WALTER WITHERS
A member of Heidelberg School, Walter Withers’ plein air paintings of the Australian landscape were characterised by a sentimentality whose subjects included rural cottages and labourers tending the land.
Withers was born in Staffordshire, England, studying at the Royal Academy School (1870-82) prior to immigrating to Australia in 1882, and attending the National Gallery of Victoria School (1884-87). Exhibiting at the Old Academy, Melbourne, Withers met Frederick McCubbin and Tom Roberts who recommended he study in Europe and attend the Académie Julian in Paris (1887).
He returned to Melbourne in 1888, working with Street and Roberts, opening a teaching studio at Charterisville and taking private lessons in Collins Street, Melbourne (1891). An admired and popular artist, in 1897 Withers won the inaugural Wynne Prize for his landscape painting, The Storm
Withers’ impressionist paintings have frequently been described as poetic, recording the varying light and atmosphere of the Australian landscape and reflecting the influence of English artists such as David Cox and Constable.
He was elected president of the Victorian Artists Society (1904-05) and also assisted in the formation of the Australian Art Association in 1912. His work is held at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra and the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
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