Robert Hawker Dowling (1827 – 8 July 1886) was an Australian colonial artist.

Biography

Dowling was born in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

the youngest son of Rev. Henry Dowling and his wife Elizabeth, ''née'' Darke. He was brought to Launceston, Tasmania with his parents in 1839 in the ''Janet''. He received lessons from

Thomas Bock Thomas Bock was an English-Australian artist and an early adopter of photography in Australia. Born in England he was sentenced to transportation in 1823. After gaining his freedom he set himself up as one of Australia's first professional ar ...

and

Frederick Strange Frederick Strange (? – 1854) was a collector of plant and animal specimens during the early colonisation of Australia. Strange was apparently born in Aylsham, in Norfolk, England, tentatively given as 1826 by his earliest biographer although ...

, and in 1850 advertised as a portrait painter. In 1856 Dowling left for

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

partly with the help of friends in Launceston. He exhibited 16 pictures at the Royal Academy between 1859 and 1882 and others at the British Institute. Returning to Launceston he afterwards came to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and painted portraits of Sir Henry Loch, Dr James Moorhouse,

Francis Ormond Francis Ormond (23 November 1827 – 5 May 1889) was a Scottish-born Australian pastoralist, member of the Parliament of Victoria and philanthropist in the areas of education and religion. Ormond is notable for founding the Working Men's Col ...

, and others. He went to London again in 1886 but died shortly after his arrival. Dowling was a conscientious painter of figure subjects, often scriptural or eastern. He is represented in the Melbourne and Launceston galleries. On 2 May 2007, one of Dowling's paintings – ''Masters George, William and Miss Harriet Ware with the Aborigine Jamie Ware'' – was bought for A$823,500 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 ...

References

* * Isabella J. Mead,
Dowling, Robert Hawker (1827 - 1886)
, '' Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 4, MUP, 1972, p. 98. Retrieved on 4 October 2008 Additional resources listed by the ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'': *H. Button, ''Flotsam and Jetsam'' (Launceston, 1909); 'no 364. "Early Effort: Art in Australia"', ''Art-Journal'' (London), 1860, p 169; ''Art-Journal'' (London), 1860, pp 351, 379; Examiner (Launceston), 5, 19 Mar 1851, 25 Aug, 20, 23 Oct 1860, 19 Feb 1863, 16 Feb, 20 1864, 15, 17 July 1886; ''Atlas'' (London), 25 Aug 1860; ''Cornwall Chronicle'' (Launceston), 20 Oct 1860, 29 June 1877; ''Daily Telegraph'' (Launceston), 23 Feb, 26 Mar 1885, ''Tasmanian'' (Launceston), 24 Apr 1886

External links

Robert Dowling
at ARTcyclopedia
Grandfather's visit 1865
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Ballarat Fine Art Gallery The Art Gallery of Ballarat is the oldest and largest regional art gallery in Australia. Established in 1884 as the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery by the citizens of Ballarat, both the building and part of its collection is listed on the Victorian H ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dowling, Robert Hawker 1827 births 1886 deaths English emigrants to colonial Australia Settlers of Tasmania 19th-century Australian painters 19th-century Australian male artists Australian male painters