Edward Officer

Australian artist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edward Officer

Edward Cairns Officer (19 September 1871 – 7 July 1921) was an Australian artist and the inaugural president of the Australian Art Association.[1]

Quick Facts Born, Died ...
Edward Cairns Officer
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Edward Cairns Officer, c. 1921
Born19 Sept 1871
Murray Downs, NSW, Australia
Died7 July 1921
Macedon, Victoria
OccupationArtist
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Early life and education

Officer was born in 1871 at Murray Downs, New South Wales, near Swan Hill, Victoria.[1][2] He was the third son of Suetonius Henry Officer and his wife Mary Lillias Rigg, a daughter of the Rev. Adam Cairns. His grandfather, Sir Robert Officer,[3] was speaker of the Tasmanian house of assembly for many years. Officer was educated at Toorak College[3] and studied art under Frederick McCubbin at the National Gallery of Victoria.[2][4] From there, he went to Paris[3] in 1895[2] and studied at Julien's.

Career

Officer exhibited at leading exhibitions in Paris and London, including the Paris Salons,[3] and, in 1903, was the winner of the Wynne prize awarded by the national gallery, Sydney.[5] In 1912, his painting, "The Woolshed", was purchased under the Alfred Felton bequest for the national gallery, Melbourne. Unable to enlist to serve in World War I,[2] Officer organised the sale of 95 of his paintings[6] netting £800 for the Red Cross Fund.[7]

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The Old Mill, Normandy by Edward Cairns Officer

At a meeting on 30 August 1912 which founded the Australian Art Association at Melbourne, he was elected its president and held the position for the rest of his life.[1] He was appointed a trustee of the public library, museums and national gallery of Victoria in 1916.

Death

He died at Macedon, Victoria, on 7 July 1921.[3] He was survived by his wife Grace, the daughter of Sir Thomas Fitzgerald,[3] whom he had married in 1908.[2]

References

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