1. Sir John Campbell Longstaff was an Australian painter, war artist and a five-time winner of the Archibald Prize for portraiture.
22 Facts About John Longstaff
1. 2.
John Longstaff's cousin Will Longstaff was a painter and war artist.
3.
John Longstaff was born at Clunes, Victoria, second son of Ralph John Longstaff, storekeeper and Janet Campbell.
4.
John Longstaff was educated at a boarding school in Miners Rest and Clunes State School.
5.
John Longstaff studied between 1883 and 1887 at the Melbourne National Gallery School where, despite his father's initial disapproval of his artistic ambitions, Longstaff's talent was recognised by George Folingsby.
6.
John Longstaff occasionally joined other Buonarotti Club members on plein air excursions into the bush, and while his landscapes won admiration, he for the most part devoted himself to in-studio figure painting.
7.
An early critical success of John Longstaff's was the narrative painting Motherless, which won first prize in the National Gallery School's annual exhibition in 1886, and was purchased by Sir George Frederic Verdon.
8.
John Longstaff remained an active senior member of the Buonarotti Club until its demise in 1887 when he was given a well-attended farewell at the Melbourne Coffee Palace on 23 August, before sailing to London.
9.
John Longstaff had married Rosa Louisa Crocker on 20 July that year at Powlett Street, East Melbourne and with his new wife sailed on the Valetta from Melbourne for London in September 1887.
10.
Also on Russell's advice, John Longstaff attended the atelier of Fernand Cormon alongside the likes of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Charles Conder, who had recently arrived from Australia and would go on to paint Topsy's portrait.
11.
John Longstaff studied at Academie Colarossi, where he reconnected with Buonarotti Club member David Davies.
12.
In 1890, John Longstaff exhibited works 'on the line' at the Paris Salon, including the crowd-pleaser Lady in Grey, a Whistlerian portrait of Topsy in a kimono.
13.
John Longstaff later moved to London, where he painted many portraits, for the most part adhering to a more conservative, academic style.
14.
John Longstaff returned to Australia in 1894 and was given several commissions.
15.
John Longstaff occupied a studio at Grosvenor Chambers in Melbourne from 1897 to 1900.
16.
John Longstaff travelled to London again in 1901, where he exhibited with the Royal Academy.
17.
John Longstaff was appointed an official war artist with the Australian Infantry Force in the First World War.
18.
John Longstaff made several portraits of officers in the military.
19.
John Longstaff was knighted in the 1928 New Year Honours List, the first Australian artist to have had this honour.
20.
In 1900 in Melbourne, Longstaff was commissioned by J F Archibald, founder and editor of The Bulletin, to paint a portrait of poet and short story writer Henry Lawson.
21.
In 1924, John Longstaff met Miss Jessica Harcourt, at the time a theatre programme seller, and later actress, in Sydney and later called "Australia's loveliest girl".
22.
John Longstaff was struck by her beauty and painted her twice.