Photographs of Will Ashton, his family and friends, and views of overseas trips including art galleries in U.S.A., 1917-ca.1947.

PXE 1398

fonds

1917-ca.1947

Graphic Materials, Photographs, Drawings, Ephemera

902426

1 watercolour - on card - 9.9 x 14.2 cm
187 photographs - black & white, some mounted - 30 x 38 cm or smaller

Sir John William 'Will' Ashton (1881-1963) painter, art administrator, was one of Australia's most prolific landscape painters. He was Director of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales (now AGNSW) from 1937 to 1945.

Reference: Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, 10 January 2013.

This pictorial material is part of the Ashton family - Papers, 1896-1980, at MLMSS 5399.

Item 1
33 photographs & 1 postcard

a. Ashton family home in Mosman.
b. ‘Grandpa James Ashton’s home, Cambridge Terrace, Brighton, Adelaide’.
c. ‘HB in studio at work on 1st study of Helen Knox’.
d. Postcard sent by Basil Ashton of the Sloop Inn, St. Ives, Cornwall.
e. ‘Athenic’ (ship), 1917.
f. Photo postcard ‘All aboard Stanley Street, North Adelaide’ with Will, May and Adrian Ashton with baby Colin, signed Basil Ashton.
g. Photo postcard ‘Old Dodge at Mornington, Palmer Place, Adelaide’ with Will, May and Adrian Ashton with baby Colin, signed Basil Ashton.
h. 5 photos of the exterior of the ‘Bossiney’ home.
i. 3 photos taken in Venice, one captioned ‘Mother (May) in Venice, note dad’s canvasses in gondola’ signed Basil Ashton.
j. 1 photo and 2 copies of unidentified painted portrait.
k. 1 photo of unidentified painted portrait by J.H.R. Rousel, 1947.
l. 1 copy of a portrait painting by Howard Barron of Winston S. Churchill, ca. 1941.
m. 1 photo of four unidentified men in front of a vehicle outside the Art Gallery of NSW, ca. 1920s.
n. 3 photos of the interior and 2 photos of the exterior of a house.
o. 1 portrait photo of Ella Shields originally enclosed with a letter to Will Ashton, 15 January, 1947.
p. 1 photo of a drawing by Sydney Ure Smith of the Hyde Park Barracks.
q. 1 photo of a drawing by Sydney Ure Smith of the Old Mint, Macquarie Street, Sydney.
r. 2 photos of a sailing ship and other merchant boats on a beach at low tide, possibly at St Ives in Cornwall, England.
s. 2 unidentified photos of two soldiers conversing and a group of adults in a children’s classroom.
t. 1 photo of a painting by Will Ashton of the Cornish coast, held in the National Art Gallery, Adelaide.
u. 1 copy of a painting by Whistler,’ Portrait of the mother of the author’.


Item 2
7 mounted photographs

a. 1 mounted photo of four unidentified men sitting inside a studio around a table.
b. 1 mounted photo of Will Ashton painting with an easel outside with onlooking child.
c. 1 mounted studio portrait photo of Will Ashton as a baby.
d. 1 mounted photo of a portrait painting by E.H. Wright with caption ‘To Mr & Mrs Will Ashton – My portrait of a mutual friend – Best wishes E. Hilda Wright (E.D. Rix Nicholas)’.
e. 3 mounted studio portraits by May Moore and Plâté of Ceylon, of Will Ashton in later life.


Item 3
18 photographs from papers related to Ashton’s trip to America, 1941. (Originally enclosed in the Museums Journal (London), Vol. 43 No. 9, Dec 1943).

a. 1 photo of Everett V. Meeks, Dean of Yale School of the Fine Arts, Prof. Theodore Sizer, Director of Yale University Art Gallery, Will Ashton, Director, National Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney in the Yale University Art Gallery.
b. 1 photo of Will Ashton in the Yale University Art Gallery.
c. 3 photos of the interior of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; East Garden Court, Mercury Fountain and Gallery 67.
d. 1 photo of the exterior of the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. showing the Mall entrance.
e. 4 photos of the interior of Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; view of Gallery 5, Gallery 9 looking west, north wall of Gallery 9, south end of the Peacock Room.
f. 1 photo of the exterior Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. showing the rear court after a snow storm.
g. 7 photos of the interior of the ground level galleries of the National Art Gallery of NSW (Art Gallery of NSW).


Item 4
113 small photographs taken in England, Egypt, Italy, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Australia, Algiers, mostly unidentified.

a. Some captions found on the back of photos; ‘This is a welcome to the blue door way of Knockalong Garden looking attractive at present-‘, ‘cattle crossing a creek near Albion Park’, ‘old windmill at Damme on the way to Holland to Bruges’, ‘The Mosque, place of Government, June 1926’, ‘Algier, another Mosque with covered women, June 1926’, ‘Suez Canal’, ‘Genoa, Italy’, ‘Venice’.


Item 5
1 painting and 15 larger photographs

a. 1 small watercolour painting of a windmill on card titled ‘Merry Xmas’, signed ‘Surrey J.H.Y.’
b. 1 mounted photo of Will Ashton and Alick at Leon & Eddie’s Restaurant in New York, 23 October, 1941. Includes written comments and autographs.
c. 1 mounted photo of Will Ashton, Mel Lincoln, Spencer Macky and female guest at the Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles on 14 November, 1941. Includes autographs.
d. 1 mounted photo portrait of Sir James McGregor.
e. 1 photo by George Lambert of the Memorial to Fallen, St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney.
f. 1 mounted photo of the exterior of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York by Alfred Colin, 1932.
g. 3 mounted photos of the interior of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York by F.S. Lincoln, 1941.
h. 2 mounted studio portrait photos of Will Ashton by Van Dyke Studios, Adelaide.
i. 5 large photos of merchant ships and boats off the shore of St Ives in Cornwall, England.

Pic.Acc. Upgrade Project - Information transferred from Pic.Acc.6282 ADD-ON as part of the eRecords Project 2012-13

Photographs: some identified on back, others grouped in envelopes with vague identifications.

Watercolour: title and signature at lower right 'Surrey J.H.Y.'

Fair condition