John Stuart Dowie
AM (15 January 1915 – 19 March 2008) was an Australian painter, sculptor and teacher. His work includes over 50 public sculpture commissions, including the "Three Rivers" fountain in
Victoria Square, "Alice" in
Rymill Park
Rymill Park / Murlawirrapurka (previously spelt Mullawirraburka), and numbered as Park 14, is a recreation park located in the East Park Lands of the South Australian capital of Adelaide. There is an artificial lake with rowboats for hire, a ...
, the "
Victor Richardson Gates" at
Adelaide Oval
Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby ...
and the "Sir Ross & Sir Keith Smith Memorial" at
Adelaide Airport
Adelaide Airport , also known as Adelaide International Airport, is the principal airport of Adelaide, South Australia and the List of the busiest airports in Australia, fifth-busiest airport in Australia, servicing 8.5 million passenger ...
.
History
Dowie was born in the
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 ...
suburb of
Prospect, a son of Charles Stuart Dowie (c. 1874–1937) and his wife Gertrude Phillis Dowie, née Davey (1881–1956), who married in 1910. His siblings were David Lincoln Dowie (1911–1991), Jean Phillis Dowie (1913–2010), and Donald Alexander "Don" Dowie (1917–2016). The family moved to the leafy suburb of
Dulwich
Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of ...
in 1917.
He attended Rose Park primary school and
Adelaide High School
Adelaide High School is a coeducational state high school situated on the corner of West Terrace and Glover Avenue in the Adelaide Parklands. Following the Advanced School for Girls, it was the second government high school in South Australi ...
before studying
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
at the
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...
and painting at the
South Australian School of Art; teachers included
Ivor Hele
Sir Ivor Henry Thomas Hele, CBE (13 June 1912 – 1 December 1993) was an Australian artist noted for portraiture. He was Australia's longest serving war artist and completed more commissioned works than any other in the history of Austra ...
and Marie Tuck.
[John Stuart Dowie](_blank)
, Carrick Hill
Carrick Hill is a publicly accessible historic property at the foot of the Adelaide Hills, in the suburb of Springfield, in South Australia. It was the Adelaide home of Sir Edward "Bill" Hayward and his wife Ursula (née Barr-Smith), and con ...
(Government of South Australia
The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...
).
He enlisted with the
2nd AIF
The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the name given to the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initial ...
in 1940, serving in the 2/43rd Battalion and fought in the siege of Tobruk — the "
Rats of Tobruk
The Rats of Tobruk were soldiers of the Australian-led Allied garrison that held the Libyan port of Tobruk against the Afrika Corps, during the Siege of Tobruk in World War II. The siege started on 11 April 1941 and was relieved on 10 December. ...
". He next worked in the Military History Unit of the Second AIF as an assistant to Australia's first official war sculptor,
Lyndon Dadswell.
In 1943 he returned to his old Battalion, serving at
Finschhafen
Finschhafen is a town east of Lae on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The town is commonly misspelt as Finschafen or Finschaven. During World War II, the town was also referred to as Fitch Haven in the logs of some U.S ...
, New Guinea.
After studying art in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
, Dowie returned to Australia and became a member of the
Royal South Australian Society of Arts
The South Australian Society of Arts was a society for artists in South Australia, later with a royal warrant renamed The Royal South Australian Society of Arts in 1935.
History
A meeting of persons interested in the formation of a society for the ...
and
Dorrit Black
Dorothea Foster Black (23 December 1891 – 13 September 1951) was an Australian painter and printmaker of the modernism, Modernist school, known for being a pioneer of Modernism in Australia. In 1951, at the age of sixty, Black was killed in a ...
's "Group 9", which included
Geoffrey Shedley and Mary Shedley,
Lisette Kohlhagen, Mary Harris, Ernst Milston, Marjorie Gwynne, and Ruby Henty..
One of his earliest commissions was from Adelaide architect D. P. Michelmore for the
Ross and Keith Smith memorial, first installed outside the Vickers-Vimy hangar at the domestic terminal, West Beach Airport (since renamed Adelaide Airport). A massive undertaking, it consists of four oversize standing figures in high relief, carved in Gosford sandstone, overall size , and was unveiled on 27 April 1958. It now stands outside the Vickers-Vimy Memorial at the east end of the new Terminal.
Since that time he made many dozens of statues, mostly in bronze, of prominent figures, none more so perhaps than the bust of
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
, who sat for him on five occasions in 1987 in the Yellow Drawing-room at Buckingham Palace. Dowie modelled directly in clay, from which he made plaster moulds (at the Palace) which were sent to the Meridian Sculpture Foundry,
Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to:
People As a given name
*Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name:
**FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855)
** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...
, Melbourne, to be cast in bronze, by the lost-wax process, in time for the official opening of New Parliament House in March 1988.
Recognition
Dowie was made a Member of the
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
in 1981 in recognition of his service to the arts as a sculptor and painter.
He was nominated for Senior Australian of the Year in 2005,
Personal
After the death of his mother Dowie purchased the family home at 28 Gurney Road, Dulwich. Dowie never married. The painter
Penny Dowie
A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is th ...
(1948–) is a niece.
Dowie died on 19 March 2008, aged 93, in an Adelaide nursing home, after having suffered a
stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
the week before,
Sculptor John Dowie dies
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
, 19 March 2008. and was buried in a country churchyard near Littlehampton, South Australia
Littlehampton is a village in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia, located on the Old Princes Highway. It is approximately 35 minutes from the Adelaide CBD via the South Eastern Freeway.
At the time of the 2016 Australian census, Littlehampt ...
.
Bibliography
''John Dowie: A Life in the Round'', autobiography ed. Tracey Lock-Weir, Wakefield Press Adelaide
Gallery
File:Ross and Keith Smith memorial (Dowie).jpg, Ross and Keith Smith memorial
File:Father and Son (Dowie) (2).jpg, ''Father and Son'', tribute to Sir John Downer
File:J150W-statue-Oliphant.jpg, Mark Oliphant
Sir Marcus Laurence Elwin Oliphant, (8 October 1901 – 14 July 2000) was an Australian physicist and humanitarian who played an important role in the first experimental demonstration of nuclear fusion and in the development of nuclear weapon ...
File:OliphantHead.jpg, Oliphant
File:J150W-statue-Florey-1.jpg, Howard Florey
Howard Walter Florey, Baron Florey (24 September 189821 February 1968) was an Australian pharmacologist and pathologist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Sir Ernst Chain and Sir Alexander Fleming for his role in ...
File:OIC adelaide gh lord florey statue.jpg, Florey
File:John Dowie bust of Louis Laybourne Smith.jpg, Louis Laybourne Smith
Louis Edouard Laybourne Smith CMG (1 April 1880 – 13 September 1965) was an architect and educator in South Australia. Born in the Adelaide inner-southern suburb of Unley, he became interested in engineering and architecture while in th ...
File:J150W-statue-Napier.jpg, Mellis Napier
Sir Thomas John Mellis Napier (24 October 1882 – 22 March 1976) was an Australian judge and academic administrator. He was a judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia between 28 February 1924 and 28 February 1967, Chief Justice of South ...
File:OIC adelaide gh mellis napier statue.jpg, Napier
File:Kangaroo and Platypus Hemel Hempstead.jpg, Kangaroo and Platypus, The Water Gardens, Hemel Hempstead, UK
File:Robert Richard Torrens bust.jpg, Robert Torrens
File:Statue of Alice - Rymill Park - Adelaide.jpg, Alice (in Wonderland)
File:Alice characters (Dowie).jpg, Characters at base of Alice statue
File:Mawson (Dowie).jpg, Douglas Mawson
File:Three Rivers.jpg, Three Rivers Fountain in Victoria Square, Adelaide
Victoria Square, also known as Tarntanyangga (formerly Tarndanyangga) (), is the central square of five public squares in the Adelaide city centre, South Australia.
It is one of six squares designed by the founder of Adelaide, Colonel William L ...
File:Victoriasquarefountain.jpg, Three Rivers fountain
File:Adelaide VictoriaSq Fountain Night2.JPG, Three Rivers fountain
File:J150W-statue-Dowie.jpg, Dowie by John Woffinden, 2006
File:Dowie (Woffinden).jpg, Dowie by Woffinden
File:J150W-statue-Dowie-text.jpg, Plaque for Woffinden head
File:Heysen at 89 (Dowie).jpg, Hans Heysen aged 89
File:John_Dowie_grave_marker.JPG, Original grave marker
File:John Dowie grave marker 2.jpg, Later headstone
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowie, John
1915 births
2008 deaths
Members of the Order of Australia
Artists from Adelaide
Artists from South Australia
20th-century Australian sculptors
20th-century Australian painters
20th-century Australian male artists
Australian male painters
Australian Army personnel of World War II
People educated at Adelaide High School
Military personnel from South Australia