Design and Art Australia Online

bird painter, was born in England. He signed his work 'Neville Cayley’, whereas his son Neville William Cayley, also a bird painter, signed 'Neville W. Cayley’. In 1881 Neville Cayley senior exhibited at the second annual exhibition of the Art Society of NSW. At the last he displayed 'some exquisitely painted birds’ ( Sydney Mail , 8 October 1881, 609). 'No.195 by N. Cayley is a watercolour picture of a dead canary hanging against a panel. The plumage is painted with that unusual care which all Cayley’s work shows, and altogether the study is of its kind, a gem. And no.196, which comes from the same brush, a picture showing a pair of blue wrens, is an exquisitely finished bit, which proves that this artist’s forte lies in the delineation of birds’ ( Sydney Morning Herald , 17 October 1881, p.6).

'Cayley, N. Birds, animals, &c., water-colour. Works marked by scrupulous fidelity to nature’ (A.E. Greenwood & H.W.H. Stephen, Catalogue (Descriptive and Critical) of the Art Gallery with Sydney Art Noted , Sydney, 1883).

At the sixth annual exhibition of the Art Society of NSW in 1885 the Sydney Morning Herald critic noted: 'no.192 “Dignity and Impudence” by Neville Cayley is a rather comical bird picture. A pompous looking kookaburra (or laughing jackass) is perched upon an old fence, and close at hand surveying him with a jaunty self-complacent air, is a little blue wren, whose whole body is not as large as {...?} fighting over a bone and Mr Cayley has other bird-pictures in the exhibition. The artist has evidently thoroughly studied his subjects and the skill with which the colours and texture of the plumage of the different birds are painted is certainly very great’ ( Sydney Morning Herald , 11 April 1885, p.9). 'Mr N. Cayley, in his types of native fauna, has dashed in a considerable degree of humour. “Dignity and Imprudence [sic]” and “Bone of Contention” are cleverly drawn’ ( Illustrated Sydney News , 9 May 1885, p.14). 'Mr Neville Cayley has a field all of his own in the painting of Australian birds. He has painted better birds than he shows here; but he never paints birds otherwise than well, and might well be put in commission by those who have charge of the youth of the colony, to supply them with fair copies of all the charming feathered creatures they only want to destroy’ ( Sydney Mail , 11 April 1885, p.767).

Centennial International Exhibition, Melbourne, 1888-89: NSW Court – no.20 – Water-colour Paintings from life, by Neville Cayley – exhibited by William Aldenhoven, 74 Hunter-street, Sydney (77 natural history paintings); Art Loan Collection – no.1406 watercolour 'Tiger’, by Neville Cayley – exhibited by W. Aldenhoven, 74 Hunter Street. Listed as “Cazley, Neville” of N.S.W., Cayley won a Jury award (Oil and Watercolour painting) for his collection of drawings of Australian Birds (2nd order of merit). Also catalogued in NSW Court (no. 41) as “N. Cazeley”.

A description of 'Herr’ [William] Aldenhoven’s establishment in Hunter Street, Sydney, included: 'Neville Cayley’s paintings of birds are also to be seen at this shop. Mr Cayley has been very fortunate with his work. He has had the good fortune to sell a great many of his oils and watercolours and the Christmas cards now being sold by Herr Aldenhoven, produced from his paintings of lyre-birds, the laughing-jackasses, the wild ducks, the landgrails etc. are as pleasant as they are characteristic’ ( Sydney Morning Herald , 16 November 1889, 7).

Re acquisitions made by the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1890: 'In another picture by N. Cayley, a duck is shown at the moment it is shot. It is poised in air and the small feathers struck from it break the outline. It is a good bit of work’ ( Sydney Morning Herald , 26 April 1890, p.7). 'The water-colours purchased are ten in number, and are as follows: – ... “Duck” by N. Cayley’ ( Sydney Morning Herald , 31 December 1890, pp.10-11).( Fred Williams is said to have been commissioned to do a version of this painting.)

Awarded a gold medal at the 1892 Chicago International Exhibition.

Report from Argus (republished Sydney Morning Herald , 12 May 1894, 5):

the publication of the still more important folios devoted to illustrating the ornithology of this continent by Mr Aldenhoven, of Sydney. An exhibition of the original watercolour drawings, 130 in number, which have been made for it by Mr Neville Cayley, has been opened for a few days in the ground floor of the Federal Coffee Palace, Melbourne, and is sure to attract considerable attention. The artist, ... [who] commenced his studies in Gippsland, possesses an innate knowledge of the portraiture of birds, whether in motion or repose, alive or dead; delineating their plumage with singular fidelity and conscientious case, while proving himself at the same time a skilful colourist. Some of the drawings are life-sized, and close observation has evidently familiarised Mr Cayley with the characteristic habits and attitudes of his subjects, their modes of flight, and their particular habitat, so that each picture is to some xtent a page of natural history. The whole of the drawings are to be faithfully reproduced on stone, and then coloured by hand, under the immediate supervision and with the final touches of the artist himself. The undertaking is a very bold and costly one on the part of the publishers, and it is certainly deserving of support by the lovers of art, by sportsmen, and by students of ornithology.

Exhibited Society of Artists 1895.

Writers:

Staff Writer

Date written:

1999

Last updated:

2011