Leslie Wilkie

Leslie Wilkie
Born
Leslie Andrew Alexander Wilkie

(1878-06-27)27 June 1878
Royal Park, Melbourne, Victoria
Died(1935-09-04)4 September 1935
Adelaide, South Australia
Resting place
St Saviour's Anglican churchyard, Glen Osmond
EducationNational Gallery schools, Melbourne, under Lindsay Bernard Hall
Known forPortrait painting; first director of the Art Gallery of South Australia
Spouse
Alma Rubina Tunnock
​
​
(m. 1913; died 1930)​
Children1
AwardsMelrose Prize, 1927 and 1928

Leslie Andrew Alexander Wilkie (27 June 1878 – 4 September 1935) was an Australian artist and the president of the South Australian Society of Arts from 1932 to 1934.[1]

Early life

Wilkie was born at Royal Park, Melbourne, the son of David Wilkie and Mary Frances, née Rutherford.[1] He was a grand-nephew of Sir David Wilkie. He was educated at Brunswick College and in 1896 entered the National Gallery of Victoria school at Melbourne under Lindsay Bernard Hall.

Art career

1931 drawing by Wilkie of part of Adelaide Destitute Asylum.

He occupied a studio, during WW1 and into the early 1920s, on the fourth floor in the Austral buildings 115-119 Collins Street, Melbourne, where John Mather, Charles E. Gordon-Frazer, Alexander Colquhoun and the photographer J.W. Lindt also practiced.[2] A brief profile of Wilkie after his return from Europe appeared in a 1907 edition of The Native companion, which mentions also that he sat for a bronze bust by G. Web Gilbert.[3] In 1919 Colquhoun also wrote a short biography of Wilkie for the biannual Art in Australia.[4]

Reception

Wilkie was for several years, an illustrator on the staff of The Argus and The Australasian,[5] and was briefly the art critic for The Age newspaper,[2] and from 1901, received several early reviews himself in The Bulletin that declared his art 'promising',[6][7][8] but others after 1907 that were less complimentary about his use of colour and lack of 'grace' or 'charm' in drawing.[9]

A member of the Australian Art Association under President W. B. McInnes in 1912, Wilkie was made secretary,[10] replaced by Edward Officer in 1914,[11] after whose death Wilkie resumed the position in 1923.[12]

By 1914, starting with a Punch review of a show in his studio,[13] he became recognised as a successful portraitist. John Shirlow commented that 'the distinctive charm of the best of Wilkle's work is his tenderly sympathetic observation of the character of girlhood, and of young womanhood,' that assured him an 'honoured place' in the genre.[14]

In the fourth Australian Art Association annual exhibition at the Athenaeum, opened by the Governor and his A.D.C. the screenwriter Capt. Conant[15][16] in October 1916,[17] "vibrating light" in Wilkie's study of an interior was praised in an upbeat Argus review.[18]

The Herald critic James Stuart MacDonald (an Association member himself) of the subject of Leslie Wilkie's Bonnie Jean hung in the organisation's 1925 show, wrote that it depicted "A sweet little girl in which every bit of girlish sweetness is conveyed".[19]

In August 1926, Association member Leslie Wilkie was invited to apply for the curatorship at the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide,[20] interviewed, and appointed on 1 September 1925,[21] then farewelled by his Art Association comrades at the Ritz Cafe before his departure for Adelaide on the 29th,[22] moving from Melbourne to Trevorten Avenue, Glenunga to take up the post.[23] In replacing the recently resigned H. van Raalte,[24] Wilkie proved popular.[25][26]

Elected to the Royal Drawing Society, London in 1930, Wilkie became president of the Royal South Australian Society of Arts 1932-35, with which organisation he exhibited a portrait of his daughter Jean, a frequent model,[27] in their 1932 Spring Exhibition.[28]

In 1934 Wilkie joined a University of Adelaide anthropological expedition to Central Australia where he painted portraits of First Nations people near Cooper Creek. The portraits were later exhibited at the Art Gallery of South Australia.[1]

Personal life and death

Wilkie was forced to postpone a lecture on Modern Art in June 1935 when he became ill, with Mary P. Harris filling in with a lecture on Van Gogh, supported by a dramatisation by Wilkie's daughter Jean.[29] He died aged fifty-six in an Adelaide private hospital on 4 September 1935 after successive operations for appendicitis and was buried in St Saviour's Anglican churchyard, Glen Osmond.[1][30] His wife Alma (née Tunnock), a dentist and musician, had died aged 44 in 1930,[23][31] and he was survived by their daughter, Jean. Andrew Wilkie (c. 1853–1948), director of the Melbourne Zoo 1923 to 1936, was an uncle.[32] Leslie Wilkie's successor as Director of the Art Gallery of South Australia, Louis McCubbin, son of Frederick McCubbin, was appointed in December 1935.[33]

Collections

References

Serle, Percival (1949). "Wilkie, Leslie Andrew". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.

  1. 1 2 3 4 McGrath, Joyce (1990). "Leslie Andrew Alexander Wilkie (1878–1935)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 12. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. pp. 487–488. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Victorian Heritage Database Report: Austral Buildings". Heritage Victoria. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  3. ↑ "The Native companion : an Australian monthly magazine of literature and life". The Native Companion. 2 (5). Melbourne, Vic: T.C. Lothlan: 49, 53. 2 December 1907. nla.obj-2164238582. Retrieved 19 January 2025 – via Trove.
  4. ↑ Colquhoun, Alexander (1919). Smith, S.Ure; Stevens, Bertram; Jones, C.Lloyd (eds.). "Leslie Wilkie". Art in Australia (7). Sydney, N.S.W: Angus and Roberston: 30. nla.obj-353611789. Retrieved 19 January 2025 – via Trove.
  5. ↑ "Mr. Leslie Wilkie". The Argus (Melbourne). Victoria, Australia. 5 September 1935. p. 8. Retrieved 20 February 2020 – via Trove.
  6. ↑ "No title (3 August 1901)". The Bulletin. 22 (1120). John Haynes and J.F. Archibald: 37. 3 August 1901. ISSN 0007-4039.
  7. ↑ "A Vic. Art Show. (26 July 1902)", The Bulletin, 23 (1171), John Haynes and J.F. Archibald: 19, 26 July 1902, ISSN 0007-4039
  8. ↑ "Society". The Bulletin. 25 (1275). Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald (published 21 July 1904). 1880. ISSN 0007-4039. nla.obj-1791466342. Retrieved 20 January 2025 – via Trove.
  9. ↑ O.K. (23 July 1908). "A Vic. Art Show". The Bulletin. 29 (1484): 8.
  10. ↑ McCulloch, Alan; McCulloch, Susan; McCulloch Childs, Emily (2006). The new McCulloch's encyclopedia of Australian art (Fourth ed.). Fitzroy BC, Vic.: Aust Art Editions and Miegunyah Press. p. 227. ISBN 0-522-85317-X. OCLC 80568976.
  11. ↑ "Australian Art". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 21, 190. Victoria, Australia. 25 June 1914. p. 10. Retrieved 12 February 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ↑ "ITEMS OF INTEREST". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 23, 890. Victoria, Australia. 1 March 1923. p. 12. Retrieved 15 February 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ↑ "Mr. Leslie Wilkie's Art Show". Punch. 17 December 1914. p. 35. Retrieved 20 January 2025 – via TROVE.
  14. ↑ "Australian Artists". The Herald. No. 13, 939. Victoria, Australia. 13 November 1920. p. 4. Retrieved 20 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ↑ "Vice-Regal". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 21, 899. Victoria, Australia. 4 October 1916. p. 10. Retrieved 13 February 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ↑ Marsden, Ralph (1 December 2022). "The Comedy Theatre: Melbourne's most intimate playhouse (Part 2) - Theatre Heritage Australia". Theatre Heritage. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  17. ↑ "Items Of Interest". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 21, 899. Victoria, Australia. 4 October 1916. p. 10. Retrieved 13 February 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ↑ "Australian Art Association". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 21, 898. Victoria, Australia. 3 October 1916. p. 9. Retrieved 13 February 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. ↑ "Australian Art". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 15, 060. Victoria, Australia. 26 August 1925. p. 9. Retrieved 16 February 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. ↑ "New Art Gallery Caretaker". Saturday Journal. Vol. XLI, no. 16350. South Australia. 21 August 1926. p. 1. Retrieved 17 February 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  21. ↑ "Personal". The Advertiser. South Australia. 1 September 1926. p. 13. Retrieved 17 February 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  22. ↑ "About People". The Age. No. 22, 301. Victoria, Australia. 25 September 1926. p. 17. Retrieved 17 February 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  23. 1 2 "Woman Dentist". The News. Vol. XV, no. 2, 280. South Australia. 6 November 1930. p. 14 (Home Edition). Retrieved 23 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  24. ↑ "Art Gallery Curator". The News. Vol. VII, no. 977. South Australia. 31 August 1926. p. 1 (Home Edition). Retrieved 20 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  25. ↑ "Mr. Leslie Wilkie". The Age. No. 25, 083. Victoria, Australia. 5 September 1935. p. 9. Retrieved 20 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  26. ↑ "Death Of Mr. Leslie Wilkie". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 5 September 1935. p. 18. Retrieved 21 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  27. ↑ "What Women Are Doing". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. III, no. 43. Australia, Australia. 28 March 1936. p. 21. Retrieved 23 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  28. ↑ "Daughter Portrayed—as Study in Blue". The News. Vol. XIX, no. 2, 863. South Australia. 21 September 1932. p. 5. Retrieved 23 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  29. ↑ "To Lecture On Van Gogh". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 19 June 1935. p. 12. Retrieved 23 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  30. ↑ "Mr. Leslie Wilkie". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 27, 783. Victoria, Australia. 5 September 1935. p. 8. Retrieved 20 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  31. ↑ "Family Notices". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 5 November 1931. p. 6. Retrieved 23 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  32. ↑ "Prominent Personalities: Andrew Wilkie". Table Talk. Victoria, Australia. 7 June 1928. p. 15. Retrieved 24 February 2020 – via Trove.
  33. ↑ "Adelaide Art Gallery New Director Chosen". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 27, 872. Victoria, Australia. 18 December 1935. p. 8. Retrieved 23 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  34. ↑ Wilkie, Leslie (1904). "Portrait of a lady". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  35. ↑ Wilkie, Leslie (1920). "Matron Evelyn Conyers, oil on canvas". Australian War memorial Collection. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  36. ↑ Wilkie, Leslie (1916). "Portrait of the artist's daughter Enid". State Library Victoria. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  37. ↑ Art Gallery of New South Wales. "Leslie Wilkie". Art Gallery of New South Wales Collection. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  38. ↑ "Leslie Wilkie: works in the collection". Art Gallery of South Australia. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  39. ↑ Dutkiewicz, Adam. "A selection of artworks from the Royal South Australian Society of Arts Collections". The Royal SA Society of Arts. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  40. ↑ Castlemaine Art Museum. "Leslie Wilkie". Castlemaine Art Museum online collection.
  41. ↑ "Leslie Andrew Alexander Wilkie (1914) Albert John Gould. Oil on canvas 227.5 x 135 cm. Historic Memorials Collection, Parliament House Art Collections". Parliament House Art Collections. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  42. ↑ "Federal Picture Gallery". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 21, 414. Victoria, Australia. 15 March 1915. p. 11. Retrieved 23 January 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
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