CHARLES MEERE

Society of Artists Annual Exhibition, Sydney 1941, cat. 75
Charles Meere 1890-1961, S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, 9 October - 15 November 1987, cat. 13, as 'Dinan sur la Rance', illus.

Margaret Stephenson-Meere, 'Charles Meere (1890-1961): un peintre anglo-australian à Dinan', Le Pays De Dinan, Bibliotheque Municipale, Dinan, tome XVIII, 1998, pp. 58-62

Dinan in Brittany is among the most attractive walled towns in France, part of the ramparts of which can be seen in Charles Meere's painting, The Viaduct, Dinan. Built on the hillside overlooking the river Rance, it has a number of historical attractions including the Gothic church of St Malo and the Château de Dinan, which houses the abovementioned companion painting, a view a little wider than in this painting. The church of St Sauveur, with its eclectic mixture of the Romanesque and Gothic, is crowned with an eighteenth steeple, prominent to the left. It is the elegant viaduct, however, that attracted Meere, and that featured in at least three of his paintings of Dinan. Built in 1852, its visual appeal lies in its engineering splendour, the majestic harmony of its proportions and rounded arches giving the whole landscape an air of classical grandeur.

Meere's paintings revel in the excellence of craftsmanship. He  trained as a muralist at the Royal College of Art, London and during the 1920s Meere painted at Dinan and continued his studies at Colarossi's, in Paris. A neo-classicist in style, his works are immaculate in their presentation of imagery, The Viaduct, Dinan recalling the grandeur of a Florentine Renaissance fresco with its cool clarity of forms, chalky colour scheme and breathtaking stillness. From foreground detail to the distant horizon, it presents a touch of the superreal, something larger than life, beyond the mere attraction of a superb scenic view. While a moment in time is frozen, the nurse and child beneath the shade of the tree, the horse and water cart on the viaduct, and two figures before the doorway below provide anecdotal incident. A close up view of these latter buildings, gasometer and bend of the river at the footings of the viaduct are the subject of a variation on the theme, Viaduct at Dinan, Brittany, again painted from the same spot. Part of the magic of this painting, however, lies in its broad panoramic view, provided by the high viewpoint chosen by the artist. The creations of nature are presented in balance and harmony with the achievements of man, the link between the expanse and the viewer provided by the close up of leaves of a blackberry bush and the noble form of the foreground rock. The Viaduct, Dinan must rank among the most stylish of the stylish Charles Meere's paintings. Its sophisticated sense of design places it on another level altogether.

Meere settled in Australia in 1933, living at Randwick, and later Mosman in Sydney. He established his own commercial art studio, taught, illustrated (at one time as a cartographer and illustrator for The Sydney Morning Herald), painted portraits and exhibited. He was awarded the 1938 Sulman prize for the mural design, Atalanta's Eclipse, (S. H. Ervin Gallery). There is also a strong mural feeling about his best-known and ever popular painting, Australian Beach Pattern, 1940 (Art Gallery of New South Wales).  Landscapes, nevertheless, ran throughout his career, Meere winning the Wynne Prize in 1951 with Never Never Creek, Gleniffer. A 1941 painting of an interior view of his home, Mosman Interior (Private collection), shows the Dinan viaduct painting on a rear wall.