Guide to the Papers of James Stuart MacDonald
MS 430
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Collection Summary
- Creator
- James Stuart MacDonald
- Title
- Papers of James Stuart MacDonald
- Date Range
- 1895-1961 (bulk 1917-1952)
- Collection Number
- MS 430
- Extent
- 2.05 metres (9 boxes) + 1 folio item
- Language of Materials
- English
- Repository
- National Library of Australia
- Sponsor
- This finding aid was created by the Manuscripts Branch of the National Library of Australia with the assistance of the Nora Heysen Bequest.
Introduction
Scope and Content
Correspondence, diaries, manuscripts, speeches, newscuttings, photographs and official papers, mostly dating from the late 1920s to 1952. The bulk of the collection covers the last 25 years of MacDonald's life, when he was a Director of two State galleries, an art critic and protagonist in various disputes about modern painting. He was a prolific writer of essays, notes and lists and the notebooks form the largest category in the collection. There are a few papers relating to the Commonwealth Art Advisory Board and the National Art Gallery of New South Wales and more extensive papers on the National Gallery of Victoria. A few diaries have survived and also several files of personal correspondence.
The principal correspondents are artists such as John Longstaff, Lionel Lindsay, Arthur Streeton, Hans Heysen and William Dargie and gallery directors and curators like L. Bernard Hall, Will Ashton and Daryl Lindsay.
Conditions Governing Access
Available for research. Not for loan.
Conditions Governing Use
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
Preferred Citation
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of James Stuart MacDonald, National Library of Australia, MS 430, [series and/or file number]'.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The papers were donated to the Library by Mrs Maud MacDonald in 1956 and 1962.
Related Materials
The National Library also holds the papers of Sir Keith Murdoch (MS 2823). He was Chairman of the Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria between 1939-1949 and his papers include several files relating to the affairs of the Gallery.
Arrangement
The papers have been arranged into eight series by the Library.
Biographical Note
James Stuart MacDonald was born in Melbourne on 28 March 1878. He was educated at Kew High School and Hawthorn Grammar School and then studied at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School. In 1898 he went overseas and studied and exhibited paintings in London and Paris for several years. In 1904 he married American art student Maud Keller and they lived in New York until 1910, when they returned to Australia.
In September 1914 MacDonald enlisted in the 5th Infantry Battalion, Australian Imperial Force. He was severely wounded at Gallipoli but continued to serve in clerical duties until his discharge in April 1919. He studied the art of camouflage and was also a commissioned war artist during 1918. His first book The art of Frederick McCubbin, was published in 1916. After the War he gave up painting and began writing art criticism regularly for Art in Australia and the Melbourne Herald.
In October 1928 MacDonald was appointed Director and Secretary of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales. He remained in the position until 1936 and was then appointed Director of the National Gallery of Victoria. He had strained relations with the Trustees, particularly the Chairman, Sir Keith Murdoch, who resented his ferocious attacks on contemporary art and the 1939 Herald exhibition of French and English painting. In 1940 the Trustees recommended against his reappointment and he was effectively dismissed in 1941.
In his retirement MacDonald resumed his work as an art critic for The Age and served on the Commonwealth Art Advisory Board. During this time he was also active with the Australian and New Zealand Art Galleries and Museum Association. He died in Melbourne on 12 November 1952.
In addition to his work on McCubbin, MacDonald published books on Penleigh Boyd (1920), George Lambert, David Davies, and Australian landscape painters (1927). A collection of his writings, Australian painting desiderata, was published posthumously in 1958.
Biographical Reference(s)
James Stuart MacDonald, Australian dictionary of biography online, .
James Stuart MacDonald, Australian dictionary of biography, Carlton, Vic: Melbourne University Press, 1986, vol. 10, pp.251-52.
Item Descriptions
Series 1. Correspondence, 1923-1952
The correspondence mainly relates to the last twenty years of MacDonald's life. The subjects include portraits by John Longstaff, MacDonald's appointment to the National Art Gallery of New South Wales (1928) and the National Gallery of Victoria (1936), relations with the Trustees, offers of art works, art sales, exhibitions, MacDonald's criticisms of contemporary art, his departure from the National Gallery of Victoria in 1941-1942, Lionel Lindsay's criticisms of the Sydney press, Sir Keith Murdoch, art competitions, Archibald Prize, experiences of official artists during World War II, MacDonald's broadcasts and writings for the press and William Dobell's portrait of Joshua Smith.
The principal correspondents are L. Bernard Hall, John Longstaff, Lionel Lindsay, Daryl Lindsay, Arthur Streeton, Will Ashton, William Dargie, Ivor Hele, Datillo Rubbo and Charles Wheeler.
Correspondence, 1929-1949 (File 1)
Letters from Dame Mary Gilmore (1938-1949) and Sir John Longstaff (1929-1938).
Correspondence, 1927-1952 (File 2)
Letters from Sir Lionel Lindsay (1927-1947), Sir Arthur Streeton (1928-1952) and Stan Smith (1936)
Correspondence, 1923-1930 (File 3)
Letters from James R. Jackson, Napier Waller, L. Bernard Hall, Dora Wilcox, John Rowell, W. Lister and others.
Correspondence, 1930-1944 (File 4)
Letters from Hans Heysen, Dora Wilcox, W. Maloney, L. Bernard Hall, John Shirlow, John Rowell, Norman Lindsay, Robert Menzies, Sydney Long, Will Ashton, Ida Leeson, Percy Grainger and others.
Letters from Hans Heysen have been itemised.
Correspondence, 1940-1949 (File 5)
Letters from Daryl Lindsay, W. F. Bowles, Hugh McCrae, Tristan Buesst, Will Ashton, John Brackenreg, Sir Owen Dixon, Bernard Heinze, William Dargie, Ivor Hele, Rev. E. Davidson and others.
Correspondence, 1950-1952 (File 6)
Letters from Bill Bowles, Charles Wheeler, Patricia Excell and others.
Correspondence, August-December 1949 (File 7)
Correspondence with Julius Kien offering paintings to the National Gallery of Victoria.
Series 2. Diaries, 1917-1947
Only two diaries have survived, together with some fragmentary diaries recording MacDonald's activities at the end of World War I. The 1944 and 1947 diaries have detailed entries and provide a good record of his activities.
Series 3. National Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1928-c.1950
MacDonald took up the position of Director of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1929. He resigned in 1936 in order to return to Melbourne. This small series contains a few miscellaneous documents written or received by MacDonald as Director and also some later papers, mainly relating to the Archibald Prize. Some related papers can be found in Series 7.
Miscellaneous papers, 1928-1937 (File 1)
Includes a catalogue of exhibition of contemporary French art (1928), draft of a broadcast about the Gallery, incomplete report of the Director (January 1930), notes of a meeting of the Gallery and Hanging Committee (n.d.), correspondence with W. H. Gill of the Fine Art Society about a Tom Roberts Memorial Exhibition (1931-32), drafts of letters to the press on criticisms of Julian Ashton (1933) and other papers.
Miscellaneous papers, 1936-c.1950 (File 2)
Includes a letter by MacDonald putting forward his views on the duties and rights of Director of the Gallery (1936), typescript draft of 1937 annual report of the Trustees of the Gallery, 1938 annual report of the Gallery, lists of winners of the Archibald Prize and other prizes.
Series 4. National Gallery of Victoria, 1903-c.1951
MacDonald was Director of the National Gallery of Victoria from 1936 to 1941. He kept a considerable number of papers relating to the staff, building and policies of the Gallery, the powers of the Director, relations with the Trustees, purchases, use of the Felton Bequest, exhibitions and the Art School. Most of the files contain a mixture of papers and there is often overlap or duplication between files. Further papers on the Gallery can be found in Series 7.
Papers, 1937-1945 (File 2)
Correspondence and papers relating to a collection of paintings and drawings sent to the United States, including letters of Sydney Ure Smith, Will Ashton, H. C. Richards and Theodore Sizer.
Papers, 1921-1948 (File 3)
Notes on the history of the Gallery, copies of legislation relating to the Gallery, copy of a letter to E. Pitt on the loan exhibition of modern works (1937), reports on the National Gallery Art School (1939-1941), correspondence about the estate of David Davies (1941), notes on directors of galleries and other papers.
Papers, 1937-1947 (File 4)
Papers relating to powers of the Director and Trustees of the Gallery, its buying policy, copies of papers on Felton Bequest purchases, catalogues and other subjects.
Papers, 1928-1941 (File 5)
Documents relating to the Felton Bequest purchases and the preface to a National Gallery of Victoria catalogue.
Papers, 1929-1941 (File 6-7)
Minutes of meetings of Trustees and committees, agenda papers, reports and copies of correspondence between MacDonald and E. Pitt.
Papers, 1937-1939 (File 8)
Minutes of meetings of Trustees and committees, agenda papers, reports, copies of correspondence and newspaper cuttings.
Papers, 1926-1944 (File 9-10)
Papers relating to Chinese pottery (Kent Collection), the National Gallery Art School, the Director's office, pictures in the Gallery not in the loan collection, lending policy, country loans, art dealers in Melbourne, cataloguing of prints, A. O. Barrett Prize and the conservation of pictures.
Papers, 1903-1945 (File 11)
Minutes of meetings of Trustees, agenda papers, papers concerning acquisitions, valuations, the Felton Bequest, appointments, a lecture by George Bell and other matters.
Also includes a pamphlet Art instruction in NSW: a plea for the establishment of a National Art School, issued by the New South Wales Art Student's League (1903).
Papers, 1938-c.1951 (File 12)
Minutes of meetings of Trustees and committees, a Felton Bequest application, a published document about a landscape painting by Cézanne acquired under the Felton Bequest (1938) and resolutions of the Commonwealth Jubilee Citizenship Convention.
Series 5. Speeches, 1936-c.1949
MacDonald gave many speeches, talks and broadcasts as a gallery director. This included a series of broadcasts about artists produced by the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1940 called 'Adventures in art'.
Speeches, lectures and broadcasts, 1937-1941 (File 1)
Manuscripts and typescripts of speeches, lectures and broadcasts, including talks about the National Art Gallery of New South Wales and the National Gallery of Victoria and a lecture on 'Pen and wash'.
Speeches and lectures, c.1949 (File 2)
Manuscripts and typescripts of lectures, including a speech on the National Gallery of Victoria entitled 'After us the deluge'.
Speeches and broadcasts, 1936-1942 (File 3-4)
Manuscripts and typescripts of broadcasts in the 'Adventures in art' series, including Goya's 'Portrait of a lady', Tiepolo's 'The banquet of Cleopatra', Jean Antoine Houdon, Tom Roberts, John Longstaff and Arthur Streeton and correspondence with Sydney Ure Smith about these programs.
Folder four also includes a copy of Adventures in art: Australian national art gallery pictures which was produced to accompany the lecture series. The publication was edited by Sydney Ure Smith.
Series 6. Commonwealth Art Advisory Board, 1947-1952
This small series comprises agenda papers, minutes and correspondence of the Commonwealth Art Advisory Board during the time in which MacDonald was a member and Chairman. The letters are from Frank J. McKenna (Secretary of the Board), R. A. Hohnen, R. G. Menzies, R. C. Mills, Will Ashton and MacDonald.
1 folder.
Series 7. Writings, 1917-1952
MacDonald wrote numerous essays and compiled notes and lists containing details of Australian and overseas artists and schools of art, paintings, art criticism and many other cultural, literary, historical and political topics. Some of the material in this series is in notebooks and ranges from 1918 until his death.
Most of the articles and notes in this series are undated. Where the date ranges of folders have been included they usually refer to the dates of printed material, items of ephemera and miscellaneous correspondence.
Articles and notes, 1948 (File 1)
Manuscript and notes on language including a letter to the Radio Times (1948) about pronunciation and articles entitled 'Word confusion' and 'Maiming the language'.
With the exception of the letter the remaining material is undated.
Notes, May 1920 (File 2)
Notebook containing notes on moonlight (May 1920) and other subjects and pencil sketches.
Notes, 1924-1948 (File 3)
Notebook arranged alphabetically on artists, concepts and terminology, mostly manuscript but including some cuttings.
Notes, 1931-1952 (File 4)
Notebook arranged alphabetically on artists, concepts and terminology, including book reviews and other cuttings.
Notes, 1935-1946 (File 5)
Notebook entitled 'Contemporary art' with newspaper cuttings, particularly relating to William Dobell's portrait of Joshua Smith.
Notes, 1929-1947 (File 6)
Notebook arranged alphabetically on many subjects, particularly the activities of the National Gallery of Victoria and its Trustees, including some cuttings.
Notes, 1941 (File 7)
Notebook arranged alphabetically and dated 1941 with entries on miscellaneous subjects and notes on Australian landscape.
Notes, 1917-1950 (File 8)
Notebook arranged alphabetically on miscellaneous subjects, including some cuttings.
Notes, n.d. (File 10)
Notebook containing alphabetical listing of artists, critics, collectors, writers and other individuals and some miscellaneous subjects.
Notes, 1917-1952 (File 11)
Notebook entitled 'Biographical notes on Australian artists', together with letters (1945-1948) and newspaper cuttings.
[Title not available], 1919-c.1940s (File 12)
Manuscript and typescript articles entitled 'Art for man's sake', 'The necessity for a Ministry of Arts', 'What should the children be taught?' (1919), 'Galleries - their physical shape, their governance and their sovereignty', 'Buying national pictures', 'Musical interpretation' and other writings on art and photography.
Articles, c.1940s (File 13)
Manuscript and typescript articles entitled 'Fantasy', 'Lay judges', 'Words', 'Why a picture is great', 'The underminers', 'Picture criticism', 'Picture galleries', 'Notes on the observations and mixing of tones' and other writings.
Articles and notes, n.d. (File 14)
Manuscript and typescript articles on portraiture, 'Art in the '88s', 'Why not Periphrastic sesquidpedalianism', 'Robert Alan Mowbray Stevenson', 'Turandot', 'Australian landscape', 'Pen and brush' and other writings.
Articles and notes, 1935-1943 (File 16)
Notes and press cuttings on contemporary art and realism, including a typescript article by Robert Hartman 'The anatomy of modern art' and catalogue of Contemporary Art Society exhibition (1941).
Also includes a review of a 'contemporary show' by Lionel Lindsay dated 9 October 1940.
Notes, n.d. (File 17)
Files of notes on French art, 'Genre', Goya's 'Portrait of a lady' and 'The Jews'.
Notes and talks, n.d. (File 18)
Files of notes on Leonardo da Vinci, 'Van Eyck and the early Netherlandish Paintings in the Melbourne National Gallery' and Tiepolo.
Articles and notes, 1936-c.1949 (File 19)
Lists of busts, notes on Australian art (including W. B. McInnes, John Longstaff, Ivor Hele).
Articles, notes and speeches, 1932-1933 (File 21)
Correspondence and article by MacDonald on Lionel Lindsay for the Print Collectors' Quarterly (1932-1933), three drafts of a speech on Tom Roberts, manuscript and typescript on Charles Wheeler (drafts and typescript).
Articles, 1944-1945 (File 22)
Manuscript and typescript articles including 'Drawing for watercolour', 'Heysen's drawings', 'Let there be sculpture by Jacob Epstein' and other writings and cuttings.
Heysen articles have been individually listed.
Manuscript draft of a book chapter entitled 'Hans Heysen: drawing for water colour', n.d. (Item 3)
Chapter for MacDonald's book Australian painting desiderata (1958)
Typescript draft of a book chapter entitled 'Hans Heysen: drawing for water colour', n.d. (Item 4)
Chapter for MacDonald's book Australian painting desiderata (1958)
Articles, n.d. (File 23)
Manuscript and typescript articles entitled 'Still life', 'Relics', 'The migrations of art' and 'Chinese art'.
Notes, n.d. (File 24)
Manuscript and typescript notes on 'Greek art', 'Greek sculpture' and notes on Early Christian, Gothic and Primitive art. The 'Gothic' folder includes three pencil drawings of horses.
Articles and notes, n.d. (File 25)
Manuscript and typescript articles on bookplates, 'Colour' and general notes on Australian art.
Articles and notes, n.d. (File 26)
Manuscript and typescript notes on Egyptian and Assyrian art and English art.
Articles and notes, c.1940s (File 28)
Manuscript and typescript articles and notes on Maud Sherwood, 'Art and letters', 'Home to roost', 'Chartres windows' and other subjects.
Articles and notes, 1944-c.1951 (File 29)
Manuscript and typescript articles and notes on the Howard Spensley Collection, H. B. Harrison, 'Collectors', Slade professors and other subjects and a roneoed article by MacDonald on the jubilee exhibition of Australian art.
Articles and notes, n.d. (File 30)
Manuscript articles and notes on 'Australia floral and fauna differences', 'The Gods etc', 'Expression', 'Racial traits', the role of the gallery and the trustees, and a portion of an article about English art critics, especially R. A. M. Stevenson.
Articles and notes, n.d. (File 32)
Incomplete essay on history of art, incomplete article on modern art, and other notes and comments.
Articles and notes, 1926-1950 (File 33)
Manuscript and typescript articles and notes on 'Carnegie Survey', 'Australia in America: the gum trees of California' (1926), 'Canberra as it really is', lists of paintings and other notes.
Series 8. Miscellaneous papers, 1895-1961
This series comprises papers on the Commonwealth Literary Fund and the Art Galleries and Museums Association of Australia and New Zealand, exhibition catalogues and photographs.
Also included are photographs of MacDonald and his family and a drawing by Robert Southey of a young child.
Miscellaneous papers, 1943-1944 (File 1)
Correspondence about the Commonwealth Literary Fund, including letters of H. S. Temby, Kenneth Binns, H. C. Richards and Lionel Lindsay.
Miscellaneous papers, 1936-1944 (File 2)
Constitution, agenda papers, minutes, correspondence and notes of the Art Galleries and Museums Association of Australia and New Zealand. Correspondents include MacDonald, A. R. Penfold and H. C. Richards.
Printed material, 1895-1949 (File 3-4)
Printed catalogues of art exhibitions including exhibitions of contemporary Australian art (c.1931), Chinese ceramics (1939), modern British art (1940), W. B. McInnes (1940), Norman Wilkinson (1945), and Rupert Bunny (1946).
Folder 4 also contains an 1895 pamphlet listing works of art on loan from the National Art Gallery of NSW and the Art Society of NSW for exhibition at Bathurst, Goulburn and Newcastle.
Miscellaneous papers, 1918-1961 (File 5)
Curricula vitae, biographical notes, personal documents, financial papers, a letter written by MacDonald in France in 1918, letters to newspapers, notes about a pension and three Christmas cards.
Also includes a 1961 letter from the National Library to MacDonald's daughter relating to the donation of his papers.
Container List
| Series | Files | Box |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1-9 | 1 |
| 2 | 1-2 | 1 |
| 2 | 3-4 | 2 |
| 3 | 1-2 | 2 |
| 4 | 1-4 | 2 |
| 4 | 5-13 | 3 |
| 4 | 14 | 4 |
| 5 | 1-4 | 4 |
| 6 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | 1-2 | 4 |
| 7 | 3-7 | 5 |
| 7 | 8-13 | 6 |
| 7 | 14-23 | 7 |
| 7 | 24-33 | 8 |
| 7 | 34-36 | 9 |
| 8 | 1-6 | 9 |
| 8 | 7 | Folio box |