Bernard Hesling OAM b. 1905

Also known as B. Hesling
  • Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator),
  • Artist (Painter)
Bernard Hesling was a mid-20th century UK-born, Paris-trained painter and artist who lived and worked in Sydney from 1928 until 1962, when he moved to Adelaide. He was a muralist in the 1950s and later a successful vitreous-enamel artist who did much to promote vitreous-emalling in Australia. He was also a cartoonist, journalist and author of humorous autobiographical books.
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  • Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA
  • Hamilton Art Gallery, Hamilton, Vic.
  • Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW

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Biography
Date modified Dec. 21, 2011, 2:07 p.m. Dec. 20, 2011, 11:25 p.m.
He was born in Wales but his family moved back to Yorkshire when he was two. He started painting as a 'primitive' in the style of Douanier Rousseau after meeting Léger, Vlaminck, Marie Laurencin et al. when working in Paris as a house painter and marbler but his work soon became more sophisticated. He migrated to Sydney in 1928 and exhibited his abstract paintings the following year. From 1933 to 1938 he was an advertising director at Elstree Studios, Sydney. During the war he worked at Slazengers designing ships for the navy, drawing daily cartoons for editor Brian Penton at _The Daily Telegraph_ in his spare time. ¶

He notes in his autobiography (_The Dinkum Pommie_ 1964, 177-8) that it was difficult to get them to the paper before the jokes dated: 'I would shove my drawings on Brian Penton's desk at midnight or 7 a.m. and sometimes even my wife took them in for me'. When transferred to the Ministry of Munitions, however, he was far closer; the building was in the same street as the _Telegraph_. Examples of his _Telegraph_ naive outline-style cartoons on postwar food shortages and manpower control in 1945 are illustrated in Coleman & Tanner (pp130-31) and in _Hesling's Cartoons_ (Consolidated Press Limited, Sydney, 1945, 96pp). ¶

Hesling also drew political cartoons, and said of them: ¶
"Had I stuck to comic sketches of American servicemen buying tickets for _Il Trovatore_ on the black market and such like, all would have been well. But my drawing had improved so much by now that I could get passable likenesses of Eddie Ward and Mr. Curtin. Brian saw me as one of those political bores - the scorched-earth boys who draw Russian bears and rising suns using soot instead of ink. What he didn't like about me, of course, was having to write letters about art to pedantic readers who objected to a Prime Minister with six fingers on the hand instead of five." ¶

At the Ministry Hesling worked with *George Molnar* , whom he claims he prodded into becoming a cartoonist (pp.182-6) and who gave him lessons in drawing in return. He left the Ministry to work full-time on _The Daily Telegraph_ and was sent to Canberra (p.187) - which he hated. Sacked from the _Telegraph_ , he moved to _The Sydney Morning Herald_ , then to _Smith's Weekly_ to replace *John Quinn* (who moved to _Woman's Day_ in 1947) where he remained for four years until it closed (in 1950). ¶

He also contributed occasional whimsical cartoons and articles to _Australia: National Journal_ , eg. May 1947, and to _Australia_ _: Week-end Book_ . Vol.2 (1943) of the latter has seven cartoons, eg. couple looking at nudes, satyrs and pirates on beach and saying, "Aren't those the people we met at Mr. Lindsay's?" Vol.3 (1944) has 10 cartoons, eg rose plant growing hands, "We think it's a Salvador Dali". Vol.4 (1945) features only two works by Hesling. Another wartime book he illustrated with simple, whimsical, line drawings was _These Beastly Australians_ (Australasian Publishing Company, Sydney, n.d.), short, light verse by Leon Gellert about various Australian animals. References to wartime and Macarthur make it clear it's wartime. ¶

Out of work in 1950, Hesling did a few recorded talks for the BBC at 30/- a time (p.197) and wrote a well-reviewed book, which still earned him less than £100. He wrote freelance articles for the _SMH_ at about 8 quid per 1000 words, 'and, of course, I did joke drawings. There's a terrific market for these; I remember once _Man_ paying me three guineas for a whole page of them, one of which I later sold to the _New Yorker_ (as an idea) for $40.' He also drew cartoons for _Meanjin_ , _Quadrant_ , _Nation_ , the _Manchester Guardian_ and the _Listener_ (London). He wrote art criticism for the Sydney _Observer_ until Donald Horne sacked him for reviewing an exhibition he hadn't seen; his replacement was *Robert Hughes* (Humphrey McQueen, 'Rolling Column', _ABR_ 109, April 1989). ¶

Hesling painted numerous murals from 1950 to 1955 in NSW, Victoria, SA and North Queensland (Emerald) and 'decorated his merry writings with his own curious humorous drawings' (Blaikie, 132). Among his clients were Qantas, Marcus Clark store, ES&A bank, Ambassador Restaurant. But he will be best remembered for his vitreous enamel painting. He exhibited his work in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and Europe. ¶

At an exhibition of his enamels at Underwood Galleries in Sydney in 1965 he said: 'I have expressed myself in many different ways in order to prove the validity and versatility of vitreous enamel as a painting medium. Painting in enamel is no harder than painting in oils - merely different. Its great advantage as a medium lies in its suitability for exterior mural work and in its durability at all temperatures. It has been suggested that enamel as an art form cannot be entirely controlled. This is nonsense as a glance at the portrait work of any one of the famous enamellers will show.'(_SMH_ 14 Nov 1965 p97) ¶

His first book, an illustrated account of Sydney, _Sydney Observed_ (1953), was described as a book of 'gentle mockery and wry delight' in _SMH_ 14 Nov 1953 p8. It was followed by several humorous illustrated autobiographies: ¶
• _Little and Orphan_ (1954, repub 1967), which (Prof) A D Hope said 'tapped a vein of pure and natural comedy...It is one of the most engaging books I have read for a long time' in _SMH_ 29 Jan 1955 p11; ¶
• _The Dinkumization and Depommification of an Artful English Immigrant_ (1963)(repub. as _The Dinkum Pommie_ (1964)), which Clement Semmler said contained 'the essence of Mr Hesling's philosophy and observation of his adopted country and countrymen: "Today nobody starves (nobody white). This being so, anyone can paint, write poems or play the fiddle just for the hell of it..."'; ¶
• _Stir Up This Stew_ (1966), praised by Olaf Ruhen in _SMH_ 11 June 1966; ¶
• _I Left My Tears in the Fridge_ (1972), praised by Clement Semmler:'the Hesling comic vision is based on shrewd observation'. (_SMH_ 9 Sept 1972 p22); ¶
• _Around the World on an Old Age Pension_ (1974)(which includes _My Picture Book_)praised by Clement Semmler in _SMH_ 11 May 1974 p13; and ¶
• _Art Ruined My Career in Crime_ (1977). ¶

Helped by an actor friend who had won the Opera House Lottery, Hesling and a cast of actors performed his play _My Life, with an Interval for Asperin_ (sic) in Sydney in 1965 (_The Australian Women's Weekly_ 20 Oct 1965 p12). In the 1970s, in Adelaide, Canberra etc, it was a one-man stage performance, as was his _Bear with Hesling or My Life and Art Times_ (1977). ¶

Hesling and his wife Flo' left their longtime home at Castlecrag, Sydney, in 1962 and moved to North Adelaide. He continued his vitreous enamel work and began a long association with Greenhill Galleries. In 1969 Hazel de Berg recorded an interview with him - now in NLA. An _SMH_ article "Art: the way out of an orphanage' in 1971 said 'Mr Hesling has often been described as the first man to introduce vitreous enamel work to Australia but he prefers to be known as the man who fostered it here. "There is more vitreous enamel work done by me and my school in Adelaide than in the whole world."' (_SMH_ 23 May 1971 p130) ¶

Chris Butler's article "Bernard Hesling: A self-confessed amateur nut-case" _The Adelaide Review_ Dec 1984/Jan 1985, was a one-page biography. Hesling was awarded an OAM in June 1985 for his service to the arts. _The Advertiser_ (17 June 1985, p2) noted the award and described Bernard's varied life in its Monday Profile article "A colorful 80 years, and still making his mark". The NLA has a recorded interview with Hesling. He died aged 82 in 1987. Flo' predeceased him. There were no children. An obituary by Tim Lloyd "Hesling: a versatile, lively life" was published in _The Advertiser_, 16 June 1987, p.17. ¶

Years later, in 1999, Greenhill Galleries offered his 'long lost' 1969 set of four 'Australia Day' enamel panels for sale at $100,000 (_The Advertiser_ 2 Oct 1999 p60). ¶
Summary