Frederick McCubbin

http://www.artistsfootsteps.com/

http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/collection/australian/painting/m/mccubbin_f/education_kit.html

A painter of "heroic figure compositions" set in nationalist landscapes, McCubbin studied at the Artisan's School of Design under Louis Buvelot during the late 1860s and in 1871 he enrolled at the National Gallery School in Melbourne under Eugene Von Guerard.

It was in 1871 that McCubbin began a five year apprenticeship as a coach painter. He began a 'life club' in 1882 for himself and other students to make up for the shortcomings of the Art School. in 1884 he won a major student prize for 'Home Again'. A year later he, Roberts and Abrahams set up the first Box Hill artists' camp. This group of three quickly expanded to become the Heidelberg School which culminated in the 9 x 5 Impressions Exhibition in 1889.

McCubbin became a full-time teacher at the National Gallery School from 1886 till his death in 1917. He spent most of his life in and around Melbourne. In 1907 a short European trip marked a great shift in compositions, his paintings becoming smaller light-filled pure landscapes, with a strong reference to the works of the Englishman, Turner.

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