Charles Conder ’ s Hawkesbury Sketchbook
In the nineteenth century Charles Conder along with other well-known artists such as Tom Roberts , Arthur Streeton and Frederick McCubbin transformed the Australian art scene with a form of painting , ‘ en plein air ’, also referred to as Australian impressionism .
Charles Edward Conder was born in 1868 in London , the son of civil engineer James and wife Mary Ann . James took a position in India and for several years , the family resided with him .
His mother died in 1873 so Charles and his brother returned to England and lived with Elizabeth Pryce , his mother ’ s friend . James Conder remarried and remained in India .
After his schooling , Charles ’ father organised work in the NSW Lands Department , with his uncle , despite his own plans to ‘ take up art ’ which his father opposed . Aged fifteen , Charles travelled to Sydney in 1884 , met his father ’ s brother , William Jacomb Conde , for the first time and was employed as a surveyor .
By 1886 Conder abandoned surveying and became a lithographic apprentice with the publishers Gibbs , Shallard & Co . Bye this time his landscape sketches appeared in the Illustrated Sydney News from time to time .
The role left him time to socialise and
Charles Conder 1868-1909 , Government Printing Office . Courtesy : State Library of NSW . sketch with other artists such as A . Henry Fullwood , Frank Mahoney and B . E . Minns .
Blessed with good looks , Conder was tall and blonde and noted as ‘ a gregarious and sociable young man ’. He attended classed with Minns at the Art Society of NSW and shared lodgings .
He became acquainted with many of the notable figures of the art scene , including G . V . F . Mann , Alfred Daplyn and Julian Ashton , who described Conder as ‘ averse to any form of discipline ’.
Through classes at the Art Society , students were given the rare opportunity of learning the realist techniques of painting in oil and watercolour on the spot . Other artists the young Conder was influenced by included Girolamo Nerli and Phil May .
With Mann , Conder went on excursions to paint in the mid-1880s . Mann recollected in a letter that he and Conder ‘ became close friends , and had many trips to the Hawkesbury with Julian Ashton and others .’ They shared a ‘ room together at a farmhouse on the Hawkesbury River near the Richmond Bridge . Conder was not a hard worker ’, while [ Conder ] ‘ spent most of his time chasing girls around the haystacks .’
It appears that Conder was captivated with our local scenery and produced a number of watercolours and pencil sketches of views in a small leather-bound sketchbook , dated May 1887 .
This priceless item is now in the State Library of NSW .
Late in 1887 when his work was exhibited at the Art Society , one critic wrote :
‘ One of the best of the small subjects is Low Tide , Hawkesbury River by Mr . Charles Conder . In it there are signs of future power . He has a freedom of touch which is characteristic of power … something more should be heard of this young artist .’
There were a number of visits to the Hawkesbury , including several in 1888 when he spent two weeks with Fullwood , Mahoney and others , staying at the Royal Hotel in Richmond . They painted at Griffith ’ s Farm on the river flats , down river from Richmond Bridge , using The Terrace as a backdrop and some of Tom Griffith ’ s daughters as models .
Several wellknown works of Conder were executed on this excursion including , All in a Garden Fair , The Farm and Springtime Richmond . Conder focussed on things outside the normal and his creativity was in his ‘ ability to transform the mundane into the
witty and appealing expressed his unique genius .’
His 1888 painting of the SS Orient at Circular Quay was acquired by the NSW Art Gallery and at the time , he was the youngest artist represented in the collection . He met artist Tom Roberts on a visit to Sydney in 1888 . With the pair having an interest in impressionism , it was this meeting which possibly challenged Conder ’ s perception of his future , as he was encouraged to move to Melbourne . Before he left Sydney , twenty-yearold Conder was diagnosed with syphilis , which created health issues down the track .
With Roberts and Streeton , he spent time painting at the Eaglemont Camp near Heidelberg .
Art curator Barry Pearce wrote , “ Amongst those who created the Heidelberg school in Australia , Roberts brought it intellectual rigour , McCubbin poetic nostalgia , and Streeton unbridled confidence . Charles Conder gave it wings of imagination .”
As a promising young painter , with the desire to develop his talent , Conder travelled to Europe in 1890 with plans to enhance his career and study . His uncle provided him with the funds .
While living in Paris , he befriended the fashionable painters Henri Toulouse- Lautrec and Louis Anquetin , who not only expanded his art but his understanding of unconventional thinking .
He was also friendly with other
Mr Dight ’ s House Richmond [ 1887 ]. Courtesy : Dixson Galleries , State Library of NSW .
Bohemians such as Aubrey Beardsley and Oscar Wilde . For several years Conder selfindulged in the decadent pleasure of Paris but eventually it took a toll on his health .
For the next few years , between periods of melancholy and selfdestruction , Conder ’ s art developed . In 1894 he commenced painting exquisite works on fans , which were very popular at the time .
He indulged in a number of love affairs and eventually married Stella Maris Bedford , a wealthy Canadian in 1900 in Paris . They settled in England .
For the last few years of his life , Condor experienced extreme ill-health including paralysis , ‘ from his drinking and syphilis ’, which restricted his painting . Stella used all her possible means to combat his sickness , sending him to specialists and sanitoriums for treatment .
Conder died from ‘ general paralysis of the insane ’ in 1909 at Virginia Water , Surrey aged 40 years . Stella died in 1912 .
Charles Conder was an enigmatic personality in the art world . For the short time he lived in Australia , Conder played an influential role in the development of the art scene . He left a wealth of works displaying his passionate imagination and vision .
View copies of Charles Conder ’ s Hawkesbury Sketchbook on display at Central Library , 300 George Street Windsor until 31 July .
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10 ISSUE 142 // MARCH 2022 theindependentmagazine . com . au THE HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT