Under a Modern Sun: Art in Queensland 1930s–1950s

104 Under a Modern Sun: Art in Queensland 1930s–1950s 105 MILES EVERGOOD Miles Evergood was born Myer Blashki in Carlton, Victoria, the eleventh of fourteen children of noted Polish-born silversmith Phillip Blashki and his wife Hannah. At the age of 20, Blashki began an apprenticeship with commercial photographers Falk Studios, Sydney, before studying under Frederick McCubbin and Bernard Hall at the National Gallery School, Melbourne, in the 1890s. Blashki subsequently relocated to the United States, living in Honolulu, Hawaii, and then New York City. He established a successful career there, exhibiting under various names, including, from 1909, Miles Evergood — the surname a translation of his mother’s maiden name, Immergut. 1 From 1910 to 1922, Evergood lived in England where he exhibited with the New English Art Club and the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers. His mental health suffered through service during World War One; however, Evergood regained his enthusiasm for art, and resumed painting after returning to America in 1922. In 1931, Evergood spent a year in Brisbane, joining the Royal Queensland Art Society and holding an exhibition at Jeanettie Sheldon’s Gainsborough Gallery (1928–39). Painted in freely applied brushstrokes and a lively, though hardly experimental palette, his artworks nonetheless proved challenging for Brisbane’s conservative audiences. 2 Dating from his time in Brisbane, Mount Nebo no.2 c.1931–32 is notable from the perspective of the state’s social history. In the early 1930s, when the Depression saw living standards plummet, the Queensland government established work-relief programs that, as historian Carmel Black has documented, included the ‘construction of numerous tourist roads in scenic areas like Mount Nebo, Mount Tamborine and Mount Spec . . . opening up those landscapes’. 3 Such initiatives had the added benefit of providing artists such as Evergood with access to inspiring new subject matter. Notes 1 Gael Hammer, ‘Early years and studies: Australia,1871–1898’, in Miles Evergood: No End of Passion , Phillip Matthews Book Publishers, Willoughby, 2013, p.13. 2 Keith Bradbury & Glenn R Cooke, Thorns and Petals: 100 Years of the Royal Queensland Art Society , Royal Queensland Art Society, Brisbane, 1988, p.81. 3 Carmel Black, ‘Depression era’, Queensland Historical Atlas , <https://www.qhatlas.com.au/ content/depression-era>, viewed August 2024. Miles Evergood , Mount Nebo no.2 c.1931–32