William Pidgeon

{{about|the Australian painter|American archaeologist and antiquarian|William Pidgeon (archaeologist)}}

William Edwin Pidgeon, aka Bill Pidgeon and Wep, (1909–1981) was an Australian painter who won the Archibald Prize three times. After his death, cartoonist and journalist Les Tanner described him: "He was everything from serious draftsman, brilliant cartoonist, social observer, splittingly funny illustrator to multiple Archibald prizewinner.{{Cite book|title=Humour in The Weekly.|date=1983|publisher=Currey O'Neil|others=Australian Women's Weekly.|isbn=0-85902-081-9|location=South Yarra, Vic.|oclc=27576881}}

Pidgeon was born on 7 January 1909 in Paddington, an inner suburb of Sydney.{{Cite book|title=Notable Australians : the pictorial who's who.|publisher=Prestige Publishing Division, Paul Hamlyn|year=1978|isbn=0-86832-012-9|location=Sydney|pages=858|oclc=856582003}} He was the son of Frederick Castledine Pidgeon and Thirza Jessie Pidgeon, née White. He was educated at Sydney Technical High School.{{Cite book|title=Who's Who in Australia|publisher=Colourgravure Publications|year=1962|edition=27th|location=Melbourne, Victoria|pages=682}}{{Citation|last=Spearritt|first=Peter|title=Pidgeon, William Edwin (Wep) (1909–1981)|url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/pidgeon-william-edwin-wep-15454|work=Australian Dictionary of Biography|publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University|access-date=30 May 2020}} Pidgeon served in the Royal Australian Navy Reserve between 1927 and 1930 (Service Number S6342).

Pidgeon was married twice. He married Jessie Graham in 1933. They moved to Northwood, New South Wales in 1940 where he lived for the remainder of his life. They had one son in 1944. After Jessie's death, he married Dorothy Lees and a second son was born in 1959. From 1956 he suffered from glaucoma in both eyes. This condition led to gradual deterioration of his eyesight and necessitated six operations. In 1965 Hazel de Berg interviewed him as part of an oral history project to interview Australian artists.{{Cite book|title=Artists' portraits|date=1992|publisher=National Library of Australia|others=Dutton, Geoffrey., National Library of Australia.|isbn=0-642-10579-0|location=Canberra|oclc=33165242}} He died 16 February 1981 aged 72 years.{{Cite news|date=1 February 1981|title='Wep' dies, 72|pages=3|work=Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article125652908|access-date=31 May 2020}}

Cartoonist Les Tanner studied under Pidgeon.

Career

Pidgeon began his drawing career by doing comic illustrations for his Technical High School magazine; at 16 years of age he began a newspaper artist cadetship at The Sunday Times. He studied for a period of 6 months under J. S. Watkins In September 1926, at the age of 17, he had his first comic strip published. The Trifling Triplets appeared in The Sunday News. He was also published regularly in the (Sydney) Evening News{{Cite web|title=Trove search results for – Digitised newspapers and more|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/result?q&l-publictag=Illustration+by+Wep&sortby=dateAsc&l-title=508|website=Trove|language=en|access-date=30 May 2020}} where he was employed as a cadet artist. He also worked in Sydney for the Daily Guardian, the Sun, the World and the Sydney Daily Telegraph. Editor George Warnecke soon employed Pidgeon as an illustrator on the Smith's Weekly. He also illustrated for The Telegraph in the 1930s.''{{Cite book|last=Griffen-Foley, Bridget |author-link=Bridget Griffen-Foley |title=Sir Frank Packer, the young master : a biography|date=2000|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=0-7322-6422-7|location=Sydney|oclc=48945204}}

Art Reviews

Pidgeon wrote occasional art reviews for the Daily Telegraph for a number of years, and returned to this in 1974 when his eyesight was failing.

The Australian Women's Weekly

Warnecke asked Pidgeon to help produce a dummy for a new magazine The Australian Women's Weekly which he did. Warnecke took the idea to media proprietor Frank Packer. The first issue was published 10 June 1933.{{Cite web|title=The Australian Women's Weekly (1933–1982) – 10 Jun 1933 – p'Front Cover'|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/4602692#|website=Trove|language=en|access-date=30 May 2020}} Pidgeon commenced his career illustrating for the magazine starting with the first issue where he illustrated a short article on the scotch terrier.{{Cite news|date=1 June 1933|title=Our Dogs|pages=12|work=Australian Women's Weekly (1933–1982)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48074649|access-date=30 May 2020}} Pidgeon collaborated with humourist Lennie Lower during the late 1930s. This collaboration contributed to the magazine achieving the highest circulation in Australia.{{Cite book|last=Lindesay, Vane, 1920–|title=The inked-in image : a social and historical survey of Australian comic art|date=1979|publisher=Hutchinson of Australia|isbn=0-09-135460-9|location=Richmond, Vic.|oclc=9589964}}

In and Out of Society

Pidgeon used the moniker Wep for the In and Out of Society comic strip which entered the pages of The Weekly in September 1933.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lambiek.net/artists/p/pidgeon_william-edwin.htm|title = William Edwin Pidgeon}} It had a theme of the emancipated woman. The leading lady dominated the strip and most of Wep's gentle humour saw the male on the receiving end.{{Cite book|last=Ryan|first=John|title=Panel by panel: a history of Australian comics|publisher=Cassell Australia|year=1979|isbn=0726973769|location=Stanmore, New South Wales|pages=30}} Pidgeon used an extreme style that has been considered comic, original and modern in approach and has influenced humorous artists since. Although the strip continued through to the 1970s and drawn by other artists, Wep's work on the strip made it a household name.

War Correspondent

Pidgeon was a war correspondent{{Cite web|title=The Australian War Memorial|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2077994|website=www.awm.gov.au|language=en|access-date=31 May 2020}} for The Australian Women's Weekly (Consolidated Press). He visited Darwin, Northern Territory, Papua New Guinea, Morotai and Borneo. He produced cartoons, illustrations and paintings which were produced as covers.

He continued to provide cartoons and art work, including covers until he left full time employment with the Weekly in 1949 with an agreement to do occasional work which he did through the 1950s.{{Cite book|last=Washington, Judy.|title=Artists of Lane Cove|date=1989|publisher=Lane Cove Public Library|others=Lane Cove Public Library.|isbn=0-949622-02-8|location=Lane Cove, N.S.W.|oclc=40788077}}{{Cite book|last=O'Brien, Denis, 1929-|title=The Weekly : a lively and nostalgic celebration of Australia through 50 years of its most popular magazine|date=1982|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=0-14-006566-0|location=Ringwood, Vic., Australia|oclc=10349183}}

Portrait Painting

Pidgeon left The Weekly in 1949 to pursue portrait painting. Commissioned portraits became his livelihood over the next twenty-five years. He was a member of the Journalists' Club Sydney and painted the portraits of practically every club president up to 1976. Some of his subjects included:

Don Angel
Arthur Crouch
Keith Newman
Syd Nicholls
Jack Paton
Con Simons
Kenneth Slessor
E. G. Theodore, Australian politician{{Cite web|title=Portrait of E.G. Theodore [picture]|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135100043|access-date=1 August 2020|website=Trove|language=en}}
John Christopher Thompson, Catholic priest and educationalist{{Citation|last=Maher|first=Brian|title=Thompson, John Christopher (1893–1958)|url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/thompson-john-christopher-11848|work=Australian Dictionary of Biography|publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University|access-date=31 May 2020}}
Sir William Gaston Walkley, oil company director{{Cite web|title=Sir William Gaston Walkley, 1958|url=http://www.portrait.gov.au/portraits/2008.45/sir-william-gaston-walkley/|access-date=1 August 2020|website=National Portrait Gallery collection}}
King Watson
Fannie Whitely, family friend and brother of artist Brett Whiteley.{{Cite book|last=Hopkirk, Frannie, 1937–|title=Brett : a portrait of Brett Whiteley by his sister|date=1996|publisher=Knopf|isbn=0-09-183341-8|location=Sydney|oclc=36806852}}
Jerry Wilkes{{Cite book|last=Angel, Don, 1911-|title=The Journalists' Club, Sydney : founded 1939 : a fond history|date=1985|publisher=Journalists' Club (Sydney)|others=Journalists' Club (Sydney, N.S.W.)|isbn=0-9596107-2-3|location=Sydney|oclc=15551597}}

He also enjoyed painting landscapes and other styles.{{Cite web|title=Archibald Prize Sulman 1956 finalist: The Sun Bathers by William Pidgeon|url=https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/prizes/sulman/1956/25976/|website=www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au|access-date=31 May 2020}}

Archibald Prize

Pidgeon won the Archibald Prize three times. In 1958 with a portrait of journalist Ray Walker, in 1961 with a portrait of Rabbi Dr I Porush and in 1968 with a portrait of fellow artist and friend, Dr Lloyd Rees.Spearritt, Peter (2012). [http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/pidgeon-william-edwin-wep-15454 "Pidgeon, William Edwin (Wep) (1909–1981)"]. Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol. 18. Melbourne University Press. Online version retrieved 29 September 2016.

Pidgeon was a member of the Journalists' Club Sydney. His first painting of Club President Ray Walker won the 1958 prize.

The 1961 portrait of Rabbi Dr. I. Porush was commissioned for the Great Synagogue by Randwick bookmaker and horse breeder Mr. A. Davis, to mark the Rabbi's twenty-one years of service and in memory of Davis's younger sister Ettie. Pidgeon had competed in every prize since 1949. This was his second win.{{Cite book|last=Ross, Peter.|title=Let's face it : the history of the Archibald Prize|date=1999|publisher=Art Gallery of New South Wales|others=Art Gallery of New South Wales.|isbn=0-7313-8966-2|location=Sydney, Australia|oclc=40793170}}

Pidgeon was one of four local artists represented on the Lane Cove Art Panel. In March 1968, at the suggestion of this panel, Lane Cove Council commissioned Pidgeon to paint a portrait of Lloyd Rees for their art collection. The painting was subsequently entered in the 1968 Archibald Prize competition and won. The portrait was to hang in the Lane Cove town hall.

Publications

Pidgeon was invited to illustrate a number of books, and in some cases book covers:

Willis, Collins. Rhymes of Sydney by Collins Wills and "Wep". First published in 1933. New edition 1982. {{ISBN|0959359214}}
Raffaello, Carboni. The Eureka Stockade: the consequences of some pirates wanting on quarter-deck a rebellion, with an introduction by Herbart V. Evatt and illustrated by W. E. Pidgeon{{Cite book|last=Carboni|first=Raffaello|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/8291708|title=The Eureka Stockade : the consequence of some pirates wanting on quarter-deck a rebellion / by Carboni Raffaello|publisher=Sunnybrook Press|year=1942|language=en}}
Simpson, Colin. Come Away Pealer, 1952 [Jacket design only]
Warren, Marian. No Glamour in Gumboots, 1958
Cullota, Nino (John O'Grady) They're a Weird Mob, 1959{{Cite book|last=Culotta|first=Nino|url=http://archive.org/details/theyreweirdmob00culo|title=They're a weird mob|date=1959|location=Sydney |publisher= Ure Smith}}
Davy, G. C. The Christian Gentleman: a book of courtesy and social guidance for boys, 1960
Cullota, Nino (John O'Grady) Cop this Lot, 1960 {{ISBN|0725402008}}
Pearl, Cyril. So, you want to buy a house .. and live in it. 1961
Cullota, Nino (John O'Grady) Gone Fishin', 1962
Pearl, Cyril. The Best of Lennie Lower presented by Cyril Pearl and Wep, 1963
O'Grady, John. Aussie English: an explanation of Australian idiom, 1965
O'Grady, John. The Things they do to you, [1969]

Collections

File:E. G. Theodore.jpg

Pidgeon's paintings are held in the collections of the following organisations:

Australian War Memorial{{Cite web|title=William Edwin Pidgeon (1909–1981), war correspondent and artist {{!}} The Australian War Memorial|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions/william-pidgeon|website=www.awm.gov.au|language=en|access-date=31 May 2020}}
Government House (Sydney)
Great Synagogue
National Library of Australia{{Cite book|last=National Library of Australia.|title=A catalogue of oil paintings in the pictorial collection of the National Library of Australia.|date=1988|publisher=The Library|isbn=0-642-10429-8|location=Canberra|oclc=24318502}}
National Museum of Australia{{Cite web|title=National Museum of Australia|url=http://collectionsearch.nma.gov.au/|website=National Museum of Australia {{!}} Collection Explorer|language=en|access-date=31 May 2020}}
National Portrait Gallery{{Cite web|title=William Pidgeon, b. 1909|url=http://www.portrait.gov.au/people/william-pidgeon-1909/|website=National Portrait Gallery people|access-date=31 May 2020}}
New South Wales Art Gallery
Newcastle Art Gallery{{Cite web|title=Newcastle Art Gallery|url=https://newcastle-collections.ncc.nsw.gov.au/gallery.php|website=newcastle-collections.ncc.nsw.gov.au|access-date=31 May 2020}}
Parliament House{{Cite web|title=Portraits of Parliament|url=https://www.aph.gov.au/Visit_Parliament/Art/Online_Gallery/Portrait_Gallery|website=www.aph.gov.au|language=en-AU|access-date=31 May 2020}}
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
State Library New South Wales
St Vincent's Hospital Sydney
Sydney Children's Hospital
University of New England
University of New South Wales
University of Sydney

Legacy

In 1988 Bloomfield Galleries, New South Wales held an exhibition of Pidgeon's war paintings.{{Cite book|last=Wep, 1909–1981.|title=W.E. Pidgeon : war paintings 1943–1945|date=1988|publisher=Bloomfield Galleries|others=Bloomfield Galleries.|isbn=0-9590761-2-3|location=Paddington, N.S.W.|oclc=62544655}}

In 1997 the Journalists' Club Sydney closed. The Archibald Prize winner painting of club President Ray Walker went missing.{{Cite web|title=Sydney Journalists Club remembered|url=https://alanknight.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/sydneys-journalists-club/|date=2 October 2010|website=Online Journalism|language=en|access-date=31 May 2020}} In May 2020 the Art Gallery of New South Wales put a call out for its return.{{Cite web|title=The search for hundreds of missing Archibald finalists: Art Gallery of NSW curator Natalie Wilson – Afternoons with Deborah Knight – Omny.fm|url=https://omny.fm/shows/afternoons-with-deborah-knight/the-search-for-hundreds-of-missing-archibald-final|date=20 May 2020|website=2GB|access-date=31 May 2020}}

Over 400 works of art by Pidgeon were donated to the Australian War Memorial in 2014. These included illustrated letters to his wife while working as a war correspondent and artist with Consolidated Press in New Guinea, Borneo, and Morotai in 1943–1945. It also includes his War Correspondent's Licence and Identification Card and paintings, sketches, drawings, photographs, and other ephemeral material relating to his time as a war correspondent. The collection was one of the largest donations received by the Memorial over the past ten years. The Memorial holds the most comprehensive collection of Pidgeon's work in Australia.{{Cite journal|title=Australian War Memorial Annual Report 2013-2014|journal=Annual Report of the Board of Trustees for the Year Ended 30th June|publisher=Australian War Memorial|year=2014|location=Canberra, ACT|issn=1441-4198}}

In 2015 the Australian War Memorial held an exhibition William Edwin Pidgeon (1909-1981), war correspondent and artist which presented a selection of over 400 works held in the Memorial's collection.

References

External links

[http://www.wepidgeon.com William Edwin Pidgeon website]
[https://www.lambiek.net/artists/p/pidgeon_william-edwin.htm Lambiek Comiclopedia article.]
[http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/pidgeon-william-edwin-wep-15454 Australian Dictionary of Biography]
[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/result?q=&l-publictag=Illustration+by+Wep&sortby=dateAsc "Illustration by Wep" tag on historical newspapers and more via Trove]
[https://trove.nla.gov.au/list?id=80187 The Australian Women's Weekly Covers by Wep list via Trove]
[https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5236b137e4b0c77d0b915b6c/t/59589e6a86e6c0de954f054e/1498979948761/WILLIAM+PIDGEON.pdf Lane Cove Art Society WILLIAM EDWIN PIDGEON “WEP” (1909–1981)]
[http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-214431494 William Edwin Pidgeon interviewed by Hazel de Berg in the Hazel de Berg collection (sound recording) National Library of Australia]

{{s-ttl|title=Archibald Prize|years=1961
for Rabbi Dr. I. Porush}}

Category:Archibald Prize winners

Category:1909 births

Category:1981 deaths

Category:20th-century Australian male artists

Category:Australian comic strip cartoonists

Category:Australian caricaturists

Category:Australian comics artists

Category:Australian comics writers

Category:Australian male painters

Category:20th-century Australian painters

Category:Australian modern painters