U3A Benalla and District Inc.
  • Home
  • Benalla
    • Benalla
    • Benalla District
    • Who, What and Where? - Benalla Rural City
  • About
    • Our U3A
    • President's Page
    • Executive Committee
    • Convenors >
      • Convenors
      • Convenors A - Z 2023
    • Program Suggestions
    • Newsletter
    • Website
  • Groups
    • Groups A - Z
    • Recent Groups >
      • Armchair History
      • German - Beginners
      • Meditation
      • Russian Literature
      • Hot Topics/The News - Fact or Fiction?
    • Archived Groups >
      • A - M >
        • A Different View Of German History
        • Armchair Traveller
        • Booker Reading Group
        • Bushwalking - Mid-week Walks
        • Comparative Religion
        • Facebook for Mentors
        • Google Apps/TS Plus
        • History - An Introduction to Western Civilization
        • History - Moments in Australian History
        • Investment I (1996 -2015)
        • Legal Matters (Short Course)
        • Making the Most of the Internet
      • O - Z >
        • On Target - Learning to Shop Online
        • Opera
        • 'Over There'
        • Rail and Tourism
        • Tech Savvy Apple Devices - Intermediate
        • Tech Savvy Community Projects
        • Travel Group
        • Zoom Short Course
  • A-Col
    • A - COL
    • 'A Taste of Art'
    • Art Appreciation
    • Australian History
    • 'As Time Goes By' >
      • Home
      • Our Stories - by topic
    • 'Be Connected'
    • Birdwatching
    • Brain Games
    • Bushwalking - Easy Walks
    • Cards '500'
    • Chat n' Chew
    • Coin Collectors
    • Collectors
  • Col-G
    • COM - G
    • Community Singing
    • Creative Writing
    • Demystifying Psychology
    • Enjoying the Internet
    • Exercises for Fun
    • Exploring the Universe
    • Family Research - Advanced >
      • Home
      • Family Stories
    • Family Research - Beginners
    • Film Discussion Group
    • Garden Appreciation
    • Garden Team
    • German >
      • German Home
      • Lessons
  • I - R
    • I - R
    • 'In the Lap of the Gods'
    • Investment
    • Jane Austen Book Club
    • Let's Talk Books
    • Lifeball
    • Meet and Mingle
    • Music Appreciation
    • Page Turners
    • Patchwork and Craft
    • Photography
    • Play Reading
    • Politics & Current Affairs
    • Recorder Group
  • S - Z
    • S -Z
    • Singing for Fun
    • Sky's the Limit
    • Stock and Land
    • Sustainability
    • Tech Advice
    • Tech Savvy Android - Beginners
    • Tech Savvy Apple - 'Pages'
    • Tech Talks
    • Ukes4Fun
    • Wine Appreciation
    • Wise Guys Book Group
  • Join
    • Join Us
    • Membership Application/Renewal Form
    • Program Guide 2023
    • Timetable - Month Overview
    • Full Timetable with Dates
    • New Courses 2023
    • Venues and Maps
  • News
    • News - General
    • March Newsletter
    • Calendar 2022
    • Monthly Calendar
    • Website & Facebook
  • FB
  • Gallery
    • Gallery 2022
    • Gallery 2021
    • Gallery 2020
    • Gallery 2019
    • Gallery 2018
    • Gallery 2017
    • Gallery 2016 >
      • + Christmas Lunch 2016
    • Gallery 2015 >
      • Christmas Lunch 2015
    • Gallery 2014
    • Lifeball Video
  • Links
    • Resources and References
    • U3A Network Victoria
    • Seniors Online Victoria
    • U3A Albury Wodonga
    • U3A Beechworth (Indigo U3A)
    • U3A Bright
    • U3A Wangaratta
    • U3A Goulburn Valley
  • Contact

March - 'Portraits in the Simpson Gallery'

30/3/2019

 
​At our March meeting we were given a lecture by Bryony on portraits in the Simpson Gallery.
Bryony concentrated on the two portraits of Henry Johnson and Caroline Johnson by Joseph Backler.

Unfortunately not much is known about Henry and Caroline Johnson - were they husband and wife or brother and sister for instance? A quick check of NSW historical records does not throw up any information. As the paintings were done before the Gold Rush it is unfortunate that nothing is known of the figures as they could have been significant members of the small community.

However we do know something of the Artist Joseph Backler. Joseph was an ex convict who after his ticket of leave was granted made his living as an artist. Convicted of being a forger he was transported to Sydney and during his early years in Australia suffered further heavy punishment because he was suspected of further forging activities. But even when he was on Norfolk Island he managed to do several paintings. He was not an Artist who mingled with the art crowd in Sydney, but nevertheless a number of his paintings have survived. He travelled around the colony with a handcart carrying his art supplies advertising his capacity for portraits. His portraits concentrated on showing details of the face and leaving the rest of the portrait with general impressions. It could be that he used props to fill in details of clothes etc. However his portraits do show a certain amount of character and appear to make no attempt to improve the beauty or otherwise of the sitters.

Elsewhere there are other portraits by Clifton Pugh and Albert Tucker that are worth viewing and are valuable assets of the Gallery.
​
Neville Gibb

Comments are closed.

    Art Appreciation 

    Join Benalla Art Gallery staff and other members of the community for the gallery's 'First Mondays' session every month at 10am for an eclectic and ever-changing curated program of talks and tours. See the latest exhibitions and listen to talks by guest artists and curators. Stay on after the session for a coffee at the gallery's cafe and catch up with other members of the Art Appreciation group.

    Meeting Times

    1st Monday
    10.00 - 11.00 am
    Benalla Art Gallery
    Cost - $2
     

    Convenor & Contact Details

    ​Neville Gibb 0428 858 688

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    50th Anniversary Exhibition
    Aboriginal Art
    Adrienne Doig
    Anna White
    Australian Exotica
    Beechworth Contemporary
    'Behind The Scenes At The Gallery'
    Benalla Art Gallery
    Brett Whitely
    Broken River Potters
    Bryony Nainby
    Cbus Super Collection
    'Centenarians'
    Clarice Beckett
    Collection Lab
    'Colonial Afterlife'
    Danila Vassilieff
    Doug Moran National Portrait Prize
    Eric Nash
    Gertrude Regional Residencies
    Helga Leunig 'Mother Country'
    'In My Father's Garden'
    Ivan Durrant
    'I Wish I'd Told You'
    Jacqui Stockdale
    Jennifer Paul
    Kate Jenvey
    Lorna Hobbs
    Mervyn Beamish
    'Natural History: Lake Mokoan'
    Neville Gibb
    Nina Machielse Hunt
    Oculi Collective
    Peter Wegner
    Portraits
    Sally Simpson
    'See HER Land'
    'Sidney Nolan: 100 Year Celebration'
    'Textaqueen'
    'The Body's Terrain'
    'The Botany Of Desire'
    The John Twycross Collection
    'The Ledger Collection'
    'The Outlaws Inn'
    'The Outlaws' Inn'
    'The Salon'
    Tony Flint 'Helter Skelter'
    Tony Flint 'Vistas'
    VCE Showcase Of Works
    Where Is The Art?
    'Working The Land'
    Working The Land

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    January 2021
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay our respects to their elders - past, present and emerging.
Picture
News
​Newsletter
Facebook Page
​
Program Suggestions
​CO-VID Safety

U3A Benalla & District Flier 2023
​Membership Application/Renewal Form 
​
Program Guide 2023
Semester 1 Timetable with Dates 2023
Semester 1 Timetable Month Overview 2023
Developed and maintained by members, this website showcases U3A Benalla & District. 
​Photographs - U3A members; Benalla Art Gallery website; ​Weebly 'Free' images;Travel Victoria and State Library of Victoria