Herbert Hepburn Calvert was born on 30 December 1870 at St Pancras, London. He was the oldest of three sons born to Thomas Calvert and his wife Grace (nee Hepburn).
In 1882 the family was residing in Hornsey, London, but within the next few years they emigrated to New Zealand. After a short stay in that country they then moved to Australia in 1887. By 1894 Calvert was living in the Sydney suburb of Balmain and on 29 February 1904 he married Mary Elsie O’Brien at the New Unitarian Church located at 467 Pitt Street, Sydney.
Calvert was known for his delicate watercolour studies of Australian bird life and was active from at least 1898, when he travelled aboard SS Moana working as ship’s artist, until his death in 1923. He is represented in the collections of the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
The work of his son, Harold Hepburn Calvert (1906-63), is commonly confused with his due to the similarity in names and styles. Dates and signatures, however, greatly assist in correct identification. Paintings dated 1923 and earlier were usually signed “H. H. Calvert” and are inevitably the work of the father. Those dated after 1923 are the work of the son and usually signed “H. Hep. Calvert” or “H. Hepburn Calvert”.
H. H. Calvert died on 16 February 1923 from broken ribs and other abdominal injuries sustained as a result of an accident while visiting Adelaide. He was found unconscious at the bottom of a staircase at the hotel in which he was staying and it was presumed that he had fallen. His body was returned to Sydney for burial at the Field of Mars Cemetery in Ryde. He was survived by his wife and sons Herbert and Harold.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 2011
- Last updated:
- 2014
