William Pidgeon

William Edwin Pidgeon, aka Bill Pidgeon and Wep, (1909–1981) was an Australian painter who won the Archibald Prize three times. After his death, cartoonist and journalist Les Tanner described him: "He was everything from serious draftsman, brilliant cartoonist, social observer, splittingly funny illustrator to multiple Archibald prizewinner.[1]

This article is about the Australian painter. For American archaeologist and antiquarian, see William Pidgeon (archaeologist).

Pidgeon was born on 7 January 1909 in Paddington, an inner suburb of Sydney.[2] He was the son of Frederick Castledine Pidgeon and Thirza Jessie Pidgeon, née White. He was educated at Sydney Technical High School.[3][4] Pidgeon served in the Royal Australian Navy Reserve between 1927 and 1930 (Service Number S6342).

Pidgeon was married twice. He married Jessie Graham in 1933. They had one son in 1944. The same year he moved to Northwood, New South Wales where he lived for the remainder of his life. After Jessie's death, he married Dorothy Lees and a second son was born in 1959.[5] From 1954 he suffered from glaucoma in both eyes. This condition led to gradual deterioration of his eyesight and necessitated six operations.[5] In 1965 Hazel de Berg interviewed him as part of an oral history project to interview Australian artists.[6] He died 16 February 1981 aged 72 years.[7]

Cartoonist Les Tanner studied under Pidgeon.

Career

Pidgeon began his drawing career by doing comic illustrations for his Technical High School magazine; at 16 years of age he began a newspaper artist cadetship at The Sunday Times. He studied for a period of 6 months under J. S. Watkins[4] In September 1926, at the age of 17, he had his first comic strip published. The Trifling Triplets appeared in The Sunday News.[8] He was also published regularly in the (Sydney) Evening News[9] where he was employed as a cadet artist. He also worked in Sydney for the Daily Guardian, the Sun, the World and the Sydney Daily Telegraph.[10] Editor George Warnecke soon employed Pidgeon as an illustrator on the Smith's Weekly. He also illustrated for The Telegraph in the 1930s.[11]

Art Reviews

Pidgeon wrote occasional art reviews for the Daily Telegraph for a number of years, and returned to this in 1974 when his eyesight was failing.[5]

The Australian Women's Weekly

Warnecke asked Pidgeon to help produce a dummy for a new magazine The Australian Women's Weekly which he did. Warnecke took the idea to media proprietor Frank Packer. The first issue was published 10 June 1933.[12] Pidgeon commenced his career illustrating for the magazine starting with the first issue where he illustrated a short article on the scotch terrier.[13] Pidgeon collaborated with humourist Lennie Lower during the late 1930s. This collaboration contributed to the magazine achieving the highest circulation in Australia.[10]

In and Out of Society

Pidgeon used the moniker Wep for the In and Out of Society comic strip which entered the pages of The Weekly in September 1933.[8] It had a theme of the emancipated woman. The leading lady dominated the strip and most of Wep's gentle humour saw the male on the receiving end.[14] Pidgeon used an extreme style that has been considered comic, original and modern in approach and has influenced humorous artists since.[10] Although the strip continued through to the 1970s and drawn by other artists, Wep's work on the strip made it a household name.[14]

War Correspondent

Pidgeon was a war correspondent[15] for The Australian Women's Weekly (Consolidated Press). He visited Darwin, Northern Territory, Papua New Guinea, Morotai and Borneo. He produced cartoons, illustrations and paintings which were produced as covers.

He continued to provide cartoons and art work, including covers until he left full time employment with the Weekly in 1949 with an agreement to do occasional work which he did through the 1950s.[5][16]

Portrait Painting

Pidgeon left The Weekly in 1949 to pursue portrait painting. Commissioned portraits became his livelihood over the next twenty-five years.[5] He was a member of the Journalists' Club Sydney and painted the portraits of practically every club president up to 1976. Some of his subjects included:

He also enjoyed painting landscapes and other styles.[22]

Archibald Prize

Pidgeon won the Archibald Prize three times. In 1958 with a portrait of journalist Ray Walker, in 1961 with a portrait of Rabbi Dr I Porush and in 1968 with a portrait of fellow artist and friend, Dr Lloyd Rees.[23]

Pidgeon was a member of the Journalists' Club Sydney. His first painting of Club President Ray Walker won the 1958 prize.[17]

The 1961 portrait of Rabbi Dr. I. Porush was commissioned for the Great Synagogue by Randwick bookmaker and horse breeder Mr. A. Davis, to mark the Rabbi's twenty-one years of service and in memory of Davis's younger sister Ettie. Pidgeon had competed in every prize since 1949. This was his second win.[24]

Pidgeon was one of four local artists represented on the Lane Cove Art Panel. In March 1968, at the suggestion of this panel, Lane Cove Council commissioned Pidgeon to paint a portrait of Lloyd Rees for their art collection. The painting was subsequently entered in the 1968 Archibald Prize competition and won.[5] The portrait was to hang in the Lane Cove town hall.[24]

Publications

Pidgeon was invited to illustrate a number of books, and in some cases book covers:

  • Willis, Collins. Rhymes of Sydney by Collins Wills and "Wep". First published in 1933. New edition 1982. ISBN 0959359214
  • Raffaello, Carboni. The Eureka Stockade: the consequences of some pirates wanting on quarter-deck a rebellion, with an introduction by Herbart V. Evatt and illustrated by W. E. Pidgeon[25]
  • Simpson, Colin. Come Away Pealer, 1952 [Jacket design only]
  • Warren, Marian. No Glamour in Gumboots, 1958
  • Cullota, Nino (John O'Grady) They're a Weird Mob, 1959[26]
  • Davy, G. C. The Christian Gentleman: a book of courtesy and social guidance for boys, 1960
  • Cullota, Nino (John O'Grady) Cop this Lot, 1960 ISBN 0725402008
  • Pearl, Cyril. So, you want to buy a house .. and live in it. 1961
  • Cullota, Nino (John O'Grady) Gone Fishin', 1962
  • Pearl, Cyril. The Best of Lennie Lower presented by Cyril Pearl and Wep, 1963
  • O'Grady, John. Aussie English: an explanation of Australian idiom, 1965
  • O'Grady, John. The Things they do to you, [1969]

Collections
Portrait of E.G. Theodore by William Edwin Pidgeon in the collection of the National Library of Australia

Pidgeon's paintings are held in the collections of the following organisations:

  • Australian War Memorial[27]
  • Government House (Sydney)[2]
  • Great Synagogue[2]
  • National Library of Australia[28]
  • National Museum of Australia[29]
  • National Portrait Gallery[30]
  • New South Wales Art Gallery[2]
  • Newcastle Art Gallery[31]
  • Parliament House[32]
  • Royal Prince Alfred Hospital[2]
  • State Library New South Wales[30]
  • St Vincent's Hospital Sydney[2]
  • Sydney Children's Hospital[2]
  • University of New England[2]
  • University of New South Wales[2]
  • University of Sydney[2]

Legacy

In 1988 Bloomfield Galleries, New South Wales held an exhibition of Pidgeon's war paintings.[33]

In 1997 the Journalists' Club Sydney closed. The Archibald Prize winner painting of club President Ray Walker went missing.[34] In May 2020 the Art Gallery of New South Wales put a call out for its return.[35]

Over 400 works of art by Pidgeon were donated to the Australian War Memorial in 2014.  These included illustrated letters to his wife while working as a war correspondent and artist with Consolidated Press in New Guinea, Borneo, and Morotai in 1943–1945. It also includes his War Correspondent's Licence and Identification Card and paintings, sketches, drawings, photographs, and other ephemeral material relating to his time as a war correspondent. The collection was one of the largest donations received by the Memorial over the past ten years. The Memorial holds the most comprehensive collection of Pidgeon's work in Australia.[36]

In 2015 the Australian War Memorial held an exhibition William Edwin Pidgeon (1909-1981), war correspondent and artist which presented a selection of over 400 works held in the Memorial's collection.[27]

References
  1. Humour in The Weekly. Australian Women's Weekly. South Yarra, Vic.: Currey O'Neil. 1983. ISBN 0-85902-081-9. OCLC 27576881.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. Notable Australians : the pictorial who's who. Sydney: Prestige Publishing Division, Paul Hamlyn. 1978. p. 858. ISBN 0-86832-012-9. OCLC 856582003.
  3. Who's Who in Australia (27th ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: Colourgravure Publications. 1962. p. 682.
  4. Spearritt, Peter, "Pidgeon, William Edwin (Wep) (1909–1981)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 30 May 2020
  5. Washington, Judy. (1989). Artists of Lane Cove. Lane Cove Public Library. [Lane Cove, N.S.W.]: Lane Cove Public Library. ISBN 0-949622-02-8. OCLC 40788077.
  6. Artists' portraits. Dutton, Geoffrey., National Library of Australia. Canberra: National Library of Australia. 1992. ISBN 0-642-10579-0. OCLC 33165242.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. "'Wep' dies, 72". Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). 1 February 1981. p. 3. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  8. "William Edwin Pidgeon".
  9. "Trove search results for – Digitised newspapers and more". Trove. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  10. Lindesay, Vane, 1920– (1979). The inked-in image : a social and historical survey of Australian comic art. Richmond, Vic.: Hutchinson of Australia. ISBN 0-09-135460-9. OCLC 9589964.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. Griffen-Foley, Bridget (2000). Sir Frank Packer, the young master : a biography. Sydney: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-7322-6422-7. OCLC 48945204.
  12. "The Australian Women's Weekly (1933–1982) – 10 Jun 1933 – p'Front Cover'". Trove. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  13. "Our Dogs". Australian Women's Weekly (1933–1982). 1 June 1933. p. 12. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  14. Ryan, John (1979). Panel by panel: a history of Australian comics. Stanmore, New South Wales: Cassell Australia. p. 30. ISBN 0726973769.
  15. "The Australian War Memorial". www.awm.gov.au. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  16. O'Brien, Denis, 1929- (1982). The Weekly : a lively and nostalgic celebration of Australia through 50 years of its most popular magazine. Ringwood, Vic., Australia: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-006566-0. OCLC 10349183.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. Angel, Don, 1911- (1985). The Journalists' Club, Sydney : founded 1939 : a fond history. Journalists' Club (Sydney, N.S.W.). [Sydney]: Journalists' Club (Sydney). ISBN 0-9596107-2-3. OCLC 15551597.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. "Portrait of E.G. Theodore [picture]". Trove. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  19. Maher, Brian, "Thompson, John Christopher (1893–1958)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 31 May 2020
  20. "Sir William Gaston Walkley, 1958". National Portrait Gallery collection. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  21. Hopkirk, Frannie, 1937– (1996). Brett : a portrait of Brett Whiteley by his sister. Sydney: Knopf. ISBN 0-09-183341-8. OCLC 36806852.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. "Archibald Prize Sulman 1956 finalist: The Sun Bathers by William Pidgeon". www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  23. Spearritt, Peter (2012). "Pidgeon, William Edwin (Wep) (1909–1981)". Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol. 18. Melbourne University Press. Online version retrieved 29 September 2016.
  24. Ross, Peter. (1999). Let's face it : the history of the Archibald Prize. Art Gallery of New South Wales. Sydney, Australia: Art Gallery of New South Wales. ISBN 0-7313-8966-2. OCLC 40793170.
  25. Carboni, Raffaello (1942). The Eureka Stockade : the consequence of some pirates wanting on quarter-deck a rebellion / by Carboni Raffaello. Sunnybrook Press.
  26. Culotta, Nino (1959). They're a weird mob. Internet Archive. Sydney : Ure Smith.
  27. "William Edwin Pidgeon (1909–1981), war correspondent and artist | The Australian War Memorial". www.awm.gov.au. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  28. National Library of Australia. (1988). A catalogue of oil paintings in the pictorial collection of the National Library of Australia. Canberra: The Library. ISBN 0-642-10429-8. OCLC 24318502.
  29. "National Museum of Australia". National Museum of Australia | Collection Explorer. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  30. "William Pidgeon, b. 1909". National Portrait Gallery people. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  31. "Newcastle Art Gallery". newcastle-collections.ncc.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  32. "Portraits of Parliament". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  33. Wep, 1909–1981. (1988). W.E. Pidgeon : war paintings 1943–1945. Bloomfield Galleries. Paddington, N.S.W.: Bloomfield Galleries. ISBN 0-9590761-2-3. OCLC 62544655.
  34. "Sydney Journalists Club remembered". Online Journalism. 2 October 2010. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  35. "The search for hundreds of missing Archibald finalists: Art Gallery of NSW curator Natalie Wilson – Afternoons with Deborah Knight – Omny.fm". 2GB. 20 May 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  36. "Australian War Memorial Annual Report 2013-2014". Annual Report of the Board of Trustees for the Year Ended 30th June. Canberra, ACT: Australian War Memorial. 2014. ISSN 1441-4198.
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