Antonio Dattilo Rubbo (1870–1955), artist and art teacher, was born in Naples and undertook classical art training in Italy. He arrived in Sydney in 1897 and soon became the major competitor of the art teacher Julian Ashton. Grace Cossington Smith, Roland Wakelin and Roy de Maistre were all Rubbo’s students. The first modernist paintings in Australia arose from his openness to new ideas, and his studio was the venue for stimulating talks by artists who had been able to travel and observe developments in art overseas. However, he painted in a conventional style himself, and later publicly condemned the modern art that he had promoted. He was a member of the Brother Brushes of Bondi, started the Atelier Club, and helped to found both the Manly Art Gallery and Historical Collection and the Dante Alighieri Art and Literary Society.
Arthur Murch, sculptor and painter, was one of the many significant Australian modernist artists to have trained at Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo’s school in Sydney.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2000
© Arthur Murch/Copyright Agency, 2022
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