Arthur d’Auvergne Boxall, painter, printmaker, architect and art teacher, was born on 19 June 1895 at Port Elliot, South Australia, son of George Albert Boxall, carpenter and builder, and his wife Ellen, née Pratt. D’Auvergne Boxall studied architecture on a scholarship at the South Australian School of Mines and Industries and received a diploma in architecture from the South Australian Institute of Architects. Whilst working as an architect with an Adelaide firm (Woods, (W.H.) Bagot, Jory & Laybourne-Smith), as Judith Thompson has documented, he pursued his interest in art, studying drawing at the Adelaide School of Art under Will Ashton and at the School of Fine Arts, North Adelaide.
Responding to the call of teacher, Boxall abandoned his career as an architect and accepted the post of art master at St Peter’s College, during which time he also worked as a practicing artist and shared a studio with Horace Trenerry. As a fellow of the South Australia Society of Arts, Boxall twice won the Society’s Melrose Prize for portraiture (1923 and 1925). He held his first solo exhibition in Adelaide in 1925 at the Society of Arts, where practically all of the 80 plus drawings, etchings and paintings on display were sold. An etching of St Peter’s College proved particularly popular, with 30 copies (half the edition) being ordered for purchase.
Boxall travelled to London in 1926 and, as an honorary commissioner, reported back to the South Australian government on art. He studied under Henry Tonks and Wilson Steer at the Slade School of Art, University of London. An Adelaide newspaper (The Mail) reported in May 1930 how Boxall had met Queen Mary during an unexpected visit by Her Majesty to the Slade School of Art. At the time, Boxall was painting a still-life composition of a pair of Greek vases, which captured the Queen’s interest. Boxall won several prizes for his work at the Slade School, received an honours diploma in fine arts and was awarded the Robert Ross travelling scholarship, which enabled him to travel extensively across Europe. In 1928-29 he exhibited with the Royal Academy of Arts, London, the Paris Salon, the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and the New English Art Club.
D’Auvergne Boxall returned to Australia in 1931 after painting in England, Egypt and Fiji. In 1932 he was appointed to the post of life-drawing teacher at the East Sydney Technical College. Suffering from tuberculosis (TB) he resigned from his teaching post in 1940 and later returned to South Australia. Tragically D’Auvergne Boxall died from tuberculosis at his father’s home on 7 January 1944.
His sister Ella Boxall and his father George Albert Boxall had both bequeathed their estates to the Art Gallery of South Australia, leading to the establishment of the d’Auvergne Boxall Bequest. This funding stream was set up for the purpose of purchasing new acquisitions and took effect from 1954, in the same year a memorial exhibition of Boxall’s work was held at the Royal SA Society of Arts Gallery. The exhibition included an array of paintings, prints and drawings, some of which presented landscapes scenes of Australia, Fiji, Britain, and Europe. A room in the Art Gallery of South Australia was also named in the artist’s honour.
One subject depicted by Boxall that holds particular historical interest is the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (1930) was painted shortly after Boxall’s return to Australia, with the detail of the subject matter reflecting the artist’s prior career as an architect. Boxall’s traditional compositions avoiding abstraction presented a range of interests and included landscapes, portraits and figurative works.
The art of Arthur d’Auvergne Boxall is represented in the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, the Baillieu Library Print Collection, University of Melbourne, and the Cbus Art Collection.
- Writers:
- Clifford-Smith, Silas
- Date written:
- 2009
- Last updated:
- 2012
