Brought to Light Australian Art 1850-1965

incidents —for instance, Whistler's Symphony in white no. 1: The white girl 1862 and Symphony in white no.2: The little white girl 1864!1Folingsby's assimilation of these elements is a clear indication that he was not slavishly dependent on the considerable affinity and success he enjoyed as a result of his Munich training. Specific Whistlerian similarities in Folingsby's work, including the conspicuous presence of two chinoiserie vases on the piano holding sprays of peacock feathers, one of the best known Whistlerian motifs, would suggest either immediate awareness or knowledge gained through a source conscious ofWhistler's art and his galloping public profile. Perhaps it is of little surprise, therefore, that as a teacher at the National Gallery School Folingsby was regarded by younger artists as more innovative and interesting than his credentials might suggest was likely. He was certainly something of a disciplinarian, placing enormous emphasis on the value of drawing, but with his appointment the character of the Gallery School's teaching underwent immediate change. The students and trustees openly recognised the value of abandoning the former practice of training through copying and Folingsby introduced drawing and painting directly from life. Nowhere is the influence of Folingsby on his students more keenly apparent than in the painting Divided attention 1887 (Bendigo Art Gallery) by Alexander ColquhounF It is a simple and conventional Victorian narrative as this interpretation by a contemporary critic demonstrates: ... in what appears to be the parlour of a roadside inn ... one of whom is a venerable looking old man, and the other [a] smart spruce looking young fellow, to whom the patriarch is addressing himself... presumably words of wisdom would in all probability engross more of the young man's attention if it were not for a powerful counter attraction in the form of a buxom good-looking young woman, who is telegraphing to him with her eyes as she stands at the back of the old man's chair.. 13 anecdote as a prop for the formal aspects of painting. Certain idiosyncrasies and distinctive pictorial characteristics of Thefirst lesson which are echoed in Divided attention include a flattening of pictorial space and placing the figures at the intersection of the planes of floor and wall. The expanse of the rug and the informal gathering of garments are deliberate compositional devices. The shallow depth of the wall, with its gently receding perspective, emphasises a subtle three-dimensional effect. Just as we find in Thefirst lesson, there is a still life arranged as a vignette at the right-hand edge of the picture. In Colquhoun's case, a Japanese fan makes a quiet presence; in Folingsby's work, the chinoiserie vases are a more open homage to the European interest in the art of the 'Far East'. Folingsby's students usually expressed a clear and at times highly emotional narrative in their work, but in The first lesson the subject is rather delicately animated. In this work the signs imply assumed values and roles rather than an overt Victorian didactic or moral certainty. Again we encounter a Whistlerian scheme where pictorial interests are underscored and the narrative is understated. The first lesson can consequently be seen in three distinctive sequences. It is in every sense a highly accomplished Victorian painting by an artist who was mindful of the need to meet contemporary critical and market expectations. It reveals the artist's knowledge of prevailing stylistic inclinations and themes, and suggests his understanding of current interests and arguments. An Australian perspective enables us to recognise in The first lesson the core principles of George Folingsby's art and teaching, principles that shaped figure and subject painting in Melbourne in the late nineteenth century. Doug Hall is Director of the Queensland A rt Gallery. Many paintings created by students under Folingsby's instruction used the LEARNING FROM THE FIRST LESSON: George Folingsby and Genre Painting 25