Description
Australian 19th century oil painting John Mather, 1885
Oil on canvas in its original frame.
Charcoal burners in the Blue Mountains, Australia.
Signed and dated, from an Australian deceased estate.
Mather was born in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, son of John Mather, a surveyor.
Mather studied art at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts and migrated to Australia in 1878.
In 1880, Mather was partly responsible for the decoration of the dome of the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne. He was appointed to the board of trustees of the Public Library, Museums and National Gallery of Victoria in 1892, and was a founding member of the Victorian Artists’ Society, president in 1893-1900, 1906–08 and 1911. Mather was a member of the Felton Bequest Committee from 1905–16 and as trustee, strongly supported Australian art.
