BIOGRAPHY James Alfred Turner - Page 2 of 4
A prolific painter, Turner was a master of oil and water-colour.
Most of his works are ‘Oil on Canvas’ (ooc) or ‘Oil on canvas laid
down on board’ (oob). There are a number of paired works done
in Oil on circular tinplate “disks”. He also worked in gouache.
His obituary in The Argus (Melbourne) 16 April 1908 page 7
states: “Victoria loses an artist who not only understood and
appreciated the beauty of the bush, but could depict faithfully its
life and character. He was, as a rule, content with small
canvasses, homely incidents and quiet aspects of nature. At
times he was exceedingly happy in his landscapes and would
often touch a very high if not inspired note. No man ever painted
the realisms of a forest fire and its fighting better than he, or with
more absolute truth. He was a very conscientious man, painting
chiefly to please himself, without any suspicion of pot-boiling,
never allowing work to leave his hands until he was thoroughly
satisfied.”
Local rural and bush life supplied subjects for his paintings which
Table Talk described as being of 'peculiar exactness'. He was
recognized in 1894 as 'our best known painter of incident'.
With the passage of time, two of Turner’s best known and highest
priced works at auction have been his paintings of the horrors of
Australian Bush Fires. He sometimes painted large works such
as 'The Homestead Saved' (90 cm by 151 cm) which sold for
$82,000 in 1980. The Age (Melbourne). 30 May 1980. Cole-
Adams, Peter.
Colour Print of painting “The
Homestead Saved, an incident
of the Great Gippsland Fire of
1898″ “Painted by the late J.A.
Turner and Supplement to:
THE AUTRALASIAN Sat 19th
Dec 1908″
Print published by “Globe
Engraving Co. Melbourne”,
Reproduced by Osboldstone &
Co. Printers, Melbourne.
Reproduced courtesy of Henry
F. Young of Young and Jackson.
In 1888 his paintings 'Saved'
(not the painting above) and
'Fighting for Home' (pictured left)
received 3rd awards of merit in
the Melbourne Centennial
(International) Exhibition.
The Age (Melbourne). 7
November 1985 p.19. Maslan,
Geoff. Oil painting by Australia's
own Turner sells for $320 000.
Sale of 'Fighting for home'.
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'Fighting for Home' sold $320,000
CLICK image to enlarge
'The Homestead Saved' sold $82,000
[ Image is of the Print (Held by State
Library Victoria.)]
