DUNDAS, DOUGLAS (1900-1981)

"Winter Near Paris" (1928) 
oil on canvas
45 x 54cm
signed lower left
*Macquarie Galleries, 1929
*private collection, Sydney
 
Dundas was an important Australian Modernist. He trained at the Sydney Art School with Julian Ashton. In 1927, he won the Society of Artists’ Travelling Scholarship, which enabled him to study at the London Polytechnic and in Paris with André Lhote. Returning to Australia in 1929, he held his first show at Macquarie Galleries. Two years later, he began to teach full-time at the East Sydney Technical College (later the National Art School). He was the head teacher of painting from 1938 to 1960, and head of the school until 1965. Married to the painter Dorothy Thornhill, Dundas is particularly known for his views of the streets of inner Sydney – Paddington, Darlinghurst, Rose Bay - rendered in a Modernist style. He also painted the Canberra landscape, and a number of self-portraits. Dundas, alongside his wife Dorothy, were major, vocal supporters of Sir William Dobell during his infamous court case in 1944, questioning the authenticity of his Archibald Prize win. His work is represented in all major National Galleries in Australia!!
 
This painting was completed in his studio on the shores of the Seine in Puteaux, on the outskirts of Paris, inspired by Albert Marquet. He had just returned from an Italian sojourn and this period was just prior to commencing his studies in London in 1928/9. It was exhibited in Dundas' very first solo exhibition, held at the Macquarie Galleries in 1929, and was favourably mentioned in both the Sydney Mail & The Bulletin!!