MS 430
Papers of J. S. MacDonald (1878 - 1952)
Papers
191852
1m (8 boxes)
Access: Available for reference
The papers were donated to the Library by Mrs Maud MacDonald in 1956 and
1962.
The earliest papers date from World War I. The bulk of the collection
covers the last 25 years of MacDonalds life, when he was a Director of
two State galleries, an art critic and protagonist in various disputes about
modern painting. He was a prolific writer of essays, notes and lists and the
notebooks form the largest category in the collection. There are a few papers
on the Commonwealth Art Advisory Board and the National Art Gallery of New
South Wales and more extensive papers on the National Gallery of Victoria. A
few diaries have survived and also several files of personal correspondence.
The principal correspondents are artists such as Sir John Longstaff, Sir Lionel
Lindsay, Sir Arthur Streeton, Hans Heysen and William Dargie and gallery
directors and curators like L. Bernard Hall, Will Ashton and Daryl Lindsay.
The National Library also holds the papers of Sir Keith Murdoch (MS
2823). He was Chairman of the Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria in
1939-49 and his papers include several files relating to the affairs of the
Gallery.
James Stuart MacDonald was born in Melbourne on 28 March 1878. He was
educated at Kew High School and Hawthorn Grammar School and then studied at the
National Gallery of Victoria Art School. In 1898 he went overseas and studied
and exhibited paintings in London and Paris for several years. In 1904 he
married Maud Keller and they lived in New York until 1910, when they returned
to Australia.
In 1914 MacDonald joined the 5th Infantry Battalion of the
AIF. He was severely wounded at Gallipoli but continued to serve in clerical
duties until his discharge in April 1919. He studied the art of camouflage and
was also a commissioned war artist during 1918. His first book The art of
Frederick McCubbin, was published in 1916. After the War he gave up
painting and began writing art criticism regularly for Art in
Australia and the Melbourne Herald.
In October 1928 MacDonald was appointed Director and Secretary of the
National Art Gallery of New South Wales. He remained in the position until 1936
and was then appointed Director of the National Gallery of Victoria. He had
strained relations with the Trustees, particularly the Chairman, Sir Keith
Murdoch, who resented his ferocious attacks on contemporary art and the 1939
Herald exhibition of French and English painting. In 1940 the Trustees
recommended against his reappointment and he was effectively dismissed in
1941.
In his retirement MacDonald resumed his work as an art critic for the
Age and served on the Commonwealth Art Advisory Board. During this
time he was also active with the Australian and New Zealand Art Galleries and
Museum Association. He died in Melbourne on 12 November 1952.
In addition to his work on McCubbin, MacDonald published books on
Penleigh Boyd (1920), George Lambert, David Davies, and Australian landscape
painters (1927). A collection of his writings, Australian painting
desiderata, was published posthumously in 1958.
Source: Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 10,
pp.251-52
Series List
| Series |
Title |
| 1 |
Correspondence, 1927-52 |
| 2 |
Diaries, 1917-47 |
| 3 |
National Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1928-49 |
| 4 |
National Gallery of Victoria, 1928-50 |
| 5 |
Speeches, 1939-49 |
| 6 |
Commonwealth Art Advisory Board, 1947-52 |
| 7 |
Writings, 1918-52 |
| 8 |
Miscellaneous papers, 1931-52 |
Series Description
Series 1 Correspondence, 1926-52
The correspondence mostly dates from the last twenty years of
MacDonalds life. The subjects include portraits by John Longstaff,
MacDonalds appointment to the National Art Gallery of New South Wales
(1928) and the National Gallery of Victoria (1936), relations with Trustees,
offers of art works, art sales, exhibitions, MacDonalds criticisms of
contemporary art, his departure from the National Gallery of Victoria in
1941-42, Lionel Lindsays criticisms of the Sydney press, Sir Keith
Murdoch, art competitions, Archibald Prize, experiences of official artists
during World War II, MacDonalds broadcasts and writings for the press and
William Dobells portrait of Joshua Smith. The principal correspondents
are L. Bernard Hall, Sir John Longstaff, Sir Lionel Lindsay, Daryl Lindsay, Sir
Arthur Streeton, Will Ashton, William Dargie, Ivor Hele, Datillo Rubbo and
Charles Wheeler.
Folder
- Letters from Dame Mary Gilmore (1938-49) and Sir John Longstaff
(1929-38)
- Letters from Sir Lionel Lindsay (1927-47), Sir Arthur Streeton
(1929-38) and Stan Smith (1936)
- Letters from James R Jackson, Napier Waller, L. Bernard Hall, Dora
Wilcox, John Rowell, W. Lister Lister and others, 1926-30
- Letters from Hans Heysen, Dora Wilcox, W Maloney, L. Bernard Hall,
John Shirlow, John Rowell, Norman Lindsay, Robert Menzies, Sydney Long, Will
Ashton, Ida Leeson, Percy Grainger and others, 1931-40
- Letters from Daryl Lindsay, W.F. Bowles, Hugh McCrae, Tristan Buesst,
Will Ashton, John Brackenreg, Sir Owen Dixon, Sir Bernard Heinze, William
Dargie, Ivor Hele, Rev. E. Davidson and others, 1941-49
- Letters from Bill Bowles, Charles Wheeler, Patricia Excell and
others, 1950-52
- Correspondence with Julius Kien offering paintings to the National
Gallery of Victoria, Aug.Dec. 1939
- Correspondence with John Galvin (Singapore) relating to the Ho Kom
Tong Collection of porcelain and Chinese wares, held in Hong Kong, 1941-46
- Handwritten drafts of letters by MacDonald to Robert Menzies, Sir
Owen Dixon, Lady Wavertree, newspaper editors and others, 1936-48
Series 2 Diaries, 1917-47
Only two diaries have survived, together with some fragmentary diaries
recording MacDonalds activities at the end of World War I. The 1944 and
1947 diaries have detailed entries and provide a good record of his
activities.
Folder
- Notebook including diary notes, 1917-18
- Diary-letter written in Canada, Oct 1918
- Diary, with detailed entries, 1944 (written in a 1938 diary)
- Diary, with detailed entries, 1947 (last entry 13 April)
Series 3 National Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1928-49
MacDonald took up the position of Director of the National Art Gallery
of New South Wales in 1929. He resigned in 1936 in order to return to
Melbourne. This small series contains a few miscellaneous documents written or
received by MacDonald as Director and also some later papers, mainly relating
to the Archibald Prize. Some related papers can be found in Series 7.
Folder
- Catalogue of exhibition of contemporary French art (1928), draft of
a broadcast about the Gallery, incomplete report of the Director (January
1930), notes of a meeting of the Gallery and Hanging Committee (n.d.),
correspondence with W.H. Gill of the Fine Art Society about a Tom Roberts
Memorial Exhibition (1931-32), drafts of letters to the press on criticisms of
Julian Ashton (1933) and other papers
- Letter on duties and rights of Director of the Gallery (1936),
typescript draft of 1937 annual report of the Trustees of the Gallery, 1938
annual report of the Gallery, lists of winners of Archibald Prize and other
prizes
Series 4 National Gallery of Victoria, 1928-50
MacDonald was Director of the National Gallery of Victoria from 1936 to
1941. He kept a considerable number of papers relating to the staff, building
and policies of the Gallery, the powers of the Director, relations with the
Trustees, purchases, use of the Felton Bequest, exhibitions and the Art School.
Most of the files contain a mixture of papers and there is often overlap or
duplication between files. Further papers on the Gallery can be found in Series
7.
Folder
| 1. |
Papers concerning alterations to the Gallery, 1937-40 |
| 2. |
Correspondence and papers relating to collection of paintings and
drawings sent to the United States, including letters of Sydney Ure Smith, Will
Ashton, H.C. Richards and Theodore Sizer, 1937-41 |
| 3. |
Notes on the history of the Gallery, copies of legislation
relating to the Gallery, copy of a letter to E. Pitt on the loan exhibition of
modern works (1937), reports on the National Gallery Art School (1939-41),
correspondence about the estate of David Davies (1941), notes on directors of
galleries and other papers |
| 4. |
Papers relating to powers of the Director and Trustees of the
Gallery, its buying policy, copies of papers on Felton Bequest purchases,
catalogues and other subjects, 1937-40 |
| 5. |
Documents relating to the Felton Bequest purchases and an
Illustrated Catalogue, 1928-41 |
| 6-7. |
Minutes of meetings of Trustees and committees, agenda papers,
reports and copies of correspondence between MacDonald and E. Pitt,
1936-39 |
| 8 |
Minutes of meetings of Trustees and committees, agenda papers,
reports, copies of correspondence and newspaper cuttings, 1938-41 |
| 9-10. |
Papers relating to Chinese pottery (Kent Collection), the
National Gallery Art School, the Directors office, pictures in the
Gallery not in the loan collection, lending policy, country loans, art dealers
in Melbourne, cataloguing of prints, A.O. Barrett Prize, conservation of
pictures, 1936-41 |
| 11. |
Minutes of meetings of Trustees, agenda papers, papers concerning
acquisitions, valuations, the Felton Bequest, appointments, a lecture by George
Bell and other matters, 1937-43 |
| 12. |
Minutes of meetings of Trustees and committees, a Felton Bequest
application, a published document about a landscape painting by Cézanne
acquired under the Felton Bequest (1938), resolutions of the Commonwealth
Jubilee Citizenship Convention, 1938-50 |
| 13. |
Documents relating to an old Flemish altarpiece acquired by the
Gallery in 1938, including an article on the altarpiece, handwritten notes by
MacDonald on sculpture in the Low Countries, Retable of the Passion and a
pamphlet on the care and cleaning of sculpture |
| 14. |
Papers relating to the Ullmann Collection of medieval scupltures
and paintings, 1940-41 |
Series 5 Speeches, 1939-49
MacDonald gave many speeches and talks as a gallery director including
broadcasts about artists by the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1940 in a
series called Adventures in art.
Folder
| 1. |
Manuscripts and typescripts of speeches, lectures and broadcasts,
including talks about the National Art Gallery of New South Wales and the
National Gallery of Victoria and a lecture on Pen and wash, 1939-41
|
| 2. |
Manuscripts and typescripts of lectures, including a speech on
the National Gallery of Victoria entitled After us the deluge,
c.1949 |
| 3-4. |
Manuscripts and typescripts of broadcasts in the Adventures
in art series, including Goyas Portrait of a lady,
Tiepolos The banquet of Cleopatra, Jean Antoine Houdon, Tom
Roberts, John Longstaff and Arthur Streeton and correspondence with Sydney Ure
Smith about these programs, 1940 |
Series 6 Commonwealth Art Advisory Board, 1947-52
This small series comprises agenda papers, minutes and correspondence of
the Commonwealth Art Advisory Board during the time in which MacDonald was a
member and Chairman. The letters are from Frank J. McKenna (Secretary of the
Board), R.A. Hohnen, R.G. Menzies, R.C. Mills, Will Ashton and MacDonald.
1 folder
Series 7 Writings, 1918-52
MacDonald wrote numerous essays and compiled notes and lists containing
details of Australian and overseas artists and schools of art, paintings, art
criticism and many other cultural, literary, historical and political topics.
Some of the material in this series is in notebooks and ranges from 1918 until
his death.
Folder/items
- Manuscript and notes on language including a letter to the Radio
Times (1948) about pronunciation and articles entitled Word
confusion and Maiming the language
- Notebook containing notes on moonlight (May 1920) and other subjects
and pencil sketches
- Notebook arranged alphabetically on artists, concepts and
terminology, mostly manuscript but including some cuttings
- Notebook arranged alphabetically on artists, concepts and
terminology, including book reviews and other cuttings
- Notebook entitled Contemporary art with newspaper
clippings, particularly relating to William Dobells portrait of Joshua
Smith, 1935-48
- Notebook arranged alphabetically on many subjects, particularly the
activities of the National Gallery of Victoria and its Trustees, including some
cuttings, 1929-41
- Notebook arranged alphabetically and dated 1941 with entries on
miscellaneous subjects and notes on Australian landscape
- Notebook arranged alphabetically on miscellaneous subjects,
including some cuttings, 1939-48
- Notebook about pronunciation of words, c.1945
- Notebook containing alphabetical listing of artists, critics,
collectors, writers and other individuals and some subjects
- Notebook entitled Biographical notes on Australian
artists, together with letters (1945-48) and newspaper clippings
- Manuscript and typescript articles entitled Art for mans
sake, The necessity for a Ministry of Arts, What should the
children be taught? (1919), Galleries their physical shape,
their governance and their sovereignty, Buying National
pictures, Musical interpretation and other writings on art
and photography
- Manuscript and typescript articles entitled Fantasy,
Lay judges, Words, Why a picture is great,
The underminers, Picture criticism, Picture
galleries, Notes on the observations and mixing of tones and
other writings
- Manuscript and typescript articles on portraiture, Art in the
88s, Why not Periphrastic sesquidpedalianism,
Robert Alan Mowbray Stevenson, Turandot,
Australian landscape, Pen and brush and other
writings
- Miscellaneous notes on art and some cuttings
- Notes and press cuttings on contemporary art and realism, including
a typescript article by Robert Hartman The anatomy of modern art
and catalogue of Contemporary Art Society exhibition (1941)
- Files of notes on French art, Genre, Goyas
Portrait of a lady and The Jews
- Files of notes on Leonardo da Vinci, Van Eyck and the early
Netherlandish Paintings in the Melbourne National Gallery and Tiepolo
- Lists of busts, notes on Australian art (including W.B. McInnes,
John Longstaff, Ivor Hele)
- Chronologies
- Correspondence and article by MacDonald on Lionel Lindsay for the
Print Collectors Quarterly (1932-33), three drafts of a speech
on Tom Roberts, manuscript and typescript on Charles Wheeler (drafts and
typescript)
- Manuscript and typescript articles including Drawing for
watercolour, Heysens drawings, Let there be
sculpture by Jacob Epstein and other writings and cuttings
- Manuscript and typescript articles entitled Still life,
Relics, The migrations of art and Chinese
art,
- Manuscript and typescript notes on Greek art,
Greek sculpture and notes on Early Christian, Gothic and Primitive
art. The Gothic folder includes three pencil drawings of horses.
- Manuscript and typescript articles on bookplates, Colour
and general notes on Australian art
- Manuscript and typescript notes on Egyptian and Assyrian art and
English art
- Manuscript and typescript notes on the Flemish and Dutch School
- Manuscript and typescript articles and notes on Maud Sherwood,
Art and letters, Home to roost, Chartres
windows and other subjects
- Manuscript and typescript articles and notes on the Howard Spensley
Collection, H.B. Harrison, Collectors, Slade professors and other
subjects and a roneoed article by MacDonald on the Jubilee Exhibition of
Australian Art
- Manuscript articles and notes on Australia floral and fauna
differences, The Gods etc, Expression,
Racial traits, the role of the gallery and the trustees, and a
portion of an article about English art critics, especially R.A.M.
Stevenson.
- Typescript article about the National Gallery of Victoria and art
(82pp)
- Incomplete essay on history of art, incomplete article on modern
art, and other notes and comments
- Manuscript and typescript articles and notes on Carnegie
Survey, Australia in America: the gum trees of California
(1926), Canberra as it really is, lists of paintings and other
notes
- Manuscript and typescript articles and notes on Thoughts on
travel, The benefits of travel and Playing safe
(on the history of art), together with newspaper cuttings and miscellaneous
notes
- -36. Newspaper cuttings and miscellaneous notes, 1933-45
Series 8 Miscellaneous papers, 1931-52
This series comprises papers on the Commonwealth Literary Fund and the
Art Galleries and Museums Association of Australia and New Zealand, exhibition
catalogues and photographs.
Folder
| 1. |
Correspondence about the Commonwealth Literary Fund, including
letters of H.S. Temby, Kenneth Binns, H.C. Richards and Lionel Lindsay,
1943-44 |
| 2. |
Constitution, agenda papers, minutes, correspondence and notes of
the Art Galleries and Museums Association of Australia and New Zealand,
1936-44. Correspondents include MacDonald, A.R. Penfold and H.C.
Richards |
| 3-4. |
Printed catalogues of art exhibitions including exhibitions of
contemporary Australian art (c.1931), Chinese ceramics (1939), modern British
art (1940), W.B. McInnes (1940), Norman Wilkinson (1945), Rupert Bunny
(1946) |
| 5. |
Curricula vitae, biographical notes, personal documents,
financial papers, a letter written by MacDonald in France in 1918, letters to
newspapers, notes about a pension and three Christmas cards, 1918-52 |
| 6. |
Letters, roneoed papers, financial papers and cuttings, 1929-52
including a letter of Bill Bowles and 23 photographs of his sculpture and a
letter and drawing from four artists from the Melbourne Savage Club
(1939) |
| |
|
| Folio |
Photographs of MacDonald and his family and a drawing by Robert
Southey of a young child |
Box list
|
Box |
Series |
Folder/item |
|
1 |
1 |
1-9 |
|
1 |
2 |
1-2 |
|
2 |
2 |
3-4 |
|
2 |
3 |
1-2 |
|
2 |
4 |
1-4 |
|
3 |
4 |
5-13 |
|
4 |
4 |
14 |
|
4 |
5 |
1-4 |
|
4 |
6 |
1 |
|
4 |
7 |
1-2 |
|
5 |
7 |
3-7 |
|
6 |
7 |
8-13 |
|
7 |
7 |
14-23 |
|
8 |
7 |
24-33 |
|
9 |
7 |
34-36 |
|
9 |
8 |
1-6 |
January 2000 |