Alfred Tipper
Encyclopedia
Alfred Henry Tipper also known by the pseudonyms Professor Tipper and H.D. (reported to be an initialism for Henry Dearing or Harold Deering), was an Australian showman, competitive and endurance cyclist, and outsider artist. His combined interests in mechanics, fitness and entertainment led to a long career as a trick cyclist and builder of miniature bicycles. Following his death, Tipper's artistic abilities were recognised by the Australian painter Albert Tucker
, who promoted Tipper's paintings in the modernist art and literary magazine Angry Penguins
.
to Thomas Tipper and his Irish-born wife Catherine. When he was two years old, Tipper was abandoned by his parents and raised as a ward of the state. In 1874, the Maitland Mercury
reported Tipper as living in the harbourside Sydney
suburb of Woolloomoolloo; the young boy received attention in the press after discovering the body of a dead infant in a Belmore
park. Later, he found employment at a dairy farm and developed considerable knowledge of mechanics, and in the 1880s took to the new sport of competitive cycling.
In 1896, Tipper rode on a penny-farthing from Sydney to Melbourne
(roughly 900 km
), carrying with him a 32 kg swag. This inspired him to ride around the world, and over the next six years Tipper took his "singing and comedy cycling act" to crowds across Europe and the United States
. One routine involved him riding a custom-built 13 cm
high bicycle while singing the folk song "From the Highlands and the Lowlands". He also attempted to build a pedal-powered aeroplane
. By the 1930s, Tipper was part-owner of a bicycle repair shop in Richmond
, Melbourne, and regularly toured Australia with his large collection of bikes. Known by his nickname "Professor Tipper", he sported a long white beard and advocated a "rational" dress sense of thin shirts and knickerbockers
. In his final years, Tipper lived in squalid conditions, at one stage building a makeshift shelter from the body of an old motorcar on a vacant allotment opposite Brunswick Town Hall
. Despite these hardships, his passion for cycling and "unique capacity for self-advertising" remained undimmed. He died on 2 April 1944 at Royal Melbourne Hospital
and was buried in Fawkner Cemetery.
, who greatly admired the works' naïve
boldness, painterly qualities, and treatment of the Australian countryside. Tucker acquired one of the large unframed canvases (signed "H.D.") and pinned it up in his East Melbourne terrace house. In the December 1944 issue of Angry Penguins
, Tucker wrote that H.D.'s paintings bore "the unmistakable mark of the natural artist .... a startling sense of life expressed through an unfaltering sense of form, pattern, texture and colour, with the anecdotal eye of the traditional "primitive
"". Angry Penguins was founded in Adelaide
in 1940 by the poet and literary critic Max Harris, and later moved to Melbourne in 1943. The magazine attracted likeminded poets and artists with shared interests in expressionism
and surrealist devices and techniques. Many of the "Angry Penguins" such as Tucker, Sidney Nolan
and John Perceval
were self-taught painters—eschewing academic training and asserting the artist's intellectual and imaginative freedom. Tucker saw H.D. as an example of the untaught artist who hadn't the "disadvantage of training in some socially endorsed art style".
Only after the publication of H.D.'s work in Angry Penguins and inclusion in group exhibitions run by the Contemporary Art Society was the artist's true identity discovered. Tipper's paintings are now held in major galleries including the National Gallery of Australia
and Heide Museum of Modern Art
, and his art formed part of the 2005 touring exhibition Raw and Compelling: Australian Naïve Art.
Albert Tucker (artist)
Albert Lee Tucker , a pivotal Australian artist, was a member of the Heide Circle, a group of leading modernist artists and writers that centred on the art patrons John and Sunday Reed, whose home, "Heide", located in Bulleen, near Heidelberg , was a haven for the group...
, who promoted Tipper's paintings in the modernist art and literary magazine Angry Penguins
Angry Penguins
Angry Penguins was an Australian literary and artistic avant-garde movement of the 1940s. The movement was stimulated by a modernist magazine of the same name published by the surrealist poet Max Harris, who founded the magazine in 1940, at the age of 18....
.
Life
Tipper was born on 12 July 1867 in the regional Victorian city of SaleSale, Victoria
Sale is a city in the Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria. It is the seat of the Shire of Wellington as well as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sale and the Anglican Diocese of Gippsland. It has a population of around 13,336, and is expected to reach a population of 14,000 soon...
to Thomas Tipper and his Irish-born wife Catherine. When he was two years old, Tipper was abandoned by his parents and raised as a ward of the state. In 1874, the Maitland Mercury
Maitland Mercury
The Maitland Mercury is Australia's oldest regional newspaper. It was originally a weekly newspaper, with the first issue published on 7 January 1843. The Mercury is still in circulation serving the city of Maitland and the surrounding Lower Hunter Valley.Even when it was first published the...
reported Tipper as living in the harbourside Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
suburb of Woolloomoolloo; the young boy received attention in the press after discovering the body of a dead infant in a Belmore
Belmore, New South Wales
Belmore is a suburb, of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Belmore is located 15 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Canterbury.-History:...
park. Later, he found employment at a dairy farm and developed considerable knowledge of mechanics, and in the 1880s took to the new sport of competitive cycling.
In 1896, Tipper rode on a penny-farthing from Sydney to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
(roughly 900 km
KM
KM, Km, or km may stand for:*Kilometre *Kernel methods*Kettle Moraine High School*Khmer language *Kuomintang , a centre-right political party in the Republic of China on Taiwan...
), carrying with him a 32 kg swag. This inspired him to ride around the world, and over the next six years Tipper took his "singing and comedy cycling act" to crowds across Europe and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. One routine involved him riding a custom-built 13 cm
CM
- Places :* Cameroon, which has the ISO and FIPS country code "CM"** .cm, the country code top-level domain for Cameroon* Chelmsford, which has the British post code "CM"- Science :* Centimetre a unit of length equal to one hundredth of a metre...
high bicycle while singing the folk song "From the Highlands and the Lowlands". He also attempted to build a pedal-powered aeroplane
Human-powered aircraft
A human-powered aircraft is an aircraft powered by direct human energy and the force of gravity; the thrust provided by the human may be the only source; however, a hang glider that is partially powered by pilot power is a human-powered aircraft where the flight path can be enhanced more than if...
. By the 1930s, Tipper was part-owner of a bicycle repair shop in Richmond
Richmond, Victoria
Richmond is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
, Melbourne, and regularly toured Australia with his large collection of bikes. Known by his nickname "Professor Tipper", he sported a long white beard and advocated a "rational" dress sense of thin shirts and knickerbockers
Knickerbockers (clothing)
Knickerbockers are men's or boys' breeches or baggy-kneed trousers particularly popular in the early twentieth century USA. Golfers' plus twos and plus fours were breeches of this type...
. In his final years, Tipper lived in squalid conditions, at one stage building a makeshift shelter from the body of an old motorcar on a vacant allotment opposite Brunswick Town Hall
Brunswick Town Hall
Brunswick Town Hall is located on the corner of Dawson Street and Sydney Road in the inner northern Melbourne, suburb of Brunswick, Victoria, Australia....
. Despite these hardships, his passion for cycling and "unique capacity for self-advertising" remained undimmed. He died on 2 April 1944 at Royal Melbourne Hospital
Royal Melbourne Hospital
The Royal Melbourne Hospital , located in Parkville, Victoria an inner suburb of Melbourne is one of Australia’s leading public hospitals. It is a major teaching hospital for tertiary health care with a reputation in clinical research...
and was buried in Fawkner Cemetery.
Art
In the early 20th century, Tipper produced postcards and oil paintings documenting his cycling achievements. After he died, five of his paintings were salvaged and displayed in the window of a bicycle shop on Swanston Street. They were spotted by the young Melbourne modernist painter Albert TuckerAlbert Tucker (artist)
Albert Lee Tucker , a pivotal Australian artist, was a member of the Heide Circle, a group of leading modernist artists and writers that centred on the art patrons John and Sunday Reed, whose home, "Heide", located in Bulleen, near Heidelberg , was a haven for the group...
, who greatly admired the works' naïve
Naïve art
Naïve art is a classification of art that is often characterized by a childlike simplicity in its subject matter and technique. While many naïve artists appear, from their works, to have little or no formal art training, this is often not true...
boldness, painterly qualities, and treatment of the Australian countryside. Tucker acquired one of the large unframed canvases (signed "H.D.") and pinned it up in his East Melbourne terrace house. In the December 1944 issue of Angry Penguins
Angry Penguins
Angry Penguins was an Australian literary and artistic avant-garde movement of the 1940s. The movement was stimulated by a modernist magazine of the same name published by the surrealist poet Max Harris, who founded the magazine in 1940, at the age of 18....
, Tucker wrote that H.D.'s paintings bore "the unmistakable mark of the natural artist .... a startling sense of life expressed through an unfaltering sense of form, pattern, texture and colour, with the anecdotal eye of the traditional "primitive
Primitivism
Primitivism is a Western art movement that borrows visual forms from non-Western or prehistoric peoples, such as Paul Gauguin's inclusion of Tahitian motifs in paintings and ceramics...
"". Angry Penguins was founded in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
in 1940 by the poet and literary critic Max Harris, and later moved to Melbourne in 1943. The magazine attracted likeminded poets and artists with shared interests in expressionism
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
and surrealist devices and techniques. Many of the "Angry Penguins" such as Tucker, Sidney Nolan
Sidney Nolan
Sir Sidney Robert Nolan OM, AC was one of Australia's best-known painters and printmakers.-Early life:Nolan was born in Carlton, a suburb of Melbourne, on 22 April 1917. He was the eldest of four children. His family later moved to St Kilda. Nolan attended the Brighton Road State School and...
and John Perceval
John Perceval
John de Burgh Perceval AO was a well-known Australian artist. Perceval was the last surviving member of a group known as the Angry Penguins who redefined Australian art in the 1940s...
were self-taught painters—eschewing academic training and asserting the artist's intellectual and imaginative freedom. Tucker saw H.D. as an example of the untaught artist who hadn't the "disadvantage of training in some socially endorsed art style".
Only after the publication of H.D.'s work in Angry Penguins and inclusion in group exhibitions run by the Contemporary Art Society was the artist's true identity discovered. Tipper's paintings are now held in major galleries including the National Gallery of Australia
National Gallery of Australia
The National Gallery of Australia is the national art gallery of Australia, holding more than 120,000 works of art. It was established in 1967 by the Australian government as a national public art gallery.- Establishment :...
and Heide Museum of Modern Art
Heide Museum of Modern Art
Heide Museum of Modern Art, more commonly just Heide, is a contemporary art museum located in Bulleen, east of Melbourne, Australia. Established in 1981, the museum comprises several detached buildings and surrounding gardens & parklands of historical importance that are used as gallery spaces to...
, and his art formed part of the 2005 touring exhibition Raw and Compelling: Australian Naïve Art.
Further reading
- Haese, Richard. Rebels and Precursors. Melbourne: Penguin BooksPenguin BooksPenguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
, 1981. ISBN 0-7139-1362-2. - Copping it Sweet: Shared History of Richmond. Melbourne: City of RichmondCity of RichmondThe City of Richmond was a Local Government Area located about east of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1855 until 1994.-History:...
, 1988. ISBN 1-8751-4100-6.