HODGE, WILLIAM JOHN (1882-1954)

"Still Life With Fan" (1896)
Oil on canvas
35 x 43cm
Signed lower left
*private collection, Sydney
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Hodge was an Australian Amateur Painter & Church Steward. He studied painting and drawing at Sydney Technical College from 1895-1900, winning several awards at their annual student exhibitions. The Sydney Technical College was primarily a school of Architecture, but did produce a number of important Australian artists such as Thea Proctor. After studies, little is known about Hodge's career, until he became a Church Steward in Paddington, Waverley & Bondi in 1914. As a man "esteemed highly for his consistent character and readiness to take a full part in all that makes for a true Church of Christ", Hodge served as a Steward, Trustee and Sunday School Secretary for 39 years until his death in 1954. According to his obituary, "he was a lover of natural beauty in its many forms, and was an artist of no mean order, as paintings in his home and elsewhere testify". I could not locate another example of his work, but this is an impressive artefact; the finite detail is stunning and presise up close, and hard to believe it was completed during his second year at the Sydney Technical College... at age 14!! Such a shame that he chose another path, but from what we can assert by this sole example, is that although he spent a life dedicated to serving Christ, his passion was art!!