Duncan Goldfinch
{{Short description|Australian painter}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Use Australian English|date=June 2015}}
Duncan Alexander Macarthur Goldfinch (20 September 1888 – 1960) was a South Australian painter, noted for his watercolours of Central Australia.
History
Duncan was born in the Sydney suburb of St Marys the eldest son of Elizabeth M. Goldfinch, née King (1867–1933) and her husband Henry Edward Goldfinch (ca.1854 – 7 June 1939), a retired Royal Navy officer. Elizabeth was born at Elizabeth Farm a granddaughter of both Governor King and Hannibal H. Macarthur.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16993008 |title=Mrs. E. M. Goldfinch |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=22 July 1933 |accessdate=9 February 2015 |page=17 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}
He joined Dalgety & Co at age 16 as a junior clerk,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48914639 |title=Retires After Selling Cars For 46 Years. |newspaper=The Advertiser |location=Adelaide |date=3 October 1953 |accessdate=9 February 2015 |page=4 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} and became a salesman for their Ford division.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130765283 |title=Who's who in motoring. |newspaper=The News |location=Adelaide |date=19 November 1949 |accessdate=9 February 2015 |page=9 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} He married in 1911; they lived at Rose Bay and first moved to Adelaide in 1933, but for some years alternated between Rose Bay and Medindie or (later) North Adelaide.
He was a keen amateur painter in watercolours. He joined the Royal South Australian Society of Arts and had his first showing, of four watercolours, at a Society exhibition in 1941,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47862676 |title=Autumn Art Exhibition To Open Today. |newspaper=The Advertiser |location=Adelaide |date=24 April 1941 |accessdate=9 February 2015 |page=20 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} and his first one-man show in 1948.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129909145 |title=First Show by Artist |newspaper=The News |location=Adelaide |date=1 June 1948 |accessdate=9 February 2015 |page=7 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}
He made a painting expedition to Hermannsburg with John Goodchild in 1950,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50196025 |title=Artist Returns From N.T. Expedition. |newspaper=The Advertiser |location=Adelaide |date=21 April 1950 |accessdate=9 February 2015 |page=1 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} and followed this with an expedition to Uluru (then named Ayers Rock) in 1951; he was the first European artist to paint "The Rock" and the Kata Tjuta (then named Mount Olga). He was accompanied by Con Doecke of Strathalbyn, Dick Woods of Mount Crawford, Noel Bantick of Adelaide, Keith Heggarty of Melbourne, and Dr. Ian Darian Smith. The fruits of his expedition when made public the following year, were well received.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55745556 |title=Ayers Rock in vivid color |newspaper=The Mail |location=Adelaide |date=29 March 1952 |accessdate=9 February 2015 |page=15 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}
He succeeded George Whinnen as president of the Royal South Australian Society of Arts 1950–1953.
His Spirit of Sydney was a finalist for the Wynne Prize in 1957.
Other activities
He was a keen golfer, with the unusual technique (for a right-hander) of putting left-handed.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129891182 |title=Always putts left-handed. |newspaper=The News |location=Adelaide |date=23 October 1948 |accessdate=9 February 2015 |page=7 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}
Family
Duncan married Mary Medora Cowper on 7 March 1911; they had one son, Malcolm (born 6 June 1916)
Bibliography
- Schrapel, Stephanie Duncan Goldfinch Royal South Australian Society of Arts 1993 {{ISBN|0646150006}}
References
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Category:20th-century Australian painters