Design and Art Australia Online

painter and draughtsman, was born in Sydney on 28 February 1840, son of the merchant William Andrews and his wife, whose portraits were painted in 1861 by James Anderson . As William Andrews junior, William began painting professionally in about 1860; by 1868 he was listed in Sands Sydney Directory as an artist of 44 Yurong Street. William Moore states that he received several landscape commissions when Lord Rosebery visited Australia in 1883-84, which Rosebery took back to England, but mostly he worked as an amateur, earning his living as a draughtsman in the NSW Colonial Architect’s Office. In the 1870s he lived at Double Bay.

In 1870 Andrews contributed an oil painting, Ship in Distress , to Sydney’s Intercolonial Exhibition; it was highly commended. Three other works entered in the same class (oil paintings by amateurs) were Raft Scene – Sunset , Red Riding Hood and Cattle Piece . Two years later his oils and watercolours attracted favourable attention when shown with the NSW Academy of Art: 'Of the paintings in oils’, declared the Empire on 5 March 1872, 'Mr W. Andrews junior’s “Tranquility” must, one should think, bear away the palm’. A coastal landscape at sunrise with a dismantled hulk in the foreground, it was in fact awarded the medal for best exhibit by a local amateur. Andrews also showed Nearing the Heads and The Old Hull at Cuthbert’s , the latter a moonlight scene. They received certificates of merit.

In April he showed more oil paintings, including A War Scene , in an exhibition held at the Pitt Street Congregational Sabbath School. The Agricultural Society’s annual exhibition in May included his Early Morn and The Last Gleam , the latter winning a first prize. Morning and Evening ('two fine [oil] pictures of sea-coast scenes’) were 'decided favourites’ when exhibited with the NSW Academy of Art in 1873. Stranded , shown in the following year’s exhibition, would have won a silver medal, it was reported, 'but for what was thought to be a sameness in the picture to others exhibited by that talented gentleman during the last two years’. Another oil coastal scene was shown with the Academy in 1874, and Andrews donated at least two paintings as prizes in the Academy’s annual art union. A decade later, his watercolour of Darling Harbour in the 1884 Royal Art Society Exhibition was described in Once a Month as 'one of the finest works contributed’.

LATER EXHIBITION HISTORY:

In the oil paintings section at the NSW Academy of Art third annual exhibition 1874: ’1. “Coast Scene” – W. Andrews – Amateur – NSW – original – Competitive; 2. “Stranded” – W. Andrews – Amateur – NSW – original – Competitive’.

Re the watercolour section of the First Exhibition of the Art Society of NSW in 1880: 'Mr Andrews has a lot of exhibits, and of them no.113, “The George’s River (Moonlight)” is perhaps most attractive. In most of this artist’s pictures Turneresque effects are introduced’ ( Sydney Morning Herald , 23 December 1880).

Exhibited a watercolour at the first Art Society of NSW exhibition: 'No.148, “The Wreck” by Mr W. Andrews … a meritorious specimen of watercolor painting’ ( Bulletin , 1 January 1881). Exhibited Art Society of NSW 1881 and 1887.

Exhibited oil paintings in the exhibition at John Sands Art Gallery: 'Mr William Andrews exhibits 3 works, one entitled “Stranded” and 2 view of the Nepean. “Stranded” is a well conceived and skilfully executed picture, representing a sailing vessel caught upon a sandbank at night time. Through a rift in a heavy bank of clouds the moonlight falls upon the waves and throws portion of the sails and rigging of the vessel into relief. Fishing smacks are seen in the distance coming to her aid’ ( Sydney Morning Herald , 8 January 1884).

Exhibited in fifth annual exhibition of the Art Society of NSW: 'No.19, “Pyrmont, from Johnstone’s Bay” by William Andrews, is a good marine picture, but it represents Pyrmont under a more picturesque aspect than it is usually seen’ ( Sydney Morning Herald , 15 July 1884). 'No.50, “Darling Harbour” by William Andrews is a good study of shipping’ ( Sydney Morning Herald , 16 July 1884). 'No.124 “Georges River” by William Andrews is a picturesque combination of river and woodland with a group of natives encamped in a glade to the right’ ( Sydney Morning Herald , 19 July 1884). 'No.167 “Hawkesbury River” is by William Andrews … No.183 is one of the best, although one of the smallest of William Andrews’ pictures … No.190 is another artistic little sketch by William Andrews who seems to be more successful with those small works than with his larger efforts … No.229, “Near Manly, Pittwater-road” by William Andrews … [is] interesting work’ ( Sydney Morning Herald , 19 July 1884). Also see a review by De Libra (a.k.a. James Green) in the Sydney Mail , 26 July 1884.

Re the Art Society’s sixth annual exhibition in 1885: '... sea view … over the doorway entitled “The Last Voyage” by Mr William Andrews … Mr William Andrews presents us with some very peculiar sky tints in his “Bend on the Hawkesbury” a rather effective picture’ ( Sydney Morning Herald , 6 April 1885). 'No.14 “Near the Currajong” [sic] by William Andrews is a clever picture, its best points being the water in the foreground, and the shimmer of evening light through the trees in the middle distance’ ( Sydney Morning Herald , 11 April 1885). 'Mr Andrews in many of his modestly-priced pictures shows a marked improvement’ ( Sydney Mail , 11 April 1885). Also see a review in the Illustrated Sydney News , 9 May 1885.

'Mr Andrews’ drawing is a scene at George’s River on a still evening, with an atmosphere charged with moisture. The shadows of the trees on the water, and the boat moored to the a post on the beach, certainly convey an impression of deep tranquility’ ( Sydney Morning Herald , 5 February 1886).

At the seventh annual exhibition of the NSW Art Society: '“Evening on the Hawkesbury” (oil) (3) by Mr William Andrews, is well worth looking at, being a pretty river scene … “Morning on the Hawkesbury” (127) by Mr William Andrews, would be a good sketch if the sky were not so heavy … “The Wreck” (75) by Mr William Andrews is an effective piece of painting’ ( Sydney Morning Herald , 20 April 1886). An oil painting called 'On the Nepean River, Blue Mountains, New South Wales’, signed l.r. 'Wm Andrews 1886’ was offered by Christie’s Australia, Australian and European Paintings , Melbourne 27 & 28 April 1998, lot 297A. Andrews dates are there given as 1840-1877 [sic].

Committee member of Art Society of NSW in 1886. Died January 1887, when Annual Report of Art Society called him 'a most promising artist’. At the monthly meeting of the Art Society the council 'placed on record its deep sense of regret for the loss of one of its members, Mr W. Andrews, by death’ ( Sydney Morning Herald , 14 February 1887). An oil painting by Andrews was exhibited posthumously at the 8th annual exhibition of the Art Society of NSW. The Sydney Morning Herald (8 December 1887) commented:

Mr W. Andrews has shown an ambitious picture called “Circular Quay” which has one merit and many faults. The Colour is not good, the pinky-blue over all is not a tint seen in these southern skies. There seems to have been an attempt to catch an effect like that of “Arundel Castle, Sussex” in the Art Gallery, but it has failed. He has some lines on the water also, which are seen in a river where there is a current, but which are not seen, I think, on the harbour here. The water looks like a flowing river by reason of these lines.

Moore states that one of his last works was a view of Sydney from Milson’s Point.

Writers:

McDonald, Patricia

Date written:

1992

Last updated:

1989