Harry Pelling Gill (9 March 1855 – 25 May 1916), commonly referred to as H. P. Gill or Harry P. Gill, was an English-born Australian art curator, teacher and painter, who lived in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

for much of his life.

Background

Gill was born at

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, England, the son of Alfred Gill and his wife Frances Elizabeth, ''née'' Pelling. Gill studied at the Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School, the

Brighton School of Art Founded as the Brighton School of Art in 1859, the University of Brighton School of Art and Media is an organisational part of the University of Brighton, with courses in the creative arts, visual communication, media, craft and fashion and textil ...

, and at the

South Kensington School of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

(National Art Training School), where he won a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

in 1877. In 1882 Gill was appointed master of the School of Design at Adelaide, selected by the Board of Governors of the

South Australian Institute The State Library of South Australia, or SLSA, formerly known as the Public Library of South Australia, located on North Terrace, Adelaide, is the official library of the Australian state of South Australia. It is the largest public research l ...

, and held this position until 1909, when it was taken over by the Education Department and became the

Adelaide School of Art The South Australian School of Design was an art school in the earliest days of the City of Adelaide, the progenitor of the South Australian School of Arts, a department of the University of South Australia. Origin In 1856 Charles Hill started ...

, with Gill as Principal and Examiner. Gill brought with him the South Kensington system of art education, which entailed copying with great exactitude. He founded the

Adelaide Art Circle The Adelaide Art Circle was an association of artists in Adelaide, South Australia, founded by H. P. Gill. The club was founded early in 1890, with Gill as president and G. A. Reynolds as hon. secretary. According to the rules as laid down by Gil ...

in early 1890 as an exclusive club, limited to 12 members and restricted to professional artists. It held several exhibitions that were clearly dominated by Gill's work and was dissolved in 1892. In June that year Gill was elected president of the moribund South Australian Society of Arts and most committee positions were taken by members of the Circle, and marked a revival of the Society's fortunes. Later that year a split in the Society resulted in the formation of the

Adelaide Easel Club The Adelaide Easel Club was a society for South Australian painters which broke away from the South Australian Society of Arts in 1892 and which re-merged with the parent organization in 1901. History The club was founded in November 1892 when a g ...

. Gill published ''The Straight and Crooked Paths of Studentship'' in 1894. He was appointed honorary curator of 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 ...

, and in 1899 visited Europe where, with the assistance of a committee, he spent £10,000 on works of art. He was also responsible for purchasing works of young Australian artists such as

Tom Roberts Thomas William Roberts (8 March 185614 September 1931) was an English-born Australian artist and a key member of the Heidelberg School art movement, also known as Australian impressionism. After studying in Melbourne, he travelled to Europe i ...

Hans Heysen Sir Hans Heysen (8 October 18772 July 1968) was a German-born Australian artist. He became a household name for his watercolours of monumental Australian gum trees. He is one of Australia's best known landscape painters. Heysen also produced ...

and

Frederick McCubbin Frederick McCubbin (25 February 1855 – 20 December 1917) was an Australian artist, art teacher and prominent member of the Heidelberg School art movement, also known as Australian impressionism. Born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria, McCubb ...

. Gill was a longtime member of the South Australian Society of Arts and its president from 1909 to 1911. He was an Associate of the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

, London, and a

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

. He resigned from the School of Art on 1 July 1915 on account of ill health, and while on a voyage to England, for reasons of health, died in the Mediterranean between

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

and

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

on 25 May 1916, and was buried at sea. He was survived by his wife and two sons. Gill had a good reputation as a teacher and lecturer. One oil and three of his water-colours are in the

. One of his students was the architect Herbert Jory.

Family

Harry Pelling Gill married Annie Waring Wright, a granddaughter of

T. S. O'Halloran Thomas Shuldham O'Halloran (25 October 1797 – 16 August 1870) was the first Police Commissioner and first Police Magistrate of South Australia. Early life O'Halloran was born in Berhampore (now Baharampur) India, the second of eight sons of ...

, on 29 April 1886. They had two sons: *Lancelot Waring "Lance" Gill (22 August 1887 – 31 December 1969), married Isabel May Moore on 24 December 1912. Isabel was the third daughter of S. W. Moore MLA for NSW. *Erold Waring Gill (21 May 1891 – 25 July 1916) He died of wounds received during the

Somme Offensive The Battle of the Somme (French language, French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. I ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, Harry Pelling 1855 births 1916 deaths 19th-century English painters 20th-century English painters Associates of the Royal College of Art Australian art critics Australian art teachers Australian curators Australian painters Australian people of English descent English male painters People who died at sea 20th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists