considered as "The Heidelberg School". Since that time, The Heidelberg School has taken on a wider meaning and covers Australian artists of the late nineteenth century who painted plein-air in the impressionist tradition. These artists were inspired by the beautiful landscapes of the Yarra

Yarra River

The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...

and the unique light that typifies the Australian bush.

The works of these artists are notable, not only for their merits as compositions, but as part of Australia's historical record. The period immediately before Federation

Federation of Australia

The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...

is the setting for many classic Australian stories of the "bush", both fact and fiction. The School's work provides a visual complement to these tales and their images have embedded themselves into Australia's historical subconscious. Many of the artworks can be seen in Australian galleries, notably the National Gallery of Victoria

National Gallery of Victoria

The National Gallery of Victoria is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest and the largest public art gallery in Australia. Since December 2003, NGV has operated across two sites...

, the National Gallery of Australia

National Gallery of Australia

The National Gallery of Australia is the national art gallery of Australia, holding more than 120,000 works of art. It was established in 1967 by the Australian government as a national public art gallery.- Establishment :...

and the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery

Ballarat Fine Art Gallery

Art Gallery of Ballarat is the oldest and largest regional art gallery in Australia. Established in 1884 as the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery by the citizens of Ballarat both the building and part of its collection is listed on the Victorian Heritage Registerand by the National Trust of Victoria.The...

History

The name refers to the then rural area of Heidelberg

Heidelberg, Victoria

Heidelberg is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Banyule....

east of Melbourne

Melbourne

where practitioners of the style found their subject matter, though usage expanded to cover other Australian artists working in similar areas. The core group painted there on several occasions at "artist's camps" in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Besides Arthur Streeton

Arthur Streeton

and Walter Withers

Walter Withers

Walter Herbert Withers was an Australian landscape artist and a member of the Heidelberg School of Australian impressionists.- Biography :...

, other major artists in the movement included Tom Roberts

Tom Roberts

Thomas William Roberts , usually known simply as Tom, was a prominent Australian artist and a key member of the Heidelberg School.-Life:...

, Frederick McCubbin

Frederick McCubbin

Frederick McCubbin was an Australian painter who was prominent in the Heidelberg School, one of the more important periods in Australia's visual arts history....

and Charles Conder

Charles Conder

Charles Edward Conder was an English-born painter, lithographer and designer. He emigrated to Australia and was a key figure in the Heidelberg School, arguably the beginning of a distinctively Australian tradition in Western art.-Early life:Conder was born in Tottenham, Middlesex, the second son,...

. See below for a list of other associated artists.

9 by 5 Impression Exhibition

In August 1889, several artists of the Heidelberg School staged the 9 by 5 Impression Exhibition

9 by 5 Impression Exhibition

The 9 by 5 Impression Exhibition was an art exhibition in Melbourne, Australia. The exhibition was opened on 17 August 1889 in Buxton's Rooms on Swanston Street and featured 183 works; the majority of which were painted by the Australian impressionists Tom Roberts, Charles Conder and Arthur Streeton...

at Buxton's Rooms, Swanston Street, opposite the Melbourne Town Hall

Melbourne Town Hall

Melbourne Town Hall is the central municipal building of the City of Melbourne, Australia, in the State of Victoria. It is located on the northeast corner of Swanston and Collins Streets, in the central business district. It is the seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Melbourne...

. The exhibition's three principal artists were Charles Conder, Tom Roberts and Arthur Streeton, with minor contributions from Frederick McCubbin, R.E. Falls, Herbert Daly, and sculptor Charles Douglas Richardson

Charles Douglas Richardson

Charles Douglas Richardson was one of the most gifted sculptors working in Australia at c. 1900. His contemporary Bertram Mackennal was a highly enterprising sculptor, who had a more business-like approach to promoting his work...

, who exhibited five sculpted impressions. Many of the 183 works included were painted on 9 by 5 inch (23 × 13 cm) cigar-box panels, scrounged from local tobacconists. The flat frames were supplied by a timber merchant and decorated by the artists, giving the works an "unconventional, avant garde look". Response from critics and the public was mixed. The most scathing review came from The Argus

The Argus (Australia)

The Argus was a morning daily newspaper in Melbourne established in 1846 and closed in 1957. Widely known as a conservative newspaper for most of its history, it adopted a left leaning approach from 1949...

James Smith

James Smith (journalist)

James Smith was an English-born Australian journalist and encyclopedist.-Early life:Smith was born at Loose near Maidstone, Kent, England, son of James Smith, supervisor of inland revenue, and his wife Mary...

, who said the 9 by 5s were "destitute of all sense of the beautiful" and "whatever influence it was likely to exercise could scarcely be otherwise than misleading and pernicious." The artists pasted up the review outside the entrance of the venue—attracting many more passing pedestrians—and responded to James Smith with a manifesto. In it they defended their freedom of choice in subject and technique, concluding:
The 9 by 5 Impression Exhibition is now regarded as a landmark in Australian art history. Approximately one-third of the 9 by 5s have survived, many of which are held in Australia's public collections.

Influences and style

The School's artists were clearly influenced by the international Impressionist movement, and took up many of the concepts of the group. They regularly painted plein air landscapes, as well as using art to depict daily life. They showed a keen interest in the instantaneous effects of lighting, and experimented with a variety of brushstroke techniques; McCubbin in particular used the small, contrasting blocks of strong colour that were a trademark of some Impressionist work. However, these artists should not be viewed as merely copying an international trend. Works of the Heidelberg school are generally viewed as some of the first Western art to realistically and sensitively depict the Australian landscape

The Bush

"The bush" is a term used for rural, undeveloped land or country areas in certain countries.-Australia:The term is iconic in Australia. In reference to the landscape, "bush" describes a wooded area, intermediate between a shrubland and a forest, generally of dry and nitrogen-poor soil, mostly...

as it actually exists. Many earlier works look like European scenes and do not reflect the harsh sunlight, earthier colours, and distinctive vegetation of the land they painted.

Associated artists

Artists associated with the Heidelberg School include:

Alice Boyd
Louis Buvelot
Louis Buvelot
Louis Buvelot , born Abram-Louis Buvelot, was a Swiss-born landscape painter who emigrated to Australia in 1865 and influenced the Heidelberg School of painters.-Early life:...
Charles Conder
Charles Conder
Charles Edward Conder was an English-born painter, lithographer and designer. He emigrated to Australia and was a key figure in the Heidelberg School, arguably the beginning of a distinctively Australian tradition in Western art.-Early life:Conder was born in Tottenham, Middlesex, the second son,...
David Davies
David Davies (artist)
David Davies was an Australian artist associated with the Heidelberg School, the first significant Western art movement in Australia.Davies was born in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia....
Emanuel Phillips Fox
Ethel Carrick Fox
Ethel Carrick
Ethel Carrick Fox was the wife of painter Emanuel Phillips Fox and a major artist in her own right.Carrick studied at the Slade School. She married E. Phillips Fox in 1905 and moved to Paris...
Eugene Von Guerard
Eugene von Guerard
Johann Joseph Eugene von GuérardHis first name is variously spelled "Eugen", "Eugene", "Eugène", one source mentions "Jean" ; his surname is spelled "Guerard" or "Guérard". The most frequent combination is that used by the National Gallery of Australia: "Eugene von Guérard"...
Frederick McCubbin
Frederick McCubbin
Frederick McCubbin was an Australian painter who was prominent in the Heidelberg School, one of the more important periods in Australia's visual arts history....
Jane Price
Charles Douglas Richardson
Charles Douglas Richardson
Charles Douglas Richardson was one of the most gifted sculptors working in Australia at c. 1900. His contemporary Bertram Mackennal was a highly enterprising sculptor, who had a more business-like approach to promoting his work...
Tom Roberts
Tom Roberts
Thomas William Roberts , usually known simply as Tom, was a prominent Australian artist and a key member of the Heidelberg School.-Life:...
John Thomas Nightingale Rowell
William Nicholas Rowell
Arthur Streeton
Arthur Streeton
Sir Arthur Ernest Streeton was an Australian landscape painter.-Early life:Streeton was born in Mount Duneed, near Geelong, and his family moved to Richmond in 1874. In 1882, Streeton commenced art studies with G. F. Folingsby at the National Gallery School.Streeton was influenced by French...
Clara Southern
Clara Southern
Clara Southern was an Australian artist associated with the Heidelberg School, also known as Australian Impressionism....
Jane Sutherland
Jane Sutherland
Jane Sutherland was an Australian landscape painter pioneer of the plein-air movement in Australia, she was also notable for her advocacy to advance the professional standing of women artists....
Tudor St George Tucker
Tudor St George Tucker
Tudor St George Tucker was born in Finchley in Middlesex the son of Captain Charlton Nassau Tucker, a retired cavalry officer in the East India Company's service. He came to Melbourne in 1881 in search of a healthier climate...
May Vale
Walter Withers
Walter Withers
Walter Herbert Withers was an Australian landscape artist and a member of the Heidelberg School of Australian impressionists.- Biography :...
George Folingsby

Locations

Heidelberg
Heidelberg, Victoria
Heidelberg is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Banyule....
Bulleen
Bulleen, Victoria
Bulleen is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 12 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Manningham. At the 2006 Census, Bulleen had a population of 10,528.-Etymology:...
Templestowe
Templestowe, Victoria
"Templestowe" redirects here. For the Victorian Legislative Council Province, please see Templestowe Province.Templestowe is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 17 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Manningham...
Warrandyte
Eltham
Eltham, Victoria
Eltham is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 20 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Nillumbik. At the 2006 Census, Eltham had a population of 17,581....
Research
Research, Victoria
Research is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Nillumbik. At the 2006 Census, Research had a population of 2379.-History:...
Diamond Creek
Diamond Creek, Victoria
Diamond Creek is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 23 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Nillumbik...
Ferntree Gully
Ferntree Gully, Victoria
Ferntree Gully is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in the Dandenong Ranges, 29 km east from Melbourne's central business district. It is in the Local Government Area's of the Shire of Yarra Ranges and the City of Knox...
Kallista
Kallista, Victoria
Kallista is a locality within Greater Melbourne beyond the Melbourne metropolitan area Urban Growth Boundary, 36 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges...
Olinda
Olinda, Victoria
Olinda is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 36 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges. At the 2006 Census, Olinda had a population of 1568.-History:...
Mount Dandenong
Mount Dandenong, Victoria
Mount Dandenong is both a mountain and small township/suburb of Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 35 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges...
Kalorama
Kalorama, Victoria
Kalorama is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 35 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges. At the 2006 Census, Kalorama had a population of 1,157....
Silvan
Silvan, Victoria
Silvan is a town in Victoria, Australia, 40 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges...
Lilydale
Lilydale, Victoria
Lilydale is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 35 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district situated in the Olinda Creek valley. At the 2006 Census, Lilydale had a population of 13,887...
Yarra Glen
Yarra Glen, Victoria
Yarra Glen is a town in Victoria, Australia, 40 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges...
Coldstream
Coldstream, Victoria
Coldstream is a locality and township within Greater Melbourne beyond the Melbourne metropolitan area Urban Growth Boundary, 36 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges...
Yering
Yering, Victoria
Yering is a town in Victoria, Australia, 38 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges.Yering was home to one of Victoria's first wineries.-History:...

Artists Trail

The Heidelberg Artists Trail is a self-drive, cycling and walking trail that includes a series of 57 explanatory signs and boards situated in locations frequented by artists of the Heidelberg School. The signs display reproductions and descriptions of some of the most famous paintings, and are popular with school groups who have an interest in the arts and the natural environment. The trail winds for approximately 40 km through much of Jagajaga, including the municipalities of Banyule

Banyule City Council

The City of Banyule is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia, located in the north-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of and lies between 7 and 21 km from central Melbourne. The Yarra River runs along the City’s south border while the west is defined by Darebin Creek.At the...

, Nillumbik

Shire of Nillumbik

The Shire of Nillumbik is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. It contains some outer northern suburbs of Melbourne and rural localities beyond the urban area. It has an area of 435 square kilometres and has an estimated population of 62,837 people...

and Manningham

City of Manningham

The City of Manningham is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the northeastern suburbs of Melbourne. The total population is 118,544 , divided up into 10 suburbs, the largest being Doncaster and Templestowe, over an area of 113 square kilometres.The district spans a...

, through to the Yarra Valley

Yarra Valley

The Yarra Valley is the name given to the region surrounding the Yarra River in Victoria, Australia. The river originates approximately 90 kilometres east of the City of Melbourne and flows towards it and out into Port Phillip Bay...

and the Dandenong Ranges

Dandenong Ranges

The Dandenong Ranges are a set of low mountain ranges, rising to 633 metres at Mount Dandenong, approximately 35 km east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...

Locations

Below is a numbered list of all the signs on the trail and works featured on them (trail length shown in brackets):

Central Heidelberg
Heidelberg, Victoria
Heidelberg is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Banyule....

(1.5 km)

1. Charles Conder, Impressionists’ Camp, 1889

2. Walter Withers, The Last Summer, 1898

3. Walter Withers, A Bright Winter's Morning, 1894

4. Walter Withers, The Farm, 1890

5. Walter Withers, Early Morning Heidelberg, 1898

6. Walter Withers, The Storm, 1896

Eaglemont
Eaglemont, Victoria
Eaglemont is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Banyule...

(600m)

7. Arthur Streeton, The Selector's Hut: Whelan on the Log, 1890

8. Arthur Streeton, Eaglemont, 1889

9. Walter Withers, The Yarra Below Eaglemont, 1895

East Ivanhoe (100m)

10. Emanuel Phillips Fox, A Love Story, 1903

11. Emanuel Phillips Fox, Art Students, 1895

12. Tudor St George Tucker, Young Girl in a Garden, 1895

Yarra Flats Park
Bulleen, Victoria
Bulleen is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 12 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Manningham. At the 2006 Census, Bulleen had a population of 10,528.-Etymology:...

(3.8 km)

13. Emanuel Phillips Fox, Moonrise Heidelberg, 1900

14. Walter Withers, Chartersville near Eaglemont, Victoria, 1890

15. Arthur Streeton, Sill Glides the Stream & Shall Forever Glide, 1890

16. Arthur Streeton, Above Us the Great Grave Sky, 1890

17. Arthur Streeton, Golden Summer, Eaglemont, 1889

18. Arthur Streeton, Near Heidelberg, 1890

19. Louis Buvelot, Winter Morning near Heidelberg, 1866

20. Walter Withers, Tranquil Winter, 1895

Banksia Park (200m)

21. Arthur Streeton, Spring, 1890

22. Tom Roberts, Quiet Stream, Heidelberg, 1885

23. Charles Conder, The Yarra Heidelberg Boys Bathing, 1890

Templestowe (1.7 km)

24. David Davies, Evening at Templestowe, 1897

25. Louis Buvelot, Summer Afternoon, Templstowe, 1866

26. Arthur Streeton, The Road to Templestowe, 1889

27. David Davies, Moonrise, 1894

Warrandyte (800m)

28. Clara Southern, A Cool Corner, 1918

29. Clara Southern, Warrandyte Hotel, 1910

30. Clara Southern, Evensong, 1900

31. Walter Withers, Old Bridge, Warrnadyte

Eltham
Eltham, Victoria
Eltham is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 20 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Nillumbik. At the 2006 Census, Eltham had a population of 17,581....

(1.5 km)

32. Walter Withers, Country Road, 1898

33. Walter Withers, Spring, 1910

34. Walter Withers, On the Eltham Road, 1906

35. Walter Withers, The Drover, 1912

36. Walter Withers, Landscape with Sheep

37. Walter Withers, The Silent Gums, 1909

Research
Research, Victoria
Research is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Nillumbik. At the 2006 Census, Research had a population of 2379.-History:...

(500m)

38. Clara Southern, An Old Bee Farm, 1900

39. Clara Southern, A Country Wash-House, 1905

40. Clara Southern, Audrey and Chickapick, 1911

41. Clara Southern, The Artist’s Home, 1909

Diamond Creek
Diamond Creek, Victoria
Diamond Creek is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 23 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Nillumbik...

(500m)

42. May Vale, The Orchard, 1904

43. Jane Price, Moonrise

Ferntree Gully
Ferntree Gully, Victoria
Ferntree Gully is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in the Dandenong Ranges, 29 km east from Melbourne's central business district. It is in the Local Government Area's of the Shire of Yarra Ranges and the City of Knox...

44. Eugene Von Guerard, Ferntree Gully in the Dandenong Ranges, 1857

Kallista
Kallista, Victoria
Kallista is a locality within Greater Melbourne beyond the Melbourne metropolitan area Urban Growth Boundary, 36 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges...

(200m)

45. Tom Roberts, Washing Day, Kallista, 1923

46. Tom Roberts, Country Road Makers, 1923

47. Tom Roberts, Sherbrooke Forest, 1924

Olinda
Olinda, Victoria
Olinda is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 36 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges. At the 2006 Census, Olinda had a population of 1568.-History:...

(100m)

48. Arthur Streeton, Golden Afternoon, Olinda, 1924

49. Arthur Streeton, View from Farmer’s, Olinda, 1924

Mount Dandenong & Kalorama

50. Arthur Streeton, The Cloud (Storm over Macedon), 1936

51. Arthur Streeton, Observatory Road Kalorama Park looking towards Silvan, 1937

Silvan
Silvan, Victoria
Silvan is a town in Victoria, Australia, 40 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges...

52. Arthur Streeton, Silvan Dam, 1930

Lilydale
Lilydale, Victoria
Lilydale is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 35 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district situated in the Olinda Creek valley. At the 2006 Census, Lilydale had a population of 13,887...

53. Arthur Streeton, Mitchell’s Lime Quarry, 1935

Coldstream
Coldstream, Victoria
Coldstream is a locality and township within Greater Melbourne beyond the Melbourne metropolitan area Urban Growth Boundary, 36 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges...

(100m)

54. Arthur Streeton, Melba’s Farm, 1914

55. William Nicholas Rowell, Lilydale Road, 1928

Yering
Yering, Victoria
Yering is a town in Victoria, Australia, 38 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges.Yering was home to one of Victoria's first wineries.-History:...

56. Arthur Streeton, Chrysanthemums, 1891

Yarra Glen
Yarra Glen, Victoria
Yarra Glen is a town in Victoria, Australia, 40 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges...

57. Theodore Penleigh Boyd, The Boyd Homestead at Yarra Glen, 1910

External resources

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

9 by 5 Impression Exhibition

Influences and style

Associated artists

Locations

Artists Trail

Locations

See also

External resources