Sir Robert Ponsonby Staples - early Australian plein-air painting

Off Adelaide, 1880
panel painting
12.5 x 30 cm
panel painting
12.5 x 30 cm
The S.S. Orient was the second largest ship in the world when launched and was designed specifically for the England to Australia route. On her maiden voyage in 1879 she broke the England to Australia speed record, accomplishing the feat in an astonishing 38 days. The ship was designed for passengers and was fitted with all the latest mechanical and nautical technology for the day. The first class accommodation was luxurious and spacious and was fitted with brass fittings, copious amounts of wood-carvings and William Morris designed carpets. Among the full complement of passengers on its maiden voyage was Sir Nathaniel Staples, a wealthy Irish landowner, and his son Robert Ponsonby Staples, a highly talented artist who was to become one of the great characters of early twentieth century Britain.
Robert Ponsonby Staples was born in 1853 and inherited his father’s baronetcy in later life. He trained initially as an architect and then studied at the Louvain Academy of Fine Art in Belgium, followed by more studies in Dresden and then Brussels and London and was strongly influenced in his artistic endeavours by his visits to Paris. He exhibited widely and had his first work hung at the Royal Academy in 1875. One of his most famous works hangs at Lords Cricket Ground and depicts an imaginary match founding the Ashes between Australia and England. His life was spent amongst the Café Royal and Marlborough set of London and Robert was friends with many of the most influential people of the time. This friendship allowed him to sketch them at their leisure, and portraits he executed exist of King Edward VII, Gladstone, Disraeli, Randolph Churchill, Sarah Bernhardt, Lillie Langtry, Whistler, William Morris and Orphen, to name but a few that amply illustrate the very heart of fashionable London society in which he roamed. In artistic circles he was also closely associated with the Grosvenor Gallery that was founded by his Uncle, Sir Coutts Lindsay. It was the most influential Gallery in London at the time exhibiting such artists as Bourne-Jones, Whistler and Menpes. Staples was quite an eccentric and became known as the “barefoot baronet” as he refused to wear shoes, believing that the soles blocked out the natural electricity from the ground which was important for health – in later life he was known to travel to Belfast from his property, Lissan House, so that he could walk barefoot on the tram tracks as he believed he would get an extra boost of electricity!
Such an artistic talent as Robert was always going to enjoy a tour to the colonies and known works indicate that he brought oil paints and panels to paint with him. The S.S. Orient spent only one day in Adelaide on its arrival on Monday 17th December 1879, then stopped briefly at Melbourne before berthing in Sydney on the 20th December for a month. At each of its port calls it was inundated with admiring visitors who came to see the amazing new ship and the interest in it continued for much of its working life. Charles Conder even painted its departure from Sydney in 1888. During their stay in Australia the Staples resided with gentlemen of the highest society. The Historic Houses Trust of NSW holds in its collection a painting by Staples, “At Billiards (sic) House, Christmas 1879”, which depicts Elizabeth Farm, the home near Parramatta of Irishman and Crown Solicitor of NSW, William Billyard, which he leased from the Macarthur’s. Interestingly Billyard joined the Staples for the return trip to London. In Sydney Staples would have surely visited the Sydney International Exhibition to view all manner of Arts and Industry from around the world.
The S.S. Orient left Sydney on 22nd January 1880 on its return trip and berthed at Melbourne between Sunday 25th and Sunday 31st January. During this time the Staples visited another successful Irishman, Sir Samuel Wilson, at his property, Ercildourne, near Geelong. After leaving Melbourne the S.S. Orient arrived in Adelaide at 9.00 am on Monday 2nd of February, departing for London at noon on Wednesday 4th February. It was during this stop-over that what is probably the first plein – air impressionist works painted in Australia was executed: Off Adelaide, 1880.
Off Adelaide, 1880 is a true plein-air work, an “ oil sketch of a landscape…, painted quickly to capture the moment, and without the ‘finish’ of a conventional easel painting”. Robert Ponsonby Staples was at the centre of the artistic developments of the period in Europe and has used his talent to work en plein-air to paint the scene he observed from the deck of the S.S. Orient: a quick representation of the ships at Anchorage and at Semaphore Jetty and the hot Adelaide summer day, with the heat reflecting off the surrounding hills and a plume of smoke probably emanating from a summer bushfire.
Tom Roberts was to later bring this artistic method of painting to a wider Australian audience when he returned to Australia in 1885 from his European sojourn of the early 1880’s. It is widely accepted that he painted his first impressionistic works in Spain in 1883 and from there developed this method. He was at the centre of the movement towards Australian plein-airism which culminated in the 9 x 5 Exhibition in Melbourne in 1899. The small 12.5 x 30 cm panel painting Off Adelaide, 1880 can be viewed as a forerunner to one of the most significant art developments in Australia.
Off Adelaide, 1880 presents to the viewer an historically accurate view of the Adelaide anchorage off the Semaphore on a very hot Summers day in February. Contemporary reports give the top temperatures on the days of the S.S. Orient’s visit as being between 104 and 106F and the steamy melancholy impression of the surrounding Mount Lofty Ranges reflects well with that of even today’s hot Summers. The ships at anchorage on these days were the Atlantic, Coraki, Ellerbank, Guiding Star, Kilmeny, Loch Now and the Signal and they would be waiting for entry to the harbour area of Port Adelaide or would have been too big to enter, as the S.S. Orient was. The small steam launch approaching the S.S. Orient is the Little Orient that was advertised by the S.S. Orient’s agent, Joseph Stirling and Co, as plying between the Steamer and Semaphore Jetty during her stay with fares of 2s one way and return 3s.
The recent re-discovery of this wonderful plein-air painting has demonstrated that the artistic movement of Impressionism, and particularly plein-air painting, was not only reaching Australia as theory in the early 1880’s but works of a high quality, demonstrating the contemporary artistic theories espoused in Europe, were actually being painted of the Australian landscape. Until now it has been thought that the first such plein-air paintings originated in Australia with the return of Tom Roberts to Australia in 1885. Robert Ponsonby Staples must surely have met and discussed painting with artists in Australia and this influence on artists of the period is an avenue that can now be investigated further. Off Adelaide, 1880 is a very rare and important work in the development of Australian Impressionism, one of, if not the most important artistic developments Australia has witnessed.
NOTES
The Illustrated Adelaide News, January 1880, contains an extensive report on the mechanical and luxury fittings of the S. S. Orient.
For more information on Staples portraits see Kessenick, P. M.. A Souvenir of the Century: Victorian-Edwardian Sketches by Sir Robert Ponsonby Staples, Fine Art Publishing Company, U.S.A, 1981
Art Gallery of NSW, Charles Conder, The departure of the Orient from Circular Key, 1880
Lane, T.. Australian Impressionism, Council of Trustees of National Gallery of Victoria, Melb., 2007, page 157.
For a comprehensive discussion on Australian Impressionism see, Lane, T.. Australian Impressionism, Council of Trustees of National Gallery of Victoria, Melb., 2007
The weather observations reported in the South Australain Register for the period of the S.S. Orient’s visit indicate that Adelaide was experiencing very hot conditions and at Semaphore it was reported there was little wind, the seas were smooth to calm and the weather clear and fine.
South Australian Register, Wed February 4th 1880, Shipping Intelligence, page 4.
South Australian Register, Tue February 3rd 1880, page 1
BIOGRAPHY
Kessenick, P. M.. A Souvenir of the Century: Victorian-Edwardian Sketches by Sir Robert Ponsonby Staples, Fine Art Publishing Company, U.S.A, 1981
Lane, T.. Australian Impressionism, Council of Trustees of National Gallery of Victoria, Melb., 2007
McBrinn, J. ‘“Morning Chats with William Morris”, A forgotten Portrait of Morris in Ireland’ in The Journal of William Morris Studies, p 38 – 44, Winter 2004.
Stewart, B and Cutten, M. The Dictionary of Portrait Painters in Britain up to 1920, Antique Collectors Club, England, 1999.
Argus, Newspaper, Melbourne, various dates, 1879-80
South Australian Register, Newspaper, various dates, Adelaide 1879-80
Sydney Morning Herald, Newspaper, various dates, 1879-80
Illustrated Adelaide News, Newspaper, Adelaide, January 1880
Robert Ponsonby Staples was born in 1853 and inherited his father’s baronetcy in later life. He trained initially as an architect and then studied at the Louvain Academy of Fine Art in Belgium, followed by more studies in Dresden and then Brussels and London and was strongly influenced in his artistic endeavours by his visits to Paris. He exhibited widely and had his first work hung at the Royal Academy in 1875. One of his most famous works hangs at Lords Cricket Ground and depicts an imaginary match founding the Ashes between Australia and England. His life was spent amongst the Café Royal and Marlborough set of London and Robert was friends with many of the most influential people of the time. This friendship allowed him to sketch them at their leisure, and portraits he executed exist of King Edward VII, Gladstone, Disraeli, Randolph Churchill, Sarah Bernhardt, Lillie Langtry, Whistler, William Morris and Orphen, to name but a few that amply illustrate the very heart of fashionable London society in which he roamed. In artistic circles he was also closely associated with the Grosvenor Gallery that was founded by his Uncle, Sir Coutts Lindsay. It was the most influential Gallery in London at the time exhibiting such artists as Bourne-Jones, Whistler and Menpes. Staples was quite an eccentric and became known as the “barefoot baronet” as he refused to wear shoes, believing that the soles blocked out the natural electricity from the ground which was important for health – in later life he was known to travel to Belfast from his property, Lissan House, so that he could walk barefoot on the tram tracks as he believed he would get an extra boost of electricity!
Such an artistic talent as Robert was always going to enjoy a tour to the colonies and known works indicate that he brought oil paints and panels to paint with him. The S.S. Orient spent only one day in Adelaide on its arrival on Monday 17th December 1879, then stopped briefly at Melbourne before berthing in Sydney on the 20th December for a month. At each of its port calls it was inundated with admiring visitors who came to see the amazing new ship and the interest in it continued for much of its working life. Charles Conder even painted its departure from Sydney in 1888. During their stay in Australia the Staples resided with gentlemen of the highest society. The Historic Houses Trust of NSW holds in its collection a painting by Staples, “At Billiards (sic) House, Christmas 1879”, which depicts Elizabeth Farm, the home near Parramatta of Irishman and Crown Solicitor of NSW, William Billyard, which he leased from the Macarthur’s. Interestingly Billyard joined the Staples for the return trip to London. In Sydney Staples would have surely visited the Sydney International Exhibition to view all manner of Arts and Industry from around the world.
The S.S. Orient left Sydney on 22nd January 1880 on its return trip and berthed at Melbourne between Sunday 25th and Sunday 31st January. During this time the Staples visited another successful Irishman, Sir Samuel Wilson, at his property, Ercildourne, near Geelong. After leaving Melbourne the S.S. Orient arrived in Adelaide at 9.00 am on Monday 2nd of February, departing for London at noon on Wednesday 4th February. It was during this stop-over that what is probably the first plein – air impressionist works painted in Australia was executed: Off Adelaide, 1880.
Off Adelaide, 1880 is a true plein-air work, an “ oil sketch of a landscape…, painted quickly to capture the moment, and without the ‘finish’ of a conventional easel painting”. Robert Ponsonby Staples was at the centre of the artistic developments of the period in Europe and has used his talent to work en plein-air to paint the scene he observed from the deck of the S.S. Orient: a quick representation of the ships at Anchorage and at Semaphore Jetty and the hot Adelaide summer day, with the heat reflecting off the surrounding hills and a plume of smoke probably emanating from a summer bushfire.
Tom Roberts was to later bring this artistic method of painting to a wider Australian audience when he returned to Australia in 1885 from his European sojourn of the early 1880’s. It is widely accepted that he painted his first impressionistic works in Spain in 1883 and from there developed this method. He was at the centre of the movement towards Australian plein-airism which culminated in the 9 x 5 Exhibition in Melbourne in 1899. The small 12.5 x 30 cm panel painting Off Adelaide, 1880 can be viewed as a forerunner to one of the most significant art developments in Australia.
Off Adelaide, 1880 presents to the viewer an historically accurate view of the Adelaide anchorage off the Semaphore on a very hot Summers day in February. Contemporary reports give the top temperatures on the days of the S.S. Orient’s visit as being between 104 and 106F and the steamy melancholy impression of the surrounding Mount Lofty Ranges reflects well with that of even today’s hot Summers. The ships at anchorage on these days were the Atlantic, Coraki, Ellerbank, Guiding Star, Kilmeny, Loch Now and the Signal and they would be waiting for entry to the harbour area of Port Adelaide or would have been too big to enter, as the S.S. Orient was. The small steam launch approaching the S.S. Orient is the Little Orient that was advertised by the S.S. Orient’s agent, Joseph Stirling and Co, as plying between the Steamer and Semaphore Jetty during her stay with fares of 2s one way and return 3s.
The recent re-discovery of this wonderful plein-air painting has demonstrated that the artistic movement of Impressionism, and particularly plein-air painting, was not only reaching Australia as theory in the early 1880’s but works of a high quality, demonstrating the contemporary artistic theories espoused in Europe, were actually being painted of the Australian landscape. Until now it has been thought that the first such plein-air paintings originated in Australia with the return of Tom Roberts to Australia in 1885. Robert Ponsonby Staples must surely have met and discussed painting with artists in Australia and this influence on artists of the period is an avenue that can now be investigated further. Off Adelaide, 1880 is a very rare and important work in the development of Australian Impressionism, one of, if not the most important artistic developments Australia has witnessed.
NOTES
The Illustrated Adelaide News, January 1880, contains an extensive report on the mechanical and luxury fittings of the S. S. Orient.
For more information on Staples portraits see Kessenick, P. M.. A Souvenir of the Century: Victorian-Edwardian Sketches by Sir Robert Ponsonby Staples, Fine Art Publishing Company, U.S.A, 1981
Art Gallery of NSW, Charles Conder, The departure of the Orient from Circular Key, 1880
Lane, T.. Australian Impressionism, Council of Trustees of National Gallery of Victoria, Melb., 2007, page 157.
For a comprehensive discussion on Australian Impressionism see, Lane, T.. Australian Impressionism, Council of Trustees of National Gallery of Victoria, Melb., 2007
The weather observations reported in the South Australain Register for the period of the S.S. Orient’s visit indicate that Adelaide was experiencing very hot conditions and at Semaphore it was reported there was little wind, the seas were smooth to calm and the weather clear and fine.
South Australian Register, Wed February 4th 1880, Shipping Intelligence, page 4.
South Australian Register, Tue February 3rd 1880, page 1
BIOGRAPHY
Kessenick, P. M.. A Souvenir of the Century: Victorian-Edwardian Sketches by Sir Robert Ponsonby Staples, Fine Art Publishing Company, U.S.A, 1981
Lane, T.. Australian Impressionism, Council of Trustees of National Gallery of Victoria, Melb., 2007
McBrinn, J. ‘“Morning Chats with William Morris”, A forgotten Portrait of Morris in Ireland’ in The Journal of William Morris Studies, p 38 – 44, Winter 2004.
Stewart, B and Cutten, M. The Dictionary of Portrait Painters in Britain up to 1920, Antique Collectors Club, England, 1999.
Argus, Newspaper, Melbourne, various dates, 1879-80
South Australian Register, Newspaper, various dates, Adelaide 1879-80
Sydney Morning Herald, Newspaper, various dates, 1879-80
Illustrated Adelaide News, Newspaper, Adelaide, January 1880