ASHTON, Sir WILLIAM (1881-1963)

"Place De La Concorde, Paris" (c.1930)
oil on canvas laid on board
44.5 x 59.5cm
unsigned, details on verso
*private collection, Sydney
 
Sir William Ashton O.B.E. R.O.I. was a renowned, award-winning Australian Impressionist & Gallery Director. He received training from his father, James Ashton, alongside fellow students included Hans Heysen. He left for London in 1900, where he studied at the Olsson-Talmage studios, then in 1902 at the Académie Julian in Paris for a year. Ashton had several paintings accepted by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, and the Salon de la Société des Artistes Français. In 1905 he returned to Adelaide, where his "Boulevard Montparnasse, Paris" was hailed as a masterpiece, and purchased by the National Gallery of South Australia. After holding exhibitions in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, and Adelaide, in 1908, he won the Wynne Prize for landscapes. He was retained as advisor to the National Gallery of South Australia and private collectors, and as examiner for the Royal Drawing Society. He won the Godfrey Rivers Bequest prize in 1933 and 1938. Ashton also won the Wynne Prize for a second and third time in 1930 and 1939. In 1937 Ashton was appointed director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and organized the NSW sesquicentenary exhibition of Australian art, which opened in February 1938. Ashton was appointed first director of David Jones Art Gallery, elected vice-president of the Australian Painter-Etchers' Society, and was a member of the Royal Drawing Society,  Commonwealth Art Advisory Board from 1918 (Chairman 1953–62), Royal Institute of Oil Painters & Society of Artists. His artworks are represented in all major galleries around Australia!!