Sir John Campbell Longstaff (10 March 1861 – 1 October 1941) was an Australian painter, war artist and a five-time winner of the

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor ...

for portraiture. His cousin

Will Longstaff William Frederick Longstaff (25 December 1879 – 1 July 1953) was an Australian painter and war artist best known for his works commemorating those who died in the First World War. Birth and education Born in Ballarat, Victoria (Australia), Vi ...

was also a painter and war artist. Longstaff was known for being fashionable and for being one of the most prolific portrait painters of the early 20th century.

Biography

Longstaff was born at Clunes, Victoria, second son of Ralph Longstaff, storekeeper and Janet (Jessie) Campbell. John was educated at a boarding school in Miners Rest and Clunes State School. He later studied at the Melbourne National Gallery School, after his father initially disapproved of his artistic ambitions. Longstaff's talent was recognised by

George Folingsby George Frederick Folingsby (23 August 1828 – 4 January 1891) was an Irish-born Australian painter and art educator. Folingsby was born in the County of Wicklow, Ireland. At the age of 18 he emigrated to Canada. Later he went to New York Cit st ...

. He married Rosa Louisa (Topsy) Crocker on 20 July 1887 Powlett Street, East Melbourne. He won 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 ...

's first travelling scholarship for his 1887 narrative painting ''

Breaking the News ''Breaking the News'' is a 1912 Australian melodrama film directed by W. J. Lincoln based on John Longstaff's 1887 painting of the same name. It is considered a lost film. Plot A prospector looks for a wife to live with him and eventually g ...

'' (which inspired a 1912 film of the same name), and John and his wife sailed from Melbourne 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 ...

in September 1887. In January 1888 they travelled to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, where John exhibited in the

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial ar ...

. He later moved to London, where he painted many portraits. He returned to Australia in 1894 and was given several commissions. He occupied a studio at

Grosvenor Chambers Grosvenor Chambers, at number 9 Collins Street, Melbourne, contained the first custom-built complex of artists' studios in Australia. The construction costs were almost £6,000 and the building opened in April 1888. The owner was Charles Stewar ...

in Melbourne from 1897 to 1900. The National Gallery of Victoria assumed ownership of ''The Sirens'' under terms of the scholarship and bought his large landscape ''Gippsland, Sunday night, 20 February 1898''. He travelled to London again in 1901, where he exhibited with the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

. Longstaff was appointed an official war artist with the Australian Infantry Force in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. He made several portraits of officers in the military. On his return to Australia he won several awards and was given distinguished positions, such as his appointment to President of the Victorian Artists Society in 1924 and Trustee of the National Gallery of Victoria in 1927. He was knighted in the 1928 New Year Honours List, the first Australian artist to have had this honour. In 1924, Longstaff met Miss Jessica Harcourt, at the time a theatre programme seller, and later actress, in Sydney and later called "Australia's loveliest girl". He was struck by her beauty and painted her twice. In 1925 he exhibited Harcourt's portrait with Twenty Melbourne Painters at the Athenaeum Hall. Longstaff was happy with his subject, regarding Harcourt as "almost a perfect type of feminine beauty", and it was considered "one of the best things he had ever done." His 1929 portrait of the artist Ellis Rowan was the first national portrait of an Australian woman. 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 ...

holds his portraits of Paris Nesbit

an
The Artist's Wife
Longstaff's portraits of women were the subject of the 2012 exhibition ''Portrait of a Lady'' at the Shepparton Art Museum.

Biography

His biography ''Portrait in Youth'', written by Nina Murdoch was published in 1948. His 1920 portrait of Nina Murdoch hangs in Reading Room of the

National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant wo ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

.Murdoch, Madoline (Nina) (1890–1976)
Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved on 1 November 2021.

Archibald prize

His Archibald Prize winning pieces: *1925 - ''Portrait of Maurice Moscovitch'' *1928 - ''Portrait of Dr Alexander Leeper'' *1929 - ''W A Holman, KC'' *1931 - ''Sir John Sulman'' *1935 - ''A B ('Banjo') Paterson''

Gallery

Image:John Longstaff - Breaking the News, 1887.jpg, ''

'', 1887, Art Gallery of Western Australia Image:John Longstaff Lady in Grey 1890.jpg, ''Lady In Grey'', 1890,

Image:John Longstaff The Young Mother.jpg, ''The Young Mother'', 1891, National Gallery of Victoria Image:John Longstaff Sirens.jpg, ''The Sirens'', 1892, National Gallery of Victoria Image:John Longstaff Artist's Wife.jpg, ''The Artist's Wife'', 1896,

Image:Gippsland, Sunday night, February 20th, 1898.jpg, ''Gippsland, Sunday night, February 20th, 1898'', 1898, National Gallery of Victoria Image:John Longstaff - Henry Lawson - Google Art Project.jpg, ''

Henry Lawson Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial perio ...

'', 1900,

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 import ...

Image:John Longstaff - Arrival of Burke, Wills and King, 1861.jpg, ''Arrival of Burke, Wills and King at the deserted camp at Cooper's Creek, Sunday evening, 21 April 1861'', 1907, National Gallery of Victoria Image:John Longstaff Leeper1928.jpg, ''Dr Alexander Leeper'', National Gallery of Victoria, 1928

References

*Leigh Astbury
'Longstaff, Sir John Campbell (1861–1941)'

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

, Volume 10, MUP, 1986, pp 141–142.

External links

John Longstaff
at Artcyclopedia

at the Australian War Memorial
Portrait of Jessica Harcourt, 1925, National Gallery of VictoriaCatalogue for ''Portrait of a Lady'' exhibition, 2012, Shepparton Art Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Longstaff, John 1861 births 1941 deaths Knights Bachelor Australian war artists Australian portrait painters Archibald Prize winners Archibald Prize finalists People from Clunes, Victoria World War I artists 19th-century Australian painters 19th-century Australian male artists 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian male artists Australian male painters National Gallery of Victoria Art School alumni