A J Daplyn (1844-1926): artist, teacher and critic, by Silas Clifford-Smith
Crown Studios photo of A J Daplyn c.1912
Alfred James Daplyn was born in the East London dockland district of Stepney in late 1844. Despite living in a predominantly working class area he received a boarding school education in South London, suggesting his family were not financially disadvantaged. By the age of seventeen he was back living in Stepney and was working as an apprentice engineer.
Daplyn’s interest in engineering was short lived, and during the following two decades he studied art in London (Slade School), Rome, and New York. His principal art education was in Paris where he trained under J.L. Gérome and Carolus Duran. While in France in the mid 1870s he painted in Barbizon, a rural district near Paris made famous by the mid-century realist landscape painters Corot, Millet, Rousseau, Diaz and Daubigny.
Many North Americans and Europeans were attracted to Barbizon during the second half of the nineteenth century where they soaked-up the landscape painted by the pioneering Barbizon painters. Many of these foreign artists moved around the world during the late nineteenth century taking the realist Barbizon message with them.
Barbizon highly influenced Daplyn, and for the rest of his life he was an advocate of their plein air method which eshewed the grand panorama in favor of the beauty that lies in everyday things. While in France he became friends with the Scottish born writer Robert Louis Stevenson. Daplyn later wrote extensively of his time with Stevenson in Barbizon and Paris; these serialized articles were published in (the Australian magazine) Red Funnel between March and June 1908.
Aged thirty-seven Daplyn arrived in Australia in 1881, and while living in Melbourne he painted several works at Brighton Beach. Daplyn’s Australian debut saw him show several works with the Victorian Academy of Arts at their March 1882 exhibition. The Argus reviewer (25 March 1882, p 13) noted his landscapes:
'Another new-comer, A. Daplyn, seems to have sought inspiration in Brittany. “Showery Weather” (57) and “The Boat-Builder” (69) are painted in the low tones after the French method, and in the style of the “impressionists.” ’
Although Daplyn’s work could never honestly be described as Impressionist the Argus reviewer’s description of his style was significant as it was the first time the term was used in Australian art history. While living in Melbourne, Daplyn began his long association with the Art Society of NSW when he exhibited five works at their spring exhibition in 1883 and 1884.
By 1884 Daplyn was living in Sydney and was painting the Hawkesbury River with Julian Ashton. In his late life memoir Now came still evening on (p 50) Ashton described Daplyn as a man 'of a meditative disposition and didn't hurry through life as we younger men were doing.’
Overseas experience meant much in nineteenth century Australia and with Daplyn’s extensive training in Europe he was appointed in 1885 as the first paid instructor at the Art Society of NSW's school in Pitt Street, Sydney, a position he held up to 1892. ‘Dap’, as he was known by his students, was a popular teacher although known as a disciplinarian. The quality of his teaching method is reflected in the names of his best known students: Alfred Coffey, Charles Conder, Sydney Long, and J.S. Watkins.
During 1893-94 Daplyn made a year long tour of Samoa, and while there he painted his old friend Robert Louis Stevenson at his home in Vailima. Some of these images were exhibited in the 1894 Art Society exhibition, and Daplyn’s travel notes and images were published in the January 1895 issue of Cosmos magazine. That same year he was appointed to the executive council of the Art Society of NSW, a position he held until 1913.
The 1890s was arguably his most successful period as a painter in Australia. His landscape, ‘In Sunlight and Shadow’(c.1897) received much praise from the Sydney critics (Sydney Morning Herald & Daily Telegraph 9.9.1897). Another significant work from this time was ‘An Australian artist's dream of Europe’ (c.1898).
During the late 1890s Daplyn was advertising his skill in the Art Society exhibition catalogues as a portrait painter with prices ranging from 5 to 100 guineas. His best known portrait from this time was his image of Sir Joseph Abbott, the then President of the Art Society.
The mid 1890s were difficult times for the Art Society which saw internal squabbling over the influence of amateurs and professionals in the election of officials. This quarrel had led to the formation of the Society of Artists in 1895. In 1897 Daplyn replaced G.V.F. Mann as Secretary of the Art Society of NSW. He served as Secretary until the groups reunited as the Royal Art Society of NSW in 1903, he then served as Assistant Secretary until 1913. In 1899 he published a short history of the Art Society in that years exhibition catalogue, this was the first official history written on the organisation.
In 1898 Daplyn exhibited three works at the ‘Exhibition of Australian Art in London’ at the prestigious Grafton Galleries, London. The Times review (4th April 1898, p 15) was positive about his work:
‘Of the landscape painters the most noteworthy are Mr. Arthur Streeton, Mr. David Davies, Mr. Lister-Lister, and Mr. Daplyn… Mr. Daplyn’s careful work, if a little old-fashioned, has all the virtue of sincerity.’
The influential British critic R.A.M. Stevenson also mentioned Daplyn in his review in the Pall Mall Gazette (4 April 1898): 'His work in this exhibition is of the older French tradition, quiet, unaffected and without any swagger of brushwork.'
By the end of the century Daplyn was regularly writing ‘Art Notes’ for several publications, most notably the Sydney Morning Herald and the short-lived Australasian Art Review. In 1900 his painting 'The moon is up, yet tis not night' was purchased by the (then National) Art Gallery of NSW. Despite his importance to the history of art in Australia this work was the only painting purchased by the NSW state collection, regretably this oil was sold by the Trustees in 1946.
In 1902 W.C. Penfold published the first edition of his Landscape painting from nature in Australia: a manual for the student in oil and water colours. Written as a beginners guide to landscape painting the book was illustrated with examples by Daplyn and the Art Society President, William Lister Lister. Reflecting the popularity of landscape painting at the time the first edition had a print run of 2,000 copies, and the work was republished in 1909, 1914 and 1923.
Daplyn expressed his realist philosophy of landscape painting on page one of the manual:
‘The landscape painter has, or should have, two great aims; firstly, to give to the spectator a truthful conception of natural objects, the second, to guide his mind to the contemplation of objects or scenes most worthy his attention; also to inform him of thoughts and feelings produced in the mind of the artist himself.’
Daplyn was a keen Francophile and enjoyed visiting France where he painted and visited the many galleries. When living in Sydney he was a regular customer at the Café Francais where he, along with several other artists, were known as ‘The Growlers’.
In early 1913 Daplyn left Sydney for a visit to Europe. The Salon (vol 1, no 4, 1913, p 235) reported that he received a commission from the Royal Art Society to ‘enquire as to the most up-to-date methods of teaching art’. While in Europe Daplyn wrote several articles on British and French art which were published in the Sydney Morning Herald. According to the Bulletin (5.8.1926) Daplyn received a ‘substantial legacy’ around this time, so it can be presumed that this research tour was self funded. Daplyn was listed living at 35 Mall Road, Hammersmith, London from 1914 until 1919. Despite living in England he continued to submit work to several RAS shows. The Daily Telegraph (14.11.1914) commented on that year’s contribution:
'Mr. A.J. Daplyn, an exhibitor of unobtrusive little Australian landscapes for many years, has joined the ranks of the absentees, and sends a few pictures of scenes in Brittany positively riotous with colour. He is evidently enjoying himself vastly.'
After the war he returned to Sydney. In the fourth edition of his manual (1923) Daplyn is listed as an 'art expert' living at 50 Young Street, Sydney -'pictures on view at moderate prices’.
At an August 1923 meeting in Sydney, Daplyn along with prominent Sydney based watercolourists B.E. Minns, Martin Stainforth, C.E.S. Tindall J.H. Bennett and A.H. Fullwood established the Australian Watercolour Institute (AWI). Daplyn was elected Hon. Secretary and Treasurer, and at the AWI’s first exhibition in March/April 1924 he exhibited four English themed watercolours.
While notable in the development of landscape art in Australia, Daplyn is best remembered as a teacher and advocate of plein air painting in the Barbizon School tradition. His own work although competent is regarded as undistinguished and was soon over shadowed by the work of others. This view was expressed in 2008 by John MacDonald in volume one of Art of Australia (p. 436):
'Like Julian Ashton, Daplyn was to play an important role as a teacher and mentor, but his artistic contribution was slight. Daplyn really had no excuses apart from a lack of innate ability, because he had one of the best educational pedigrees of any local artist.'
By 1924 Daplyn had returned to London, and died in Chelsea, aged 82, on 19 July 1926. He never married and had no children. William Lister Lister was a close friend of Daplyn and he was a major beneficiary in his will, and was given all his pictures and books.
© Silas Clifford-Smith, 2014
An earlier version of this biography was first published on the Design and Art Australia Online (DAAO) website:
Daplyn’s interest in engineering was short lived, and during the following two decades he studied art in London (Slade School), Rome, and New York. His principal art education was in Paris where he trained under J.L. Gérome and Carolus Duran. While in France in the mid 1870s he painted in Barbizon, a rural district near Paris made famous by the mid-century realist landscape painters Corot, Millet, Rousseau, Diaz and Daubigny.
Many North Americans and Europeans were attracted to Barbizon during the second half of the nineteenth century where they soaked-up the landscape painted by the pioneering Barbizon painters. Many of these foreign artists moved around the world during the late nineteenth century taking the realist Barbizon message with them.
Barbizon highly influenced Daplyn, and for the rest of his life he was an advocate of their plein air method which eshewed the grand panorama in favor of the beauty that lies in everyday things. While in France he became friends with the Scottish born writer Robert Louis Stevenson. Daplyn later wrote extensively of his time with Stevenson in Barbizon and Paris; these serialized articles were published in (the Australian magazine) Red Funnel between March and June 1908.
Aged thirty-seven Daplyn arrived in Australia in 1881, and while living in Melbourne he painted several works at Brighton Beach. Daplyn’s Australian debut saw him show several works with the Victorian Academy of Arts at their March 1882 exhibition. The Argus reviewer (25 March 1882, p 13) noted his landscapes:
'Another new-comer, A. Daplyn, seems to have sought inspiration in Brittany. “Showery Weather” (57) and “The Boat-Builder” (69) are painted in the low tones after the French method, and in the style of the “impressionists.” ’
Although Daplyn’s work could never honestly be described as Impressionist the Argus reviewer’s description of his style was significant as it was the first time the term was used in Australian art history. While living in Melbourne, Daplyn began his long association with the Art Society of NSW when he exhibited five works at their spring exhibition in 1883 and 1884.
By 1884 Daplyn was living in Sydney and was painting the Hawkesbury River with Julian Ashton. In his late life memoir Now came still evening on (p 50) Ashton described Daplyn as a man 'of a meditative disposition and didn't hurry through life as we younger men were doing.’
Overseas experience meant much in nineteenth century Australia and with Daplyn’s extensive training in Europe he was appointed in 1885 as the first paid instructor at the Art Society of NSW's school in Pitt Street, Sydney, a position he held up to 1892. ‘Dap’, as he was known by his students, was a popular teacher although known as a disciplinarian. The quality of his teaching method is reflected in the names of his best known students: Alfred Coffey, Charles Conder, Sydney Long, and J.S. Watkins.
During 1893-94 Daplyn made a year long tour of Samoa, and while there he painted his old friend Robert Louis Stevenson at his home in Vailima. Some of these images were exhibited in the 1894 Art Society exhibition, and Daplyn’s travel notes and images were published in the January 1895 issue of Cosmos magazine. That same year he was appointed to the executive council of the Art Society of NSW, a position he held until 1913.
The 1890s was arguably his most successful period as a painter in Australia. His landscape, ‘In Sunlight and Shadow’(c.1897) received much praise from the Sydney critics (Sydney Morning Herald & Daily Telegraph 9.9.1897). Another significant work from this time was ‘An Australian artist's dream of Europe’ (c.1898).
During the late 1890s Daplyn was advertising his skill in the Art Society exhibition catalogues as a portrait painter with prices ranging from 5 to 100 guineas. His best known portrait from this time was his image of Sir Joseph Abbott, the then President of the Art Society.
The mid 1890s were difficult times for the Art Society which saw internal squabbling over the influence of amateurs and professionals in the election of officials. This quarrel had led to the formation of the Society of Artists in 1895. In 1897 Daplyn replaced G.V.F. Mann as Secretary of the Art Society of NSW. He served as Secretary until the groups reunited as the Royal Art Society of NSW in 1903, he then served as Assistant Secretary until 1913. In 1899 he published a short history of the Art Society in that years exhibition catalogue, this was the first official history written on the organisation.
In 1898 Daplyn exhibited three works at the ‘Exhibition of Australian Art in London’ at the prestigious Grafton Galleries, London. The Times review (4th April 1898, p 15) was positive about his work:
‘Of the landscape painters the most noteworthy are Mr. Arthur Streeton, Mr. David Davies, Mr. Lister-Lister, and Mr. Daplyn… Mr. Daplyn’s careful work, if a little old-fashioned, has all the virtue of sincerity.’
The influential British critic R.A.M. Stevenson also mentioned Daplyn in his review in the Pall Mall Gazette (4 April 1898): 'His work in this exhibition is of the older French tradition, quiet, unaffected and without any swagger of brushwork.'
By the end of the century Daplyn was regularly writing ‘Art Notes’ for several publications, most notably the Sydney Morning Herald and the short-lived Australasian Art Review. In 1900 his painting 'The moon is up, yet tis not night' was purchased by the (then National) Art Gallery of NSW. Despite his importance to the history of art in Australia this work was the only painting purchased by the NSW state collection, regretably this oil was sold by the Trustees in 1946.
In 1902 W.C. Penfold published the first edition of his Landscape painting from nature in Australia: a manual for the student in oil and water colours. Written as a beginners guide to landscape painting the book was illustrated with examples by Daplyn and the Art Society President, William Lister Lister. Reflecting the popularity of landscape painting at the time the first edition had a print run of 2,000 copies, and the work was republished in 1909, 1914 and 1923.
Daplyn expressed his realist philosophy of landscape painting on page one of the manual:
‘The landscape painter has, or should have, two great aims; firstly, to give to the spectator a truthful conception of natural objects, the second, to guide his mind to the contemplation of objects or scenes most worthy his attention; also to inform him of thoughts and feelings produced in the mind of the artist himself.’
Daplyn was a keen Francophile and enjoyed visiting France where he painted and visited the many galleries. When living in Sydney he was a regular customer at the Café Francais where he, along with several other artists, were known as ‘The Growlers’.
In early 1913 Daplyn left Sydney for a visit to Europe. The Salon (vol 1, no 4, 1913, p 235) reported that he received a commission from the Royal Art Society to ‘enquire as to the most up-to-date methods of teaching art’. While in Europe Daplyn wrote several articles on British and French art which were published in the Sydney Morning Herald. According to the Bulletin (5.8.1926) Daplyn received a ‘substantial legacy’ around this time, so it can be presumed that this research tour was self funded. Daplyn was listed living at 35 Mall Road, Hammersmith, London from 1914 until 1919. Despite living in England he continued to submit work to several RAS shows. The Daily Telegraph (14.11.1914) commented on that year’s contribution:
'Mr. A.J. Daplyn, an exhibitor of unobtrusive little Australian landscapes for many years, has joined the ranks of the absentees, and sends a few pictures of scenes in Brittany positively riotous with colour. He is evidently enjoying himself vastly.'
After the war he returned to Sydney. In the fourth edition of his manual (1923) Daplyn is listed as an 'art expert' living at 50 Young Street, Sydney -'pictures on view at moderate prices’.
At an August 1923 meeting in Sydney, Daplyn along with prominent Sydney based watercolourists B.E. Minns, Martin Stainforth, C.E.S. Tindall J.H. Bennett and A.H. Fullwood established the Australian Watercolour Institute (AWI). Daplyn was elected Hon. Secretary and Treasurer, and at the AWI’s first exhibition in March/April 1924 he exhibited four English themed watercolours.
While notable in the development of landscape art in Australia, Daplyn is best remembered as a teacher and advocate of plein air painting in the Barbizon School tradition. His own work although competent is regarded as undistinguished and was soon over shadowed by the work of others. This view was expressed in 2008 by John MacDonald in volume one of Art of Australia (p. 436):
'Like Julian Ashton, Daplyn was to play an important role as a teacher and mentor, but his artistic contribution was slight. Daplyn really had no excuses apart from a lack of innate ability, because he had one of the best educational pedigrees of any local artist.'
By 1924 Daplyn had returned to London, and died in Chelsea, aged 82, on 19 July 1926. He never married and had no children. William Lister Lister was a close friend of Daplyn and he was a major beneficiary in his will, and was given all his pictures and books.
© Silas Clifford-Smith, 2014
An earlier version of this biography was first published on the Design and Art Australia Online (DAAO) website: