John Mather (artist)

Scottish-Australian plein-air painter and etcher From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Mather (1848 – 18 February 1916) was a Scottish-Australian plein-air painter and etcher.[1]

Mosman's Bay, 1889, by Mather, showing the ferry from the city to the artists' camps

John Mather the Artist– A Snapshot

John Mather was a Scottish artist who emigrated to Melbourne in 1878.[2] He quickly established himself and became an Associate of the Victorian Academy of Arts,[3] exhibiting his work with that academy and subsequent art associations and societies for many years. John Mather exhibited his works in Victoria as well other Australian states and overseas.[4]

John Mather was one of the early practitioners of painting en plein air in Victoria and his work predates that of other better-known plein air artists.[5][6][7][8][9]

Together with other artists he established the Australian Artists Association in 1886.[10][11][12][13][14] At the time, the Association was described as: a distinctively Australian school of landscape painters ... who look at colonial scenery with their own eyes, and not through European spectacles.[15]

John Mather worked towards bringing the Academy and Association together to form the Victorian Artists Society in 1888[16][17][18] and served as its president for many years.[1] In 1892 he was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Public Library, Museums and National Gallery of Victoria.[1] John Mather was a member of the Felton Bequest Committee from 1905 to 1916 and as trustee, strongly supported Australian art.[1]

John Mather was a landscape painter of considerable reputation during his lifetime,[19][20] and was a celebrated teacher.[21]

However a little more than decade after his death he was almost forgotten.[22] Mather died on 18 February 1916 and lay in a grave with no memorial until 2023 when a plaque was added to his grave simply stating: Mr John Mather 1848 – 1916 The beauty of his Art endures.[23][24] The words, his Art endures, refers to his painting and etching but also the art he nurtured as a mentor, teacher and one of the founding fathers of art in Victoria.[25]

Early life

Mather was born in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, son of John Mather, a surveyor, and his wife Margaret, née Allan.[1]

John Mather spent his youth sketching and painting.[26] He had access to the art collection of the Duke of Hamilton and was familiar with all the works.[27] When about 15 years old he had his first art lessons with Thomas Fairbairn (1820-1884),[27] an art teacher and prominent local water colourist[28] who moved to Hamilton about 1850, possibly to be near the oak tree forest of Cadzow.[notes 1]

John Mather studied at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts.[1] He first exhibited there in 1871 with a water colour of old Highland cottages titled A Bit near Calgary Castle - Isle of Mull.[27][31][32][notes 2] From Glasgow, John Mather went to Edinburgh, where he studied at the school of the National Gallery and painted ''bits'' of the old part of the city, which sold rapidly.[31][34] There he exhibited works as painter in annual exhibitions of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1873.[35][notes 3]

In 1873 – 74, John Mather went to Paris and remarked: I saw the miles of pictures that are to be seen in Paris, and studied them as well as I could.[34]

After Paris he went to London, worked and painted as he had done in Edinburgh. Subsequently, he went back to Scotland and continued at his art.[34] There whilst residing in Glasgow, he again exhibited at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts in 1876[32] and at the Royal Scottish Academy Edinburgh in 1877.[35]

Arrival and establishment in Melbourne

Emigrating to Melbourne in January 1878,[37] John Mather listed his occupation as Painter using the nomenclature of the Royal Glasgow Institute and the Royal Scottish Academy at that time.[2][32][35] Less than 12 months later, on 3rd December 1878, John Mather was elected as an Associate of the Victorian Academy of Arts.[3]

John Mather's 1878 watercolour of Cameron's Glenwatts Store on the Yarra Track [notes 4]

In April 1879 he exhibited 11 works at the Annual Exhibition of the Victorian Academy of Arts[76] and was noted as a large exhibitor.[77] He exhibited two oils, Yarra Flats and Evening on the Yarra, and nine watercolours, A Woodland Path Scotland; Sketch near Essendon; Spring-time Scotland; Sketch on Brighton Beach; Lagoon, Yarra Flats; On the Tamar, Tasmania; Old Cottage, Argyllshire Scotland; Old Huts, Isle of Mull, Scotland and A Grey Day, Glen Falloch, Scotland.[76]

In 1879 he was described as a young artist under engagement to Messrs. Gillow and Co. the firm entrusted with the decoration of Mandeville Hall at Toorak, now known as Loreto Mandeville Hall.[78] On 19 December 1879, John Mather's tender of £4700[79] for the internal decorations of the Exhibition Buildings was accepted by the Building Committee of the International Exhibition.[80]

John Mather exhibited again in 1880 and 1881. On 27 October 1881 he was elected to the Council of the Victorian Academy of Arts.[81] In April 1882 he exhibited a number of oil paintings and water colours at the annual exhibition of the Academy,[76] Noted for his industriousness: there are no less than 11 works bearing his name. Most of them are of rural or woodland scenery, rendered with much artistic feeling, whether in oil or water-colour.[82] Later that year he exhibited another six works in the First Black and White Exhibition of the Academy.[83]

He was married on 16 October 1882[84] to Miss Jessie Pines Best, a daughter of Captain James Best, a pilot of Hobson's Bay. Together they had one daughter and three sons; Margaret Playfair, John Allan, Louis Melville (died in infancy), and Leslie Frank Strand (died in 1919).[85][86]

John Mather's 'Plein Air' Work

John Mather was one of the early practitioners of painting en plein air in Victoria.[5]

Contemporary reports noted that since his arrival in Melbourne ... Mr Mather has been travelling all through Victoria in the employment of his brush and pencil and has given to the public so many examples of his skill in depicting the most picturesque localities.[87] When completing a painting of Mt Feathertop, he undertook a daily walk of 12 miles for a fortnight to complete the work[88] ... leaving the picture on the spot where he was painting it, and frequently returning to find it so buried in snow that he had to actually dig it out ...[89]

His early interest in the landscape around Heidelberg is demonstrated by Wattles at Heidelberg and Leaving off Work, Heidelberg Road, both exhibited with the Victorian Academy of Arts in 1881.[90] He exhibited the following year, Near the Yarra, Heidelberg and Stubble Field, Heidelberg. Another example is a water colour of bushland and river The Yarra at Heidelberg, signed and dated 1882.[91]

On the Upper Yarra 1885 J. Mather [notes 5]

Early in 1885 John Mather painted oil and water colour landscapes near Sunbury, Riddell's Creek and Healesville.[97] In autumn 1885, he made two trips to the Upper Yarra valley,[98][99] which was described as an artist’s paradise with richly varied and delightfully picturesque scenery.[100] In April 1885, he displayed the results of his first trip to the Upper Yarra valley in his studio at 95 Collins Street East.[101]

John Mather was also noted as amongst the artists marching along the road to Heidelberg in 1885, the first organised effort in Melbourne to form a group for landscape painting. The artists included Arthur Streeton, Walter Withers, John Longstaff, Fredrick McCubbin, E. Phillips Fox, Louis Abrahams, Jane Sutherland, Tudor St George Tucker, John Llewellyn Jones, Tom Humphries, and Fredrick Williams.[102]

These trips predated the artist's camps of Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton, Walter Withers, Frederick McCubbin, Charles Condor and others at Box Hill, Mentone, and Heidelberg, and elsewhere.[102] These would later become increasingly popular places to visit. John Mather is noted as being a member of the Eaglemont camp[103] and addressing a large gathering of eighty artists, students and their friends there.[104][105]

Around this time, Streeton, then about twenty-two, 'sketched' with Paterson and Mather, regarding himself as a student in their company.[106][notes 6] He later wrote: “We three painters met at Flinders Street Station, Melbourne … They were my seniors by about fifteen years, and it was kind of them to invite me to join in their painting trip to the ocean shore at Kilcunda.”.[110]

Mather's affinity with en plein air is revealed when discussing a broad range of his favorite paintings in the National Gallery of Victoria. Commenting on Peter Graham's Autumnal Showers he states; he was in intimate converse with nature, when every new effect was an unspeakable joy, a new delight and a fresh discovery...[the work] ... must have been a labour of love.[111][notes 7]

Some of John Mather's associates at work en plein air in A Quiet Day on Darebin Creek 1885 by Tom Roberts. Louis Abrahams with his back to the viewer and John Llewellyn Jones standing by a fence.[116]

Whilst some of Mather's larger pictures were painted indoors from sketches; it was when seated out in the open with a small block or pochade before him that he was at his happiest and came nearest to the realisation of his ideals as an artist.[117]

A Glimpse of Melbourne's Art Scene in the mid 1880s

In 1885;[102] "returning to Melbourne after an absence of four years, Roberts found Mather, John Ford Paterson, McCubbin and Streeton all hard at work."[118]

That same year, Mr. J.T. Buxton erected a new art premises, Buxton's Art Gallery in Swanston Street, opposite the Melbourne Town Hall.[119][120]

In June 1886 a meeting was held at the Buxton's Art Gallery where it was unanimously resolved that an exhibition be held annually in central Melbourne to be called the Winter Exhibition of Works by Australian Artists. John Mather was amongst those present, as well as: Mr. Addison, Mr. G. R. Ashton, Mr. Percival Ball, Signor Catani, Mr. J.W. Curtis, Mr. McCubbin, Mr. Gibbs, Signor Habres, Mr. Kahler, Signor Tocein, Signor Neele, Mr. Patterson, Mr. Rolando, Mr. T. Roberts and Mr. Turner.[121][122]

The first annual exhibition of the Australian Artists' Association was opened 8 Sept 1886 in Buxton's Art Gallery. Contemporary reports highlighted the following artists, including John Mather; J. F. Paterson, Herr Kabler, Julian Ashton, S. R. Ashton, C. Rolando, F. McCubbin, A. Loureiro, Alice Chapman, T. Roberts, J. G. Gibbs, L. Buvelot, Vauder, Ley, and C. W. Foster.[123] [notes 8]

Louis Abrahams 1886 etching of an 1880 Australian pastoral landscape by John Mather. Exhibited at the First Annual Exhibition of the Australian Artists' Association. [notes 9]

At the time it was observed:

that a distinctively Australian school of landscape painters is being formed, who look at colonial scenery with their own eyes, and not through European spectacles; and although they are perhaps a little too much under the influence of the French impressionists, of whose works a good many examples have reached us, they certainly aim at a faithful and vivid, if free and sketchy, reproduction of local form and colour.[127]

About 85 oil paintings and watercolours were exhibited. Some of the artists work, including that of John Mather, were commented upon:

It is interesting to watch the general leaning of our young artists and art students towards the French methods of landscape painting; their avoidance of too much definition of form, and their disposition to secure striking effects by colour laid on in broad masses. This is observable in Mr. Mather's bit of genuine nature, "On the Watts River;"... Turning to the water-colour drawings, the eye is arrested by Mr. Mather's "Cape Wollamai, Phillip Island," and his "View on the Saltwater River," which are almost as solid in colour and as full of strength as oil paintings. The first is a very striking picture, and perfectly true to nature. The second resembles a drawing in black and white, as there is only here and there a slight suggestion of colour. In both compositions the masterly treatment of clouds and water is too obvious to be overlooked.[128]

After the first exhibition, the Australian Artist's Association was formalised. In October 1886 the rules of the Association were developed and an Executive Committee elected consisting of Patterson, Ashton, Mather, Ball, Gow, Loureiro and Catani. Later Roberts and McCubbin were added to the committee.[14]

The Association went on to hold two more exhibitions in the summer and winter of 1887. The 1887 Exhibition Selection Committee comprised Roberts, Mather and Patterson with a sculptor and architect to be nominated. The Hanging Committee comprised Ball, Mather, Patterson and Ashton.[14]

The Australian Artist's Association exhibitions of 1886 and 1887 included works such as McCubbin's Lost 1886, Robert's The Sunny South (painting), Streeton's June Evening Box Hill as well as works by Withers, Patterson and other artists including John Mather.[129][130]

The Australian Artist's Association membership grew to over 160 members.[131] John Mather was also a member of the Victorian Academy of Arts and worked towards bringing the two organisations together.[16] In March 1888 the Academy and the Association amalgamated.[18] On John Mather's motion, seconded by John Ford Paterson, the amalgamated organisation was named the Victorian Artists Society.[17]

Career

In 1878, John Mather joined the Victorian Academy of Arts[3] and in 1881 he was elected to its Council.[81]

During this time Mather was also responsible for the decoration of the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne.[132][133][134][135] Mather’s design for the exhibition picture galleries reflected his artistic sensibility, using ceiling colours to avoid reflections and provide neutral lighting, along with tailored wall tones to suit differing light conditions.[136][notes 10]

Later he joined the bohemian Buonarotti Club, camping with other members on plein-air painting expeditions, and served, with Frederick McCubbin, Louis Abrahams, Jane Sutherland, and Tom Roberts on the club's exhibition selection committee.[138] As a painter, Mather was also involved in the bohemian Artists' Camps of Sydney.

In 1886, together with other professional artists, he was a founding member of the Australian Artists' Association, serving on the Executive Committee, as well its Exhibition Selection and Hanging Committees.[14] The amalgamation of the Australian Artists' Association and Victorian Academy of Arts in 1888 subsequently established the Victorian Artists' Society, and he served as its president for twelve years in 1893–1900, 1906–1908 and 1911.[1]

John Mather circa 1905

In 1892 he was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Public Library, Museums and National Gallery of Victoria.[1] Mather was a member of the Felton Bequest Committee from 1905 to 1916 and as trustee, strongly supported Australian art.[1]

In 1912 along with Frederick McCubbin, Max Meldrum, Walter Withers Mather formed the breakaway Australian Art Association.[1]

Three of Mather's own paintings, Autumn in the Fitzroy Gardens in oils, and Morning, Lake Omeo and Wintry Weather, Yarra Glen, both watercolours, were purchased by the National Gallery of Victoria.[1]

Exhibition History

Throughout his career John Mather exhibited his works in Victoria as well other Australian states and overseas.[4]

Prior to emigrating to Australia he exhibited at:

  • Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts in 1871 and 1876.[32]
  • Royal Scottish Academy Edinburgh in 1873 and 1877.[35]

In Victoria he exhibited in:

  • The Victorian Academy of Arts Annual Exhibitions from 1879 to 1887.[139]
  • The Victorian Academy of Arts Black and White Exhibitions of 1882 and 1883.[140][141]
  • Ballarat Fine Art Exhibition 1884.[142][143]
  • The Australian Artists Association Exhibitions of 1886 and the Summer and Winter Exhibitions of 1887.[144]
  • The Victorian Society of Artists Exhibitions of Spring 1888, Autumn 1888, Winter 1889, 1895, Autumn 1900, 1904, 1905 and 1909.[145]
  • The Victorian Society of Artists Exhibition of Water Colour and Black and White Drawings 1890.[146]
  • The Victorian Society of Artists Annual Exhibitions from 1890 to 1911, (other than in 1902 and 1903).[147]
  • The Australian Art Association exhibitions from 1913 to 1916.[148]
Gathering Seaweed 1897 by John Mather probably exhibited at the Twenty-First Annual Exhibition of the Royal Art Society of New South Wales in 1900 [notes 11]

In the other Australian states, he exhibited in the:

  • Annual Exhibitions of the Royal Art Society of New South Wales from 1883 to 1888 as well as in 1892, 1893, 1895, 1899, and 1900.[157]
  • Exhibition of John Mather’s Water Colours, 1911 Trowbridge Bros, Elizabeth Street, Hobart.[158]
  • South Australian Society of Arts, September 1913 Mr. J. Mathers Exhibition of paintings and etchings.[159]

Some of his works were part of a New South Wales provincial exhibition of a Loan Collection of Pictures by the National Art Gallery and Art Association of New South Wales exhibited in:

  • 1895 at the Bathurst Technological Museum.[160]
  • 1896 at the Goulburn Technological Museum.[161]
  • 1897 at the Newcastle Technological Museum.[162]

His works were exhibited in colonial and international exhibitions held in Victoria including the:

  • 1888 Melbourne Centennial Exhibition at the Melbourne Exhibition Building Picture Galleries.[163]
  • 1890 Exhibition of Works of Victorian Artists and a Loan Collection of Pictures at the Art Gallery of the Exhibition Building.[164]
  • 1893 Exhibition of Australian Art, Past and Present at the National Gallery, Swanston Street.[165]
  • 1901 Victorian Gold Jubilee Exhibition, Bendigo.[166]

His works were exhibited internationally in:

As well as exhibitions at his studios, he held larger solo exhibitions including his:

  • 1904 Exhibition of Australian Landscapes by John Mather at the Athenaeum Melbourne.[175]
  • 1911 Exhibition of Mr J. Mather’s Paintings, at the Athenaeum Melbourne.[176]
  • 1912 Exhibition of Mr J. Mather’s Paintings, at the Athenaeum Melbourne.[177]

In 1916 after his death his wife organised the Memorial Exhibition of Pictures by the late John Mather, at the Athenaeum, Melbourne.[178]

John Mather's Studio

John Mather in his studio

Painting en plein air has been overemphasised and the role of studio work understated in Australian art history.[179] Whilst periodically undertaking outdoor painting, many Australian artists maintained studios in the cities.[180]

John Mather had a number of studios throughout his career and used them for his art, both painting and etching; as well as art lessons, exhibitions of his work and meetings with fellow artists.

John Mather painted both en plein air and in his studio. His often very large water colours were painted indoors from sketches made in the field.[181] A magic lantern slide of unknown date shows John Mather in his studio posed before a large partially complete watercolour.[182] Likewise in 1898 he is noted as; expanding his fascinating scrap, "Evening," into a water colour, "The Golden West," of large size and characteristic completeness.[183]

The artist (Louis Abrahams) at his easel 1887 by John Mather

As early as 1881 John Mather had a studio at 95 Collins Street Melbourne,[184][185] and by 1888, a studio at Healesville which he maintained until about 1894.[186][187][188]

In March 1891, he opened a studio at the Austral Buildings Collins Street Melbourne giving classes for the study of oil and water-color painting. The morning classes were held from ten o'clock until one, and the afternoon from two until five. The studio was filled with landscape sketches and studies for the free use of his pupils.[189]

The Model 1897 by John Mather. They call him old Tom Bowling, after one of his songs. Besides picking up a living as a street musician, he gets a few shillings as an artist’s model.[190] [notes 12]

Described in 1891;The studio is large and well lit and attractively furnished, while it is not overladen with the heterogenous collection so dear to the heart of the average artist. Mr. Mather’s room is made to appear what it is - a place to work and study, and the number of sketches in oil and water color that adorn the walls, proclaim the busy life of the painter.[204]

He also had studios at his various residences.[205][206] His last studio at his South Yarra residence was described as a large low room with polished floor contained a grand piano and a few art treasures and beautiful hangings. The artist's own pictures took up most of the wall space, and the dark polished floor was shining perfection. ... Mather’s own little grandson was sometimes an interested spectator when the artist was at work. Once the child asked “Why is that cow white, grandpa?” In reply the artist explained the colour scheme of his picture it some length, concluding with the exact reason why, to complete the colour scheme, that cow in the foreground was white. To all of which the five-year-old child listened patiently, then contradicted him briefly with, “Tis not. It's because it's full of milk " [207]

Residences, Studios and other Addresses

Mather had a number of homes, studios and other addresses throughout his career, including:

1871 23 Holmes Street, Hamilton, Lanarkshire[32] Address
1873 35 Orchard St, Hamilton Lanarkshire[35] Address
1876 - 1877 21 Portland Pl, Hamilton Lanarkshire[32][35] Address
1879 83 Swanston Street Melbourne[208] Address
1880 5 Royal Terrace Nicholson Street[209] Address
1881 1 Eaton Terrace Grattan Street Carlton[210] Address
1881 Davis Street South Yarra,[211] Residence
1881 - 1887 95 Collins Street Melbourne[212][213][214][215][216] Studio
1885 - 1888 33 Darling Street, South Yarra[217] Residence
1885 Artistic Stationery Company (Buxton's) incorporating business of F. Hyman & J. Mather, Artists, Colormen and Stationers and Decorating Business, 69, 71, 131 Swanston Street and 84 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne[214] Business
1886 - 1888 Blannin Street Healesville (Purchased 1881)[218][219] Studio[220][221]
1888 - 1889 3 Murphy Street, South Yarra[222][223][224][225][226] Residence and Studio
1889 c.1894 Koombahla, Healesville[221][227] Residence and for some years prior a studio (see above)
1891 - 1891 Grosvenor Chambers, 9 Collins Street Melbourne (Occupied Tom Robert's studio)[228] Studio
1891 c.1913 Austral Building 117-119 Collins Street, Melbourne[229] Studio
1895 c.1901 The Pines, Wellington Street, Brighton[230][231] Residence
1900 - 1902 136 Alma Rd East St. Kilda (Carhue School for Girls)[232] Studio
1901 - 1912 156 Alma Rd, East St. Kilda[233] Residence and Studio
1912 - 1916 Cadzow, 383 Toorak Road, South Yarra[234][235] Residence and Studio
1896 Advertisement Brighton Southern Cross 17 Oct 1896[236]

Students

Mr John Mather is reported to have had a wide celebrity as a teacher, and ... there are artists of repute in Melbourne now who commenced their careers in his Austral School in Collins Street.[21] He gave lessons at his studio in the Austral Building and at his residences. His lessons included outdoor sketching excursions, often along the coast, where students used pencil, pen and ink and watercolor.[237]

John Mather's Artist Camp c.1903-4 Cape Woolamai [238][notes 13] ... wherever Mr. Mather has pitched his artistic tent he has made himself thoroughly familiar with land and sea scape, and has reproduced these with fidelity to nature and the true artist's gift for seizing beautiful effects.[249]

His students include:


Etchings

John Mather was among the earliest practitioners of etching in Victoria, producing his first known print, a portrait of Louis Abrahams, around 1886.[265] The previous year John Mather, Tom Roberts and Louis Abrahams had begun teaching themselves etching techniques.[266][notes 15]

By the early 1890s Mather had produced a number of landscape etchings and was printing his own plates.[271][notes 16] By 1894 he had imported a professional printing press and equipment from London, strengthening the technical foundations of etching practice in Melbourne.[274][notes 17]

Bathing Place on the Watts 1895 John Mather [notes 18]

Mather first exhibited an etching, Bathing-place on the Watts, at the Victorian Artists’ Society Annual Exhibition in September 1895,[284] where it was noted as; conspicuous as the only bit of nude work in the collection. [285]

Ti-Tree 1898 John Mather

Alongside his figurative and landscape prints, Mather produced numerous etchings of windswept tea-trees along Brighton Beach, before shifting after 1900 toward larger architectural and urban compositions.[286]

In the late 1890s he was the only artist in Australia formally teaching etching,[287] and in 1900 he was described as a master of the medium.[288][notes 19]

Mather was later associated with other notable etchers including John Shirlow, Victor Cobb and Lionel Lindsay.[290][291] Shirlow was frequently described as the pioneer of Victorian etching, he himself disclaimed the title, pointing to the work of earlier practitioners including Mather.[292]

Similarly Cobb stated,

John Mather ... commenced to etch in Victoria in the early eighties. To him, and no one else, belongs the credit as the first to pioneer of the art in Victoria. He imported an expensive press and equipment from London, conducted classes, and did much for the progress of the art, and was an enthusiastic exponent on the copper plate, up to the time of his death, a few years ago. [293]

Death

John Mather's grave with no memorial. In 2023 a small plaque was added with the words: Mr John Mather 1848 – 1916 The beauty of his Art endures.

Mather died of diabetes at his home, Cadzow, South Yarra, Victoria on 18 February 1916; he was buried in the Cheltenham Pioneer Cemetery[1] and lay in a grave with no memorial for more than 100 years.[23]

Written just thirteen years after his death;

The war claimed his only son and his daughter who was well known in Melbourne music circles, lives now in the United States. It is as if "the place thereof knoweth him no more " But how can an artist ever be forgotten as long as human eyes are irresistibly drawn to the quiet beauty of his pictures on the wall?[294]

In July 2023 a small plaque was placed on the grave simply stating:

Mr John Mather 1848 – 1916 The beauty of his Art endures.

The words, his Art endures, refers to his painting and etching but also the art he nurtured as a mentor, teacher and one of the founding fathers of art in Victoria.[295]

Loved, Lost and Found - The Art of John Mather

Art historians and researchers, as well as recent exhibitions, are broadening the understanding of Australian art, which has historically emphasised a limited number of artists while giving less attention to other artists and their work.[296][297]

In 1932, John Mather was described as a landscape painter of considerable reputation during his lifetime.[19] Along with artists such as David Davies and John Ford Paterson, he is regarded as a significant figure in the development of Australian plein air painting.[20] Although widely respected during his lifetime, thirteen years after his death his name had largely faded from memory, while his paintings continued to be held in public and private collections.[22]

In 1919, several personal events affected his family. The death of his youngest son, the emigration of his daughter and grandson to the United States, and the illness and later death of his wife overseas meant that by 1920, apart from a son affected by mental illness, none of his immediate family remained in Melbourne.[298] His extensive art collection was subsequently auctioned on 25 June 1919.[299]

In the following decades, leading Australian art magazines of the early 20th century made no reference to John Mather's work.[300] Critics, historians, and curators focused narrowly on a few selected artists and images of Australian impressionism.[301][302] The work of art historians of the 1930s, later transcribed in subsequent art histories, provided little information about his activities.[303] Other than occasional individual works loaned or sold by private owners,[304][305] there were few significant exhibitions of his work.

Similarly, many of the titles of his works have been forgotten, with nominal or generic titles sometimes applied at art auctions.[306] Nevertheless, because Mather depicted scenes accurately as he observed them,[307][308][309] it is often possible to identify the locations of his paintings using historical sources such as photographs, maps, and present-day site inspections. The documented locations of his residences, studios, and painting camps also provide useful context. In some cases, research has enabled the original title to be identified, as with Morning San Remo (1900), which had previously been auctioned under the generic title Lake Scene.

Morning San Remo 1900 by John Mather exhibited at the Victorian Artists Society Annual Exhibition November 1900. A favoured locality also painted in Passing Showers 1902. in the collection of the Geelong Gallery. [notes 20]
Morning at San Remo, by Mr Mather, is a good realisation of the delicate luminous grey of early morning. The tranquil waters of the inlet reflect the clouds and light overhead, and the suggestion of the atmosphere which seems to rise like the faintest of veils from the surface of the water, is charming.[317]
                                                                                         The morning mist rising from the sea is well rendered, a fishing boat is seen pushing off for the day’s work.[318] 
                                                                                         The effect of the pearly grey softness of his “Morning at San Remo” is spoilt by the treatment of the rocky foreground.[319]
                                                                                                                                   " Morning, San Remo," ... makes one feel in love with the time, the place, the artist and all, it is so dreamily fresh and fair.[320]

Through the subject matter and locations of his paintings, the places where he lived and worked, and contemporary newspaper reports and other sources, the life of John Mather can be more clearly understood.

This material contributes to a greater appreciation of his art, his teaching, and the role he played in the early development of Victoria’s art scene. It also provides insight into the artistic environment of Melbourne more than 120 years ago.

Mather's art, widely appreciated during his lifetime but largely forgotten in the decades after his death, has since been rediscovered.

Collections

John Mather, Autumn in the Fitzroy Gardens, 1894 in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria
  • National Gallery of Australia[321]
  • National Library of New Zealand[322]
  • National Gallery of Victoria[135]
  • Art Gallery of New South Wales[135]
  • Art Gallery of Western Australia[135]
  • Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery[135]
  • Queensland Art Gallery[323]
  • State Library of Victoria[324]
  • Geelong Art Gallery[135]
  • Ballarat Art Gallery[135]
  • Castlemaine Art Museum[135]
  • Benalla Art Gallery[325]
  • Launceston Art Gallery[135]
  • Newcastle Art Gallery[326]
  • Latrobe Regional Gallery[327]
  • New England Regional Art Museum[328]
  • Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery[135]
  • Bayside Gallery, Bayside City Council[329]

Notes and references

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