Henry James Johnstone (1835–1907) was a leading portrait photographer in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia during the 1870s and 1880s, and also a prominent artist.Johnstone, O'Shannessy and Co
, Cambridge University LibraryNational Library of Australia
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Early life

Henry Johnstone was born in Birmingham, England, in 1835 and studied art under a number of private teachers and at the Birmingham School of Design before joining his father's photographic firm.

Photographic activity

He arrived in Melbourne, Australia, in 1853 aged 18. In 1862 he bought out the Duryea and MacDonald Studio and started work as Johnstone and Co. In 1865 the firm became

Johnstone, O'Shannessy and Co Johnstone, O’Shannessy & Co was a leading photographic studio located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was active from 1865 to 1905. History Henry James Johnstone was born in Birmingham, England, in 1835 and studied art under a number of ...

. with partner Emily O’Shannessy and co-owner George Hasler. Johnstone, O’Shannessy & Co. were Melbourne’s leading portrait photographers whose services were sought by governors, visiting royalty, politicians and other prominent members of society. Johnstone impressed the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produc ...

during his visit to Victoria and was appointed to his staff as Royal Photographer. Examples of Johnstone, O’Shannessy & Co.’s photographic portraits were included in the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition of 1875 and the 1888 Melbourne International Exhibition where the excellence of their work was noted by the judges. File:3rdViscountCanterbury.jpg, 3rd Viscount Canterbury, Governor of Victoria from 1866 to 1873 File:Lady Constance Knox 1899.jpg, Lady Constance Knox, daughter of the 5th Earl of Ranfurly, Governor of New Zealand, 1899 File:Clement Hodgkinson, c.1893.jpg, Clement Hodgkinson, Victorian Assistant Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey from 1861 to 1874, c.1893

Artistic activity

Johnstone was also a prominent artist. After studying with sculptor Charles Summers and then joining

Louis Buvelot Louis Buvelot ( Morges 3 March 1814 – Melbourne 30 May 1888), born Abram-Louis Buvelot, was a Swiss landscape painter who lived 17 years in Brazil and following 5 years back in Switzerland stayed 23 years in Australia, where he influenced the H ...

's painting school in 1867, he joined the Melbourne National Gallery School of Painting under Thomas Clark. He became a member of the

Victorian Academy of Arts The Victorian Artists Society, which can trace its establishment to 1856 in Melbourne, promotes artistic education, art classes and gallery hire exhibition in Australia. It was formed in March 1888 when the Victorian Academy of Arts (previously Vi ...

in 1871, and a member of the Society of British Artists.

Later life

In 1876 Johnstone left Melbourne for South Australia, where his realistic, highly detailed studies of local scenes were well received; he is represented in the

Art Gallery of South Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...

by three paintings
''Evening shadows, backwater of the Murray''''The Waterfall, Morialta''
and an untitled nude seated by a stream. He then travelled extensively in America, and then in 1880 to London, where he regularly exhibited paintings at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

until 1900. He painted to order several landscapes for theatre entrepreneur

Edgar Chapman Edgar Chapman (1831 – 11 September 1886) was a brewer and businessman in Adelaide, South Australia, closely associated with the Theatre Royal. History James Chapman, a tailor and draper of Kent, England, emigrated to South Australia with his ...

. He died in London in 1907 aged 72.

References

External links

Johnstone & O'Shannessy & Co on Flickr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnstone, Henry James 19th-century Australian artists Australian painters 1835 births 1907 deaths Artists from Birmingham, West Midlands Artists from Melbourne 19th-century Australian photographers English emigrants to colonial Australia National Gallery of Victoria Art School alumni