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| Above: Map locating Deddington and Evandale |
Year 1821 Info 1c4 for Caleb Crompton |
John Glover's landscapes
John GLOVER (1767-1849) was a successful British painter with a strong reputation as a landscape painter, who captured contemporary rural landscape around Evandale between 1830 and 1840: the wider landscape experienced by Caleb.
He was born at Houghton-on-Hill in Leicestershire, on 18 February 1767. As a successful British painter and contemporary of Turner and John Constable, he painted romantic picturesque "Italianate" style landscapes of Britain, inspired his visit to Italy in 1818 and wandering the moors and mountains of the Lake District, where he lived from 1817 to 1819.
GLOVER immigrated to Van Diemen’s Land, with his son John Richardson, creator of the sketches of Trafalgar and Spring Vale. He arrived on 01 April 1831 with his wife, his 64th birthday, to join three of his sons.
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| Above: Map locating Deddington and Evandale |
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In 1832 he acquired one of the largest grants of land in Van Diemen's
Land at the time at Mills Plains on the northern slope of Ben Lomond, and built his
house on the Nile River, at Deddington, 20km from Evandale. He named his new property
Patterdale, after a Westmorland Lake District village at the foot of Ullswater,
where he had once lived. Here he farmed and painted and with his family developed the
property which eventually comprised more than 7000 acres (2833 ha).
Left: Patterdale in 2019 restored by Carol and Rodney Westmore to a B&B |
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| Above: Location of Patterdale on the Mills Plain Source Perth 1:50 000 series TK08 Edition 1 2018 |
Glover's landscape of the Evandale area
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| Above: John Glover's House on the Derwent |
In 1832 he was allocated a grant at Mills Plains on the northern slope of Ben Lomond, and built his house on the Nile River, calling his property Patterdale, after a Westmorland village where he had once lived. Here he painted and with his family developed the property which eventually comprised more than 7000 acres (2833 ha) . By 1835 he was able to send sixty-eight pictures 'descriptive of the Scenery and Customs of Van Diemen's Land' for exhibition in London. In 1847 he exhibited in a collection assembled by the Launceston Mechanics' Institute, but in his last years devoted himself largely to religious literature and painted little.
GLOVER is best known now for his paintings of the Tasmanian landscape. The quality of his painting changed in response to the strange landscape of this far-flung colony. He managed to capture its light and form to give a fresh treatment to the effects of the Australian sunlight on the native bushland by depicting it bright and clear, a definite departure from the darker "English country garden" paradigm. He was highly prolific in water-colour but later turned increasingly to oil painting. He early perfected a technique of painting in grey tints with little colour, using a split brush for foliage, seeking subtle effects of light, mist and atmosphere. In Tasmania this interest in atmospheric effects continued but he also sought to diligently depict qualities of the landscape.
GLOVER was highly prolific in water-colour but later turned increasingly to oil painting. Influenced by his teacher William Payne, he early perfected a technique of painting in grey tints with little colour, using a split brush for foliage, seeking subtle effects of light, mist and atmosphere. In Tasmania this interest in atmospheric effects continued but he also sought assiduously to depict qualities of the landscape. In the catalogue of his 1835 exhibition he noted: 'there is a remarkable peculiarity in the Trees of this Country; however numerous they rarely prevent you tracing through them the whole distant country'. But his strong links with the eighteenth century lingered. He wished to become known as the 'English Claude' and echoes of Claude, Gaspard Poussin and Salvator Rosa persist even in his Tasmanian work.
He painted commissioned works for the landowners of the colony and landscapes for sale in London. By 1835 he was able to send sixty-eight pictures 'descriptive of the Scenery and Customs of Van Diemen's Land' for exhibition in London. Here, he estimated his paintings would realise £1000 a year (Equivalent to £60 000 in 2010) In 1847, he exhibited in a collection assembled by the Launceston Mechanics' Institute, but in his last years devoted himself largely to religious literature and painted little.
Although, today he is known as the father of Australian landscape painting, his strong links with the eighteenth century lingered.
GLOVER died at Patterdale on 9 December 1849 aged 82, and is interred in a vault at Nile Chapel, Deddington, the Chapel he helped to build. He was survived by his sons and many grandchildren. His widow, Sarah, died at Patterdale on 19 November 1853, aged 95.
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| Above: John GLOVER attributed to Mary Allport c.1832
Right: John GLOVER's Evandale statue unveiled in February 2003 - Author: November 2015 |
John GLOVER's work features in many prominent art galleries throughout the world. His work has been the subject of numerous exhibitions and a symposium in Australia. His paintings are on display at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Launceston, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in Hobart and in major mainland galleries. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has a substantial collection and the Louvre in Paris also holds his work.
The John Glover Society was established on 22 August 2001, in Evandale, to honour and promote Glover's memory and his contribution to Australian art. The society commissioned a life-size statue of GLOVER, unveiled in February 2003 . It also runs the annual Glover Prize, held in Evandale. From 2004, The John Glover Society has awarded the Glover Prize, the richest art prize in Australia for landscape painting, for depictions of Tasmanian landscapes.
Source:
Australian
Dictionary of Biography (Accessed 01 February 2016)
Wikipedia (Accessed 01 February 2016)
John Glover's memorial tablet, Evandale photographed November 2015
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| This page was created by Richard Crompton and maintained by Chris Glass |
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Version A5 Updated 20 February 2021 |
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