John William Tristram (7 October 1870 – 19 August 1938) was an Australian artist who painted primarily in

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

. He commonly signed his paintings "J. W. Tristram".

Biography

Born at Gillingham,

Kent, England Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces the ...

, Tristram was the first of eight children to his parents Samuel Herbert Tristram and Hannah Thompson. His father was a gunnery instructor in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and accepted a posting in Australia which resulted in the family's emigration. John was 13 when they arrived in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

on 21 December 1883. Tristram's artistic abilities were utilised in seeking employment and by April 1885 he was accepted as a junior draftsman in the Architect’s Branch of the Department of Public Instruction (which became the Department of Education in 1915). He was to remain in this career until he retired in 1930. On 14 October 1891 he married Maude Face at

Woollahra Woollahra is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woollahra is located 5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra. W ...

, in Sydney's eastern suburbs. In 1899 John, Maude and their two surviving children moved north of Sydney Harbour to Mosman which, from its earliest days, had strong connections with the creative arts in Sydney. He remained a resident of Mosman until his death in 1938. During his life Tristram was an active participant on the committees of three art societies: Art Society of New South Wales (which became the Royal Art Society of New South Wales when its Royal charter was granted in 1903),

Australian Watercolour Institute The Australian Watercolour Institute (AWI) is a non-profit membership organization devoted to the advancement of watercolour painting in Australia. It was founded in 1923 by six painters in Sydney, and was modeled after the Royal Watercolour Soci ...

and Australian Art Society. Aside from his painting, Tristram was known as a contributor of poetry to publications such as '' The Bulletin'' and '' The Lone Hand'' as well as being a talented musician. J. W. Tristram died in Sydney on 19 August 1938 and was survived by his wife Maude and children Ashwin, John, Norah and Molly.

Works

Tristram's watercolours were typically soft and delicate. He was best known for his coastal scenes and rural landscapes which were often nocturnes or low light depictions of dawn or dusk. His works can be found in the collections of many Australian public galleries including:

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...

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

Queensland Art Gallery The Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) is an art museum located in South Bank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The gallery is part of QAGOMA. It complements the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) building, situated only away. The Queensland Art Gallery ...

Gallery

File:Double_Bay_(1893).jpg, Double Bay (1893) File:Untitled_(seascape)_(1905).jpg, Untitled (seascape) (1905) File:Sydney_Harbour_(1908).jpg, Sydney Harbour (1908) File:Pastoral 1916.jpg, Pastoral (1916) File:End_of_the_day_(1918).jpg, End of the day (1918) File:South coast rock platform with penguins 1922.jpg, South coast rock platform with penguins (1922) File:Beachscape 1924.jpg, Beachscape (1924) File:The creek in morning mist.jpg, The creek in morning mist (1924) File:The_pool_(1924).jpg, The pool (1924) File:Moonlight reflection through the mist 1930.jpg, Moonlight reflection through the mist (1930)

Biography

Works

Gallery

References

Further reading