Ben Apfelbaum

JOHN PETER RUSSELL : AUSTRALIA’S FRENCH IMPRESSIONIST

John Peter Russell was part of the French avant garde of the late 19th and early 20th centuries counting amongst his close friends Vincent Van Gogh, August Rodin, Claude Monet and was a mentor to Henri Matisse. Because he was less well known than the towering reputation of his friends, he is often portrayed as Australia’s forgotten French impressionist.

In fact, he has not been forgotten either here or overseas.

In 1978 a retrospective of his work was held at the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. In 1994 and 1997 a body of his work was on display at the Musee des Jacovins at Morlaix. In 2001 Russell was prominently featured in an exhibition entitled Velle Ile-Monet,Russell and Matisse at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

In this comprehensive retrospective the Art Gallery of New South Wales has on display a 120 paintings and water colours including  a number of the works by his above mentioned friends. It features significant works that were only rediscovered recently and are exhibited publicly for the first time.

Many of the works, which include loans from the Van Gogh museum, Musee d’Orsay, Musee Rodin, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Harvard Art Museums and public and private collections in Australia, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.

Having been born in Darlinghurst, despite the majority of his life living in Europe, nevertheless Russell maintained strong links to Australia, communicating frequently with his good friend Tom Roberts. His niece was Australian artist Thea Proctor.

This exhibition, lovingly curated by Wayne Tunnicliffe, runs until the 11th November at the Art Gallery Of New South Wales.

Featured image- Mrs Russell Among The Flowers In The Garden Of Goulpher Belle Ile 1907

Published by Ben Apfelbaum

My photography began when my father handed me the proverbial brownie box camera as a child. As cameras developed I went through Fujica and Olympus range finders graduating to my first single lens reflex camera, the Minolta SRT101, the latter being the greatest facilitator to my growth as a photographer. Digital photography has only added to this. I was a regular contributor to Camera Craft magazine (Australian Camera ) for over three years. During Australia’s Bicentennial year (1988) I made it a personal project to document the celebrations. This culminated in the creation of a book of my photos which was published in 1989. The book was called CELEBRATING AUSTRALIA and came with an accompanying calendar. My works have appeared in a number of publications including the coffee book entitled MY AUSTRALIA (1989), publisher Robertsbridge Severn. This book had a preface by the then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. I was a co-photographer on a book entitled SYDNEY- DISCOVER THE CITY with text written by Robert Treborland. Major Mitchell Press was the publisher. Also for two years I was the photographer for calendars celebrating Sydney’s multicultural communities. The two calendars were entitled MULTICULTURAL SYDNEY. My work appeared in a group exhibition held at Sydney’s Town Hall pertaining to the diversity of life in South America to raise money for orphanages there. I have over one hundred photos stored in the New South Wales State Library archive. I had a solo exhibition held in 2007 entitled Ben’s Lens at the Sydney Jewish Museum which celebrated the vibrancy of the Sydney Jewish community. Some of these photos are on the Museum’s permanent display. I have exhibited internationally firstly at the Spruill Gallery in Atlanta Georgia, united states, and in an exhibition entitled Kosher and Co at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Currently I am a regular contributor to J-Wire and this esteemed publication.