Design and Art Australia Online

The third son of Thomas Squire Morgan and Louisa née Koch, James Squire Morgan was born in Randwick, Sydney, on 25 November 1886, and spent his childhood living at the family home, 'Morganville’, on Bishops Avenue in Randwick. Thomas Morgan was partially responsible in the 1880s for the development of the Mount Morgan gold mine in Queensland.

James Squire Morgan was educated at Sydney Grammar School and Sydney’s Fort Street High School. Not long after leaving school he decided to become an artist, and from 1905 to 1909 he studied with Julian Ashton and Sydney Long at the Sydney Art School (later known as the Julian Ashton Art School). By this time Morgan seems to have been known personally, and professionally, as Squire Morgan. While his relationship with the influential Julian Ashton is unknown, Morgan was clearly on good terms with Long, and during the early 1920s acted as his agent in Sydney.

Morgan’s debut as an artist was at the Society of Artists’ (SOA) 1908 spring show at the Society’s rooms at Sydney’s Queen Victoria Markets, where he exhibited five works. One jocular work, Washing Day, was mentioned in the Sydney Morning Herald (14 October 1908) and in John Barlow’s review in Art & Architecture magazine:

'An equally humorous, if perhaps not quite so quaint drawing, is one by Squire Morgan, which he calls Washing Day. Half-a-dozen puppies have been given a bath, and are being hung out to dry, pinned up by the ear to the line by clothes-pegs’ (Barlow, 1908).

He exhibited with the SOA again in November 1910 where he exhibited two works, The Destroyers and Magpies (the latter work being a subject much associated with Sydney Long). Little is known of Morgan’s activities from 1911 to 1921. His later membership of the London based Society of Graphic Arts suggests he may have been resident in the UK sometime during this period.

The interwar period saw a growing local interest in etching and printmaking. This interest led to the formation of the Australian Painter-Etchers’ Society (APES) in August 1920, with Lionel Lindsay as President and Gayfield Shaw as Honorary Secretary and Treasurer. Inspired by the possibilities of printmaking, Morgan mainly abandoned painting in the 1920s in deference for a career as an artistic printmaker.

Despite missing the first APES show in 1921, Morgan exhibited six works at the June 1922 exhibition and was listed on the catalogue as a member of the Society. One of these works, The Deserted Hut, was illustrated in the August 1922 issue of Art in Australia. Shaw stepped down as Honorary Secretary and Treasurer in 1923 after a dispute with Lindsay, and was replaced by Morgan. Despite hosting many successful exhibitions, APES seems to have been a victim of bitter internal squabbles indirectly caused by competing egos. Not long after Morgan became Secretary and Treasurer, the founding President, Lionel Lindsay, resigned from the Society in November 1923 citing 'cliqueism’ in the organization:

'Lionel Lindsay told a Guardian representative last week that he was tired of the cliqueism that existed in the society. He specially referred to the “Pommy Clique”, which The Guardian understands is comprised of Sid Long, Squire Morgan, [G.H.] Godsell, [Thomas] Friedensen, and others.’ (Daily Guardian, 29 November 1923, pg 6).

Whatever the reasons for the split, Morgan acted as Secretary and Treasurer of APES until October 1931 when he became the President of APES after the resignation of Sydney Long from the leadership position. In 1934 APES merged with the Graphic Art Society and became known as the Painter-Etchers’ & Graphic Art Society of Australia (PEGASA). The new merged society’s president was John Longstaff, while Morgan became one of four vice-presidents of the amalgamated group. Morgan continued to exhibit his prints with PEGASA, as he had done with its predecessor, and by late 1937 he was elected their last President. Perhaps reflecting the declining interest in etching, PEGASA held its last exhibition in 1938.

As a protest against the formation of the Australian Academy of Art, and the selection policy of the existing art societies, fifteen Sydney based male artists, including Morgan, formed their own breakaway art group known as the 'XV Independent Artists Group’ in 1938. Unconnected with the Melbourne based 'Independent Group’, the fifteen Sydney dissidents’ debut exhibition was held in October 1938 at the Blaxland Galleries, located in Farmer’s department store, Sydney.

More than fifteen artists eventually exhibited with the 'XV Group’. Known members were: Howard Ashton, Richard Ashton, Will Ashton, J. Lawson Balfour, Arthur d’Auvergne Boxall, George Finey, James R. Jackson, Fred Leist, Norman Lindsay, Percy Lindsay, Sydney Long, Squire Morgan, W.E. Pidgeon, H. Roy Rousel, A. Dattilo Rubbo, G.K. Townshend & B.J. Waterhouse. The diverse group was all-male but allowed some women to exhibit as 'guest exhibitors’. One member, Howard Ashton, writing in the catalogue of the first 'XV Group’ exhibition expressed, in perhaps a parody of European modernist art manifestos of the early twentieth century, what the Sydney based dissidents believed in:

'This Group of artists sets out to prove nothing and to challenge nothing. It is composed generally of professional painters who are not concerned with 'isms, are not devotees of any school, whose views on art, apart from certain fundamental matters of good craftsmanship, are as divergent as their styles. They are, in fact, a group of independents, as their title denotes’ (1938).

Morgan was listed in catalogues as the Honorary Secretary of the 'XV Independent Artists Group’ although there are no known public comments attributed to him. While the 'XV Group’ was formed in opposition of the main art societies, by the early 1940s many of its members (including Morgan) had joined the long established Royal Art Society (RAS).

Morgan’s first involvement with the RAS began in 1924 and he occasionally exhibited with the group during the 1920s. From 1940 Morgan became a regular exhibitor with the RAS, and by 1942 was listed as a member of their Council. By the late 1940s he was listed as an Associate (A.R.A.S.), and in 1957 was elected Fellow (F.R.A.S.). While Morgan only occasionally exhibited his work after the 1960s, he became an honorary life Vice-President of the RAS in 1961. From 1946 to 1970 he was also a member of the NSW Travelling Art Scholarship Committee and Applied Art Advisory Committee of East Sydney Technical College, Sydney.

While far from being a prolific artist, Morgan produced at least fifty prints during his career, mainly using the etching technique, although he did produce some dry points and aquatints. The most popular theme in his work was landscape views of the New South Wales coast and Sydney’s rural hinterland. Popular sketching spots included Sydney’s northern beaches, especially Dee Why, and the Canberra region. Being an artist mostly associated with print making, Morgan’s work is rarely mentioned in classic studies of Australian art history, and criticism is only found in reviews of art society exhibitions. No solo exhibitions by the artist are known. Morgan’s etchings and drawing are included in several public collections, including the Art Gallery of NSW, Mitchell Library, and the National Library of Australia.

On the 21 November 1925, Morgan married Gladys Hall and the couple had one daughter, Jascha. As well as his artistic activities, Morgan’s recreational activities included (according to various editions of Who’s Who) a love of the violin, chess, cricket, photography and motoring. Morgan’s interest in driving saw him become a Vice-President of the Royal Automotive Club of Australia (1947-70) and in 1961 he became an honorary life member of the organisation. While he had lived in central Sydney for most of his career, Morgan moved to a house at 5 Punch Street in Mosman for the final decade of his life. James Squire Morgan died in hospital on 18 March 1974. He was survived by his daughter, his wife having predeceased him. He was cremated at the Northern Suburbs Crematorium, Sydney, on 22 March 1974. No obituaries or lengthy profiles are known.

Writers:

Silas Clifford-Smith Note:

Date written:

2009

Last updated:

2011

Status:

peer-reviewed