CHARLES EDWARD CONDER (1868 - 1909)

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Charles E. Conder was an influential English-born painter, lithographer and designer. He emigrated to Australia and was a key figure in the Heidelberg School, with Tom Roberts, Frederick McCubbin and Arthur Streeton; arguably the beginning of a distinctively Australian tradition 
in Western art.Conder moved to Australia in 1884, where he attended Art Society School drawing classes with Julian Ashton. He befriended Tom Roberts, who influenced Conder to employ a suggestive rather than literal approach to painting. His works, with their silvery-grey tonality, contrasted with touches of brilliant colour, reflect the influence of James McNeill Whistler, an impressionist approach to atmosphere, and the principles of aesthetic painting. Conder’s interest in Japanese art, with its large, empty spaces, is also paramount. Among the best, he painted “A Holiday At Mentone”, a masterpiece of the Heidelberg School, which incorporated his new love of painting romantic beachscapes. He returned to Europe in 1890, where he became fully involved with Aestheticism and mixed with leading artists and writers of the day including Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley. He was lauded by others including Edgar Degas & Camille Pissaro. He died prematurely in 1909, but is considered one of Australia’s greatest and most important 
artists. His works remain in all National Gallery collections. His works rarely appear on the secondary market.