The Australian Watercolour Institute (AWI) is a non-profit membership organization devoted to the advancement of watercolour painting in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It was founded in 1923 by six painters in 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...

, and was modeled after the Royal Watercolour Society

Royal Watercolour Society

The Royal Watercolour Society is an English institution of painters working in watercolours...

 and the American Watercolor Society

American Watercolor Society

The American Watercolor Society is a nonprofit membership organization devoted to the advancement of watercolor painting in the United States. It was founded in 1866 by eleven painters and, originally, was known as the American Society of Painters in Water Colors...

.

History

The AWI's first exhibition occurred in 1924. A students' exhibition began in 1930. Until 1974, the AWI met in a variety of places and the annual exhibitions were held in different galleries. In that year, it received a grant enabling the AWI to rent space in a building on Sydney's Sussex Street. A reciprocal exhibition with the American Watercolor Society occurred in 1975, and in 1977, an AWI exhibition toured New Zealand. The international presence expanded to include Mexico City, Mexico; Spain; Vancouver, Canada; Hong Kong; and Korea (4th Asian Grand Watercolour Festival, Busan Biennale).

The founding members were J. Bennett, Alfred James Daplyn

Alfred James Daplyn

Alfred James Daplyn was an English-born Australian artist.Born in London, Daplyn studied there at the Slade School of Fine Art, the National Academy in New York, under Jean-Léon Gérôme at École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris and in Rome.Daplyn migrated to Melbourne in 1881, later...

, Albert Henry Fullwood

Albert Henry Fullwood

Albert Henry Fullwood was the Australian official war artist to the 5th Division in the First World War.Fullwood was born in Erdington, Birmingham, son of Frederick John Fullwood, jeweller, and his wife Emma, née Barr. From 1878, Fullwood studied art at evening classes at the Birmingham Institute...

, Benjamin Edwin Minns, Martin Stainforth

Martin Stainforth

Martin Frank Stainforth was a British-born artist best known for his portraits of Thoroughbred racehorses he painted in England and while living in Australia and the United States....

 and Charles Ephraim Smith Tindall. Invited foundation members included Albert Collins

Albert Collins (painter)

Albert E. Collins was an Australian painter, teacher and actor born in New Zealand. After a successful career in painting and teaching he joined ABC radio, where he gave pleasure to a generation of children as "Joe" of the Children's Session and the main character in the long-running serial...

, John Eldershaw, Hans Heysen

Hans Heysen

Sir Hans Heysen, OBE was a well-known German Australian artist. He was particularly recognized for his watercolours of the Australian bush. He won the Wynne Prize for landscape painting a record nine times.-Biography:...

, Norman Lindsay

Norman Lindsay

Norman Alfred William Lindsay was an Australian artist, sculptor, writer, editorial cartoonist, scale modeler, and boxer. He was born in Creswick, Victoria....

, Sydney Long

Sydney Long

Sydney Long was an Australian Artist.Born on 20 August 1871 at Ifield, Goulburn, New South Wales, Sydney Long began formal art classes at the New South Wales Art Society in 1890. in 1894 his Heidelberg School-influenced painting 'By Tranquil Waters' caused a small scandal, but was purchased by the...

, Arthur Streeton

Arthur Streeton

Sir Arthur Ernest Streeton was an Australian landscape painter.-Early life:Streeton was born in Mount Duneed, near Geelong, and his family moved to Richmond in 1874. In 1882, Streeton commenced art studies with G. F. Folingsby at the National Gallery School.Streeton was influenced by French...

, John D Moore, and Blamire Young

Blamire Young

William Blamire Young , commonly known as Blamire Young, was an English Australian artist.-Early life:...

. Past presidents include George Duncan

George Duncan (painter)

George Bernard Duncan was an Australian painter born in Aotearoa, New Zealand.He studied around 1925 under Dattilo Rubbo at the Royal Art Society. It was here he met Alison Rehfisch and they began sharing studio space....

 and Hal Missingham

Hal Missingham

Harold "Hal" Missingham AO was an Australian artist, Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 1945 to 1971,. and president of the Australian Watercolour Institute from 1952 to 1955.-Biography:...

. Other notable members include Ronald Steuart

Ronald Steuart

Ronald Hewison Steuart was a was a member of Australian Watercolour Institute from 1934–1988, a senior artist and was a life member of the Institute.Won the Wynne Prize in 1958 with the painting "The Cliff"...

, winner of the 1958 Wynne Prize

Wynne Prize

The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. One of Australia's longest running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne...

, and Robert Wade

Robert Wade (watercolor artist)

Robert Wade , is an Australian artist.He lectures on the heritage of Australian watercolour to many art societies around the world, earning himself the title of "Australia's Unofficial Ambassador of Watercolour"-External links:*...

, winner of the 1986 "Advance Australia Medal" for outstanding contribution to Australian watercolour. While membership was by invitation, it was not a requirement for exhibiting at the annual exhibition, such as the example of Heysen. Jean Isherwood

Jean Isherwood

Jean de Courtenay Isherwood OAM, FRAS, AWI, , was an Australian watercolour and oil painter, renowned for her colourful depictions of the Australian countryside.- Biography :...

's first exhibited work with the AWI. in 1934. was a small painting, but thereafter, she became a frequent exhibitor in major art exhibitions. In 2006, ten percent of the membership were recipients of honours awarded by the Australian state (Australia Honours).

Publications

AWI published its first book, Australian Watercolour Institute: 75th anniversary 1923-1998 on the occasion of its 75th anniversary in 1998. Its second book, The Australian Watercolour Institute: A Galley of Australia's Finest Watercolours, was published in 2006. The 2006 edition reproduces over 150 contemporary Australian watercolour works, as well as forty historical ones, and includes essays that document Australia's watercolouring history.

Further reading

• Australian Watercolour Institute, & Pinson, P. (1998). Australian Watercolour Institute: 75th anniversary 1923-1998. Roseville, N.S.W.: Beagle Press for the Australian Watercolour Institute. ISBN 0947349251
• Pinson, P., Campbell, J., & Laverty, P. (2006). Australian Watercolour Institute: A Galley of Australia's Finest Watercolours. Willoughby, N.S.W.: Phillip Mathews Book. ISBN 0977553205