The
Twenty Melbourne Painters
Society Inc.
Est 1918
2008
the 90th Anniversary
Twenty Melbourne Painters Society
The Tradition continues...
In 1918, a group of prominent Melbourne artists, at odds with the art
establishment, and forthright in their beliefs, demonstrated their
convictions by founding the Twenty Melbourne Painters Society, while
meeting together in a studio in Hardware Chambers, Elizabeth Street,
Melbourne. The Society was formed for the purpose of exhibiting
annually as a group.
There are not many groups of independent painters in Australia or
elsewhere, which survive their initial exhibition for more that a few
years. Now in its 90th year, the TMPS continues to honour the
passion and foresight of its illustrious founders, as an enduring forum
for the promotion of scholarly application to depictive,
representational painting, with particular regard for the visual effects of
natural appearances
Events surrounding the turbulent origins of what was then a radical
group captured the attention of media and public alike. Acknowledging
a debt to Max Meldrum’s school of tonal realism, TMPS Founding
Secretary, A.M.E. Bale stated:
“We desire nothing but sincerity and a humble study of nature, from
which alone all art, whether decorative or realistic, draws any enduring
life.”
Today that raison d'être holds true. The TMPS continues as an
exhibiting body of professional artists, each of whom takes pride in
honouring the society’s ethos, its unique spirit, and the privilege in
sharing in its wonderful lineage and the standards set by past
members- many being names now legendary in the history of
Australian art.
Membership is by invitation. Current TMPS members bring exemplary
standards to their painting, and to their teaching and judging
responsibilities and aim to promote and consolidate the standards of
traditional art in Australia, and also to encourage fellowship amongst
painters in the community. The Society also maintains a dedicated
commitment to the A.M.E. Bale Travelling Scholarship - Australia's
premier award for traditional painting.
Paul McDonald Smith OAM
President
Celebrating 90 years of traditional painting
1918 - 2008
Alice Bale, Edith Downing, Polly Hurry, A.E. Newbury, Isobel Tweddle, George Colville,
Rose A. Walker, William Frater, Richard McCann, Carl Hampel, Mrs H. M. Gulliver,
Jas Stuart Anderson, Jo Sweatman.
Rupert Bunny
Victor Cobb
Percy Leason
Arnold Shore
John Farmer
Malcolm Warner
E. Kimpton
Arthur Markham
Alan Martin
George Bell
Alexander Colquhoun
John Rowell
Max Meldrum
William Rowell
Margery Withers
John Loxton
Percy Watson
Francis Roy Thompson
Alfred Coleman
John Borrack
Sir William Dargie
David Moore
Shirley Bourne
Margaret Cromb
Dorothy Whitehead Griffiths
Marjorie Martin
David Newbury
Gordon Speary
Patricia Moran
Elizabeth Colquhoun
Colin Colahan
James Quinn
Harley Griffiths
Reshid Bey
Alan Gallagher
Edgar Finley
Ramon Horsfield
A.W. Harding
Clarice Beckett
August Cornehls
Sir John Longstaff
Rollo Thompson
Alma Figuerola
Ernest Buckmaster
John Munro
Edwin Doutch
Ron Crawford
Sybil Craig
Rex Bramleigh
John Hennessey
Max Casey
Peter Glass
June Hobart
Douglas Miller
Audrey Snell
Graham Moore
Judith Perrey
Current TMPS Membership 2008
Angela Abbott, Greg Allen, June Barnett, Bill Caldwell, Margaret Cowling, John
Dudley, Jacqueline Fowler, Amanda Hyatt, Herman Pekel, Lee Machelak, Barbara
McCallum, Paul McDonald Smith (President), Ross Paterson, Clive Sinclair, Peter
Smales, David Taylor, Maxwell Wilks, Judith Wills & Joseph Zbukvic
July 23rd - August 3rd, 2008
Glen Eira City Art Gallery - Cnr Glen Eira and Hawthorn Rds, Caulfield, Melbourne.
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