Norman Macgeorge (8 July 1872 – 2 September 1952) was an artist and art critic in the colony and State of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

History

Norman Macgeorge, artist and collector, was a son of Rachel Elizabeth Macgeorge, née Luxmoore and Alexander Macgeorge, and grandson of

Robert Forsyth Macgeorge Robert Forsyth Macgeorge (1796 – 26 October 1859) was an early settler of South Australia who is remembered for founding the property which is now the Adelaide suburb of Urrbrae. A number of his children were prominent in the early history of S ...

, prosperous tailors and drapers of

Hindley Street Hindley Street is located in the north-west quarter of the centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs between King William Street and West Terrace. The street was named after Charles Hindley, a British parliamentarian and soc ...

then King William Street in

Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

. He was educated at

St Peter's College, Adelaide , other_name = The Collegiate School of St Peter , seal_image = St Peter's College, Adelaide Logo.svg , seal_size = 150 , image = SPSC chapel and memorial hall.jpg , image_size ...

and studied art at the School of Design in Adelaide under H. P. Gill, and between the years 1891 and 1895 taught art classes at Glenelg Grammar, Queen's College, and Hahndorf College, then moved to Melbourne to continue his studies at the

National Gallery School The National Gallery of Victoria Art School, associated with the National Gallery of Victoria, was a private fine arts college founded in 1867 and was Australia's leading art school of 50 years. It is also referred to as the 'National Gallery ...

. After failing to win a travelling scholarship in 1899, he made his own way to Britain and Europe, where he visited major centres of art.Ray Marginson, 'Macgeorge, Norman (1872–1952)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/macgeorge-norman-7356/text12777, published first in hardcopy 1986, accessed online 26 February 2015. He taught freehand drawing at Wesley College, Melbourne, Melbourne Teachers' College, and Melbourne Church of England Grammar School. He married in 1911 and engaged

Harold Desbrowe-Annear Harold Desbrowe-Annear (16 August 1865 – 22 June 1933) was an influential Australian architect who was at the forefront of the development of the Arts and Crafts movement in the country. During the 1890s he was an instructor in architecture a ...

to build, in bushland at the junction of

Darebin Creek Darebin Creek is a Stream, creek that runs through the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It is the main watercourse of the Darebin Valley and a major tributary of the Yarra River. For tens of thousands of yea ...

and the

Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stre ...

, at 25 Riverside Road,

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' () by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. Set in England in the Middle Ages, this novel marked a shift away from Scott’s prior practice of setting st ...

, a residence "Ballangeich" which remained their lifelong home and a popular gathering place for artists. Now known as "Macgeorge House", it is used by the University of Melbourne to host visiting artists-in-residence. Norman was a prominent member of the

Australian Art Association The Australian Art Association was founded in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1912 by Edward Officer (inaugural president) John Mather, Frederick McCubbin, Max Meldrum and Walter Withers.Judy Blyth, Mather, John (1848? - 1916), ''Australian Dictionary ...

and its second president, and in 1938 helped found the

Contemporary Art Society The Contemporary Art Society (CAS) is an independent charity that champions the collecting of outstanding contemporary art and craft for UK museum collections. Since its founding in 1910 the organisation has donated over 10,000 works to museums ...

. He wrote regularly on the arts for the Melbourne

Herald A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms. Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen to ...

Legacy

Childless, Norman died in 1952 and his wife in 1970, leaving their estate to the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

, where it continues to fund the Norman Macgeorge Scholarship which ... :provides PhD students in the visual, creative and performing arts, music, architecture, conservation, literature, creative writing, language, history, philosophy and anthropology at the University of Melbourne with financial assistance to travel overseas on a research trip.

Works

''Mother of Pearl'' (1906)
held by the

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 ...

*''Beach scene with man and woman'' and *''Venice'' (1930) :held by th
Ian Potter Gallery
of the University of Melbourne. The University also has a large portrait of Macgeorge, painted by his friend and near-neighbour

Napier Waller Mervyn Napier Waller CMG OBE (19 June 189330 March 1972) was a noted Australian muralist, mosaicist and painter in stained glass and other media. He is perhaps best known for the mosaics and stained glass for the Hall of Memory at the Aus ...

Bibliography

*Norman Macgeorge ''Borovansky Ballet in Australia and New Zealand'' (1946) *Norman Macgeorge ''The Arts in Australia'' (1948)

Family

Norman Macgeorge married May Ina Hepburn (5 May 1882 – 27 August 1970) of

Mornington, Victoria Mornington is a suburb on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Mornington recorded a populatio ...

on 25 January 1911. May was granddaughter of

John Stuart Hepburn Captain John Stuart Hepburn (1803–1860) was an early pastoralist and landholder in Victoria, Australia. Hepburn was born in Scotland in 1803. He initially became a seafaring man and progressed to become master of a 226-ton brig, ''Alice''. In ...

. They had no children. An uncle,

James Macgeorge James Macgeorge (1832 – 9 December 1918) was a Scottish-born architect in South Australia. He is remembered for erecting South Australia's first telegraph line. History James Macgeorge was born in Scotland, the fifth son of tailor Robert Forsyt ...

, an Adelaide architect, was a prominent member of the

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 ...

. A family chart, which features a number of notable people, can be found

here Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Television * Here TV (formerly "here!"), a TV ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macgeorge, Norman Australian art critics 1872 births 1952 deaths 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian male artists Australian male painters Australian people of Scottish descent People educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide Artists from Adelaide National Gallery of Victoria Art School alumni