ARTHUR LOUREIRO

'Marvellous Melbourne' of the 1880s attracted many outstanding European artists to its burgeoning metropolis. Arthur José de Souza Loureiro and Ugo Catani from Florence, and Girolamo Nerli from Siena were of special interest. The three arrived in Melbourne in 1885 and shared a studio in Collins Street. Loureiro, who was from Oporto in Portugal, had studied in Lisbon, Madrid, Florence and Rome, followed by the Académie des Beaux Arts in Paris, where he exhibited portraits and subject paintings in the Salons of 1880 to 1882. His connection with Australia was through his wife, Marie Thérèse Huybers, from Hobart, whom he married in 1881. Poor health caused Loureiro to seek a warmer climate; and so they came to Australia. Continuing his interest in painting out of doors, Loureiro was active in Melbourne art circles in 1886, being a founder and council member, with Tom Roberts and Frederick McCubbin, of the Australian Artists' Association. He exhibited in the Centennial International Exhibition of 1888 and, later, with the newly founded Victorian Artists' Society.

Although French in subject, the date of '1888' on At the Edge of the Beech Forest, Fontainbleau, indicates that it was painted in Australia, its inscription identifying it as the Brolles in the forests at Fontainbleau. It was not unusual for artists to paint pictures of their homeland or elsewhere in Europe after they had settled in Australia. In 1882, after the birth of their only son Vasco, Loureiro and his wife had moved to a cottage at Brolles, not far from Paris. Fontainbleau was the chosen place of Corot, Diaz, Millet, and Rousseau, the pioneer plein air painters of the French Barbizon School.

The important contribution made to the development of Australian art by Loureiro and the other European born practitioners of plein air painting is still to be fully appreciated. The extent of Loureiro's influence on Frederick McCubbin is one interesting example. Tradition has it that McCubbin's early paintings reflect the influence of Tom Roberts's theories of tonal values and enthusiasm for painting in the open air. This is too restrictive a view, for it is more than likely that McCubbin was deeply influenced by Loureiro as well. Early examples of 1886 are McCubbin's Lost, (National Gallery of Victoria), and Gathering Mistletoe (private collection). McCubbin would have known Loureiro's The Forest at Fontainebleau 1882, a pendant painting in the collection of the University of Melbourne. The single figure of a young woman in a forest setting, the cool colours, unchanging light, strong verticals of the trees, and foreground grasses are common to all three paintings. This is continued in the later painting of 1888, At the Edge of the Beech Forest, Fontainebleu although the light is stronger and the tree trunks cast deeper shadows. The image and dress of the woman in both the Loureiro paintings is similar, suggesting that the model is the artist's wife. Moreover, she has been gathering wood, now placed at her feet. In McCubbin's Lost and Gathering Mistletoe, the young ladies likewise collect wattle or some other attraction of the forest. And all three paintings display 'that freshness of feeling which always comes of outdoor work and study, even in the handling of the figure.'¹ A reciprocal influence may be found in Loureiro's The Death of Burke of 1892, his interest in Australian history painting perhaps encouraged by McCubbin's large narratives of the endeavours and hardships of the pioneers. The two artists were good friends. The McCubbin family often stayed in Loureiro's large house in Kew during the summer holidays while the Loureiros were at Healesville. McCubbin's admiration for the French Barbizon painters was such that he named his house at Macedon 'Fontainebleau.'

1. De Libra, J. G., 'The Fine Arts In Australasia. Their Progress, Position and Prospects,' Australasian Art Review, 1 November 1899, no. 1, p. 25