Introduction
William Dobell was born 1899 in Bull St, Cooks Hill, a suburb of Newcastle (Australia). He was the youngest of three brothers and three sisters. His grandfather guided his hand drawing sketches of horses.
William Dobell.
Dobell's artistic talents were evident early. In 1916, he was apprenticed to Newcastle architect, Wallace L. Porter and in 1924 he moved to Sydney as a draftsman. In 1925, he enrolled in evening art classes at the Sydney Art School (which later became the Julian Ashton Art School), with Henry Gibbons as his teacher. He was influenced by George Washington Lambert. He was also gay and consequently never married, while several of his works carried strong homoerotic overtones.
Sir William Dobell visiting an art class at the Newcastle Technical College Art School in 1956.
In 1929, Dobell was awarded the Society of Artists' Travelling Scholarship and travelled to England to the Slade School of Fine Art, where he studied under Philip Wilson Steer and Henry Tonks. In 1930, he won first prize for figure painting at Slade and also travelled to Poland. In 1931 he moved on to Belgium and Paris and after ten years in Europe returned to Australia – taking with him a new Expressionist style of painting as opposed to his earlier naturalistic approach.
William Dobell - Self Portrait (1969).
In 1939, he began working as a part-time teacher at East Sydney Technical College. After the outbreak of war, he was drafted into the Civil Construction Corps of the Allied Works Council in 1941 as a camouflage painter; he later became an unofficial war artist.
Photographer unknown.
Dobell in his London studio (ca. 1929).
Dobell House collection.
In 1944, he had his first solo exhibition including public collection loans at the inauguration of the David Jones Art Gallery, Sydney.
In 1949, he visited New Guinea as a guest of Sir Edward Hallstrom with writers Frank Clune and Colin Simpson. The trip inspired a new series of tiny, brilliantly coloured landscapes. In 1950, he revisited New Guinea; on his return to Australia he continued to paint scenes of New Guinea, as well as portraits.
In 1963 TIME magazine commissioned Dobell to paint four portraits for covers, one per year, of: Sir Robert Menzies, Prime Minister of Australia; South Vietnam's President Ngô Đình Diệm; Frederick G. Donner, the Chairman of General Motors; and Tunku Abdul Rahman, Prime Minister of Malaysia.
In 1964, Dobell exhibited in a major retrospective at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the first monograph of his work was written by James Gleeson.
Many other monographs followed (e.g R. Woodrow, William Dobell: Hard Drawing).
On 14 May 1970, less than six weeks after a highly successful Dobell exhibition at the Newcastle Art Gallery, local Wangi greengrocer Bill Hilton found his friend William Dobell dead on the floor of his kitchen having died of a massive heart attack the previous night.
William Dobell's Drawings[1]
Notes: Slade School studies (ca. 1930).
Materials: Conté crayon on paper.
Size: 31.1 x 38.2 cm.
Purchased: Newcastle Art Gallery, 1961.
Notes: Slade School studies (ca. 1930). Presented by the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation (1976).
Materials: Pencil on paper.
Size: 38 x 28 cm.
Notes: Male Nude Reclining (1933). Presented by the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation (1976).
Materials: Pencil and ink on paper.
Size: 36 x 26 cm.
Notes: Study for The Dirt Cart (The Dirtose), 1936. Presented by the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation (1976). Exhibited at: The Drawings of Sir William Dobell, NCAG, Auguast 1971 (cat. no. 12). The painting, The Dirt Cart, reproduced by J Gleeson, William Dobell, London, 1969, I11. 15.
Materials: Pencil and ink and wash, squared up in pencil on paper.
Size: 20.2 x 15.7 cm.
Notes: Study of two cockney girls (ca. 1938). Exhibited at, The Drawings of Sir William Dobell, August, 1971.
Materials: Pencil on paper.
Size: 15.2 x 11.4 cm.
Notes: Preening pelican (ca. 1936). Presented by the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation (1976). One of a number of pelicans in Dobell's studio at the time of his death. These were probably some of the many studies of animals Dobell made in the London Zoo in 1936.
Materials: Sepia and conté crayon.
Size: 38.2 x 51.0 cm.
Notes: London policeman (ca. 1938). Presented by the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation (1976).
Materials: Pen and sepia ink.
Size: 20.0 x 16.0 cm.
Notes: Slouching porter (ca. 1938). Presented by the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation (1976).
Materials: Pen and ink on paper.
Size: 19.8 x 16.2 cm.
Notes: Studies for The Student (ca. 1940 - 41). Presented by the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation (1976). The painting The Student is reproduced in S. Ure Smith (ed.) The Art of William Dobell, Sydney (1946) page 65, in private collection, Sydney.
Materials: Pencil on paper.
Size: 18.7 x 12.6 cm.
Notes: Study of Brian Penton (ca. 1943). Purchased in 1961.
Exhibited: The Drawings of Sir William Dobell, Newcastle Art Gallery, August, 1971 (cat. no. 59).
Study for the portrait, Brian Penton, reproduced in J. Gleeson, William Dobell, London, 1969, Ill. 76.
Materials: Pencil on paper.
Size: 27.3 x 21.6 cm.
Notes: Civil Construction man with hose No. 2 (ca. 1944). Presented by the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation (1976). Probably a study for Concrete Consolidation Worker, Sydney Graving Dock, 1944, reproduced in J. Gleeson, William Dobell, London (1969), Iii. 60.
Materials: Pen and ink on paper.
Size: 22.0 x 14.0 cm.
Notes: Seated man in shorts. Presented by the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation (1976).
Materials: Pen and sepia ink on paper.
Size: 27.8 x 22.0 cm.
Notes: New Guinea harvest (1950). Presented by the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation (1976).
Materials: Pen and ink on paper.
Size: 11.5 x 16.4 cm.
Notes: Landscape at dusk. Presented by the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation (1976).
Materials: Pen and ink on paper.
Size: 121.2 x 25.5 cm.
Notes: Self-portrait. Presented by the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation (1976).
Materials: Pen and ink on paper.
Size: 36.7 x 25.0 cm.
Notes: Study for Self-portrait (ca. 1965). Purchased from the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation and presented by the Art Gallery and Conservatorium Committee (1972).
Exhibited: The Drawings of Sir William Dobell, NCAG August 1971 (cat. no. 87). One of three studies for a self-portrait which was left unfinished at the time of Dobell's death.
Materials: Pencil on paper.
Size: 19.0 x 28.1 cm.
Notes: My favourite since I live less than 0.5 km from this scene. Wangi scene. Presented by the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation (1976).
Materials: Pen and ink on paper.
Size: 17.0 x 22.8 cm.
Reference:
[1] Australian Drawings in the Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, Newcastle (Australia) (1982).
William Dobell was born 1899 in Bull St, Cooks Hill, a suburb of Newcastle (Australia). He was the youngest of three brothers and three sisters. His grandfather guided his hand drawing sketches of horses.
Dobell's artistic talents were evident early. In 1916, he was apprenticed to Newcastle architect, Wallace L. Porter and in 1924 he moved to Sydney as a draftsman. In 1925, he enrolled in evening art classes at the Sydney Art School (which later became the Julian Ashton Art School), with Henry Gibbons as his teacher. He was influenced by George Washington Lambert. He was also gay and consequently never married, while several of his works carried strong homoerotic overtones.
In 1929, Dobell was awarded the Society of Artists' Travelling Scholarship and travelled to England to the Slade School of Fine Art, where he studied under Philip Wilson Steer and Henry Tonks. In 1930, he won first prize for figure painting at Slade and also travelled to Poland. In 1931 he moved on to Belgium and Paris and after ten years in Europe returned to Australia – taking with him a new Expressionist style of painting as opposed to his earlier naturalistic approach.
In 1939, he began working as a part-time teacher at East Sydney Technical College. After the outbreak of war, he was drafted into the Civil Construction Corps of the Allied Works Council in 1941 as a camouflage painter; he later became an unofficial war artist.
Dobell in his London studio (ca. 1929).
Dobell House collection.
In 1944, he had his first solo exhibition including public collection loans at the inauguration of the David Jones Art Gallery, Sydney.
In 1949, he visited New Guinea as a guest of Sir Edward Hallstrom with writers Frank Clune and Colin Simpson. The trip inspired a new series of tiny, brilliantly coloured landscapes. In 1950, he revisited New Guinea; on his return to Australia he continued to paint scenes of New Guinea, as well as portraits.
In 1963 TIME magazine commissioned Dobell to paint four portraits for covers, one per year, of: Sir Robert Menzies, Prime Minister of Australia; South Vietnam's President Ngô Đình Diệm; Frederick G. Donner, the Chairman of General Motors; and Tunku Abdul Rahman, Prime Minister of Malaysia.
In 1964, Dobell exhibited in a major retrospective at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the first monograph of his work was written by James Gleeson.
Many other monographs followed (e.g R. Woodrow, William Dobell: Hard Drawing).
On 14 May 1970, less than six weeks after a highly successful Dobell exhibition at the Newcastle Art Gallery, local Wangi greengrocer Bill Hilton found his friend William Dobell dead on the floor of his kitchen having died of a massive heart attack the previous night.
William Dobell's Drawings[1]
Materials: Conté crayon on paper.
Size: 31.1 x 38.2 cm.
Purchased: Newcastle Art Gallery, 1961.
Materials: Pencil on paper.
Size: 38 x 28 cm.
Materials: Pencil and ink on paper.
Size: 36 x 26 cm.
Materials: Pencil and ink and wash, squared up in pencil on paper.
Size: 20.2 x 15.7 cm.
Materials: Pencil on paper.
Size: 15.2 x 11.4 cm.
Materials: Sepia and conté crayon.
Size: 38.2 x 51.0 cm.
Materials: Pen and sepia ink.
Size: 20.0 x 16.0 cm.
Materials: Pen and ink on paper.
Size: 19.8 x 16.2 cm.
Materials: Pencil on paper.
Size: 18.7 x 12.6 cm.
Exhibited: The Drawings of Sir William Dobell, Newcastle Art Gallery, August, 1971 (cat. no. 59).
Study for the portrait, Brian Penton, reproduced in J. Gleeson, William Dobell, London, 1969, Ill. 76.
Materials: Pencil on paper.
Size: 27.3 x 21.6 cm.
Materials: Pen and ink on paper.
Size: 22.0 x 14.0 cm.
Materials: Pen and sepia ink on paper.
Size: 27.8 x 22.0 cm.
Materials: Pen and ink on paper.
Size: 11.5 x 16.4 cm.
Materials: Pen and ink on paper.
Size: 121.2 x 25.5 cm.
Materials: Pen and ink on paper.
Size: 36.7 x 25.0 cm.
Exhibited: The Drawings of Sir William Dobell, NCAG August 1971 (cat. no. 87). One of three studies for a self-portrait which was left unfinished at the time of Dobell's death.
Materials: Pencil on paper.
Size: 19.0 x 28.1 cm.
Materials: Pen and ink on paper.
Size: 17.0 x 22.8 cm.
Reference:
[1] Australian Drawings in the Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, Newcastle (Australia) (1982).
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