Antonio Dattilo Rubbo
Antonio Dattilo Rubbo | |
|---|---|
| Born | 22 June 1870, 21 June 1870 |
| Died | 1 June 1955 (aged 84) |
| Occupation | Painter, teacher |
Antonio Salvatore Dattilo Rubbo (Napoli 21 June 1870 – Sydney 1 June 1955) was an Italian-born artist and art teacher active in Australia from 1897.[1]
Early life
Rubbo, or Dattilo-Rubbo, was born in Naples in 1870, and spent his early childhood in the Neapolitan municipality of Frattamaggiore.[2] He studied painting under Domenico Morelli and Filippo Palizzi and after studying at Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Naples, earnt a Diploma of Professor of Drawing in Public Institutions.[3]
Rubbo emigrated to Australia,[4]arriving in Sydney in 1897.
From 1898 Rubbo taught in Sydney schools including St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill, Kambala School, The Scots College, Newington College and Homebush Grammar School.[1]
Career
Dattilo Rubbo was not a great artist – "muddy genre portraits of very wrinkled old Tuscan peasants were his strong suit," according to critic Robert Hughes – but he was an inspiring art teacher, responsible for introducing a whole generation of Australian painters to modernism through his art school (opened in 1898) and his classes at the Royal Art Society of New South Wales. He became a major competitor of Julian Ashton's art school movement.[5]
In contrast to nearly all other art teachers in Australia at the time, he was not a reactionary, and encouraged his students to experiment with styles as radically different from his own as Post-Impressionism and Cubism.
He was a flamboyant character who believed in championing his students to the hilt; indeed, in 1916 he challenged a committee member of the Royal Art Society to a duel because he had refused to hang a post-impressionist landscape by his pupil Roland Wakelin.[6] Other students included Norah Simpson,[7] Frank Hinder, Grace Cossington Smith (whom Dattilo Rubbo referred to affectionately as 'Mrs Van Gogh'), Donald Friend ("Aha Donaldo, always the barocco; rub it out, boy, rub it out!"), Roy De Maistre, war artist Roy Hodgkinson, Archibald Prize winner Arthur Murch, social realist Roy Dalgarno, Tom Bass,[1] and very probably Muriel Binney.[8]
In 1924 he helped to found Manly Art Gallery and Historical Collection which holds over one hundred and thirty of his works, with a room in the gallery named in his honour in 1940.[1][9]
In 1947 Dattilo Rubbo was commissioned to paint the official (posthumous) portrait of Australian Prime Minister, John Curtin.[3]
He founded the Dante Aligheri Art and Literary Society, and in 1954 became a life member of the Society of Artists.[5] When he retired, one of his teaching staff, Giuseppe Fontanelli Bissietta, known as a member of the Six Directions group, took over his "ADR" school in "Century House", 70 Pitt Street, Sydney.[10]
Honours
In 1922, the Royal Art Society appointed their first eight Fellows, among them Dattilo-Rubbo, William Lister Lister, Charles Bryant, J. S. Watkins, Lawson Balfour, James R. Jackson, Sir John Langstaff and Margaret Preston.[9]
A decade later in 1932, Rubbo was honoured with the title Cavaliere of the Order of the Crown of Italy.[3]
He donated to the Municipality of Frattamaggiore six of his works, including a self-portrait, on the occasion of the National Painting Exhibition of 1955. He also contributed AUD£50 for the purchase of classically inspired paintings for a municipal art gallery to be established. In recognition of his generosity, the Municipality awarded him honorary citizenship and a gold medal, which arrived after his death.[11]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Oakley, Carmel (1988). "Rubbo, Antonio Salvatore Dattilo (1870 - 1955)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
- ^ Capasso, Sosio (1992). "Frattamaggiore: Storia, chiese e monumenti, uomini illustri, documenti".
- ^ a b c "John Joseph Ambrose Curtin". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
- ^ Susio Capasso (1992). "XV: Dattilo Rubbo – Falqui – Guidetti". Frattamaggiore: storia, chiese e monumenti, uomini illustri, documenti. Istituto di studi Atellani.
- ^ a b "Anthony Dattilo Rubbo, b. 1870". National Portrait Gallery people. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
- ^ Collerton, Emma (2011). ANTONIO DATTILO-RUBBO Catalogue (PDF). Art Gallery of New South Wales.
- ^ Gray, Anne (7 May 2012). "Norah Simpson: Biography". Design and Art Australia Online. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
- ^ "Muriel Mary Sutherland Binney :: biography at :: at Design and Art Australia Online". daao.org.au. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ a b Morcombe, John (24 September 2021). "Dattilo-Rubbo, the artist who gave so much of his art and heart to Manly". The Daily Telegraph.
- ^ "Gallery opened". The Daily Telegraph. Vol. XIX, no. 92. Sydney. 7 July 1954. p. 16. Retrieved 15 October 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Frattamaggiore". Istituto di Studi Atellani.