COFFEY, ALFRED R. (1869-1950)

“Fishermen At Austinmer Beach, N.S.W.” (1919)
Oil on canvas
40 x 60cm
Signed lower right
*Port Macquarie Hastings Legacy Club Ltd.
 
Alfred Roland Coffey was one of Australia’s finest painters in the early 20th century. He studied at the Art Society of NSW, winning several prizes. In 1888 he was awarded the second Art Society of NSW Prize for Drawing from the Antique offered to students attending Art Society of NSW classes. Coffey exhibited at the RAS from 1889-1898, winning first prize for three years running. In 1895, he was elected a Council Member of the Art Society of NSW. He began making etchings in 1898 with Berowra Point on the Hawkesbury. He taught for a time at Abbotsleigh Girls School on the North Shore where Grace Cossington Smith was among his pupils. By 1921 he was able to give up teaching and pursue painting at his weekender at Tacoma on the Wyong River. He travelled several times to Europe, Ceylon and throughout the Pacific. In May 1923 he probably became the first Australian artist to visit and paint in the Dutch East Indies, travelling to Borneo, Java, Bali and the Celebes where he was interested in the local cultures and religious ceremonies. He wrote about his experiences in a catalogue for an exhibition of 70 of his paintings of exotic places shown at Farmers Gallery, Sydney, in October 1923. Several works were purchased by the AGNSW. An exhibition of 55 of his paintings, etchings and drawings was held at Sydney University in 2001.