McCubbin, Frederick (1855-1917), an Australian painter, helped found the Box Hill artists’ camp, a tent community near Melbourne where artists could paint outdoors. Other founders included the Australian painters Tom Roberts and Louis Abrahams. Later, the camp moved to Eaglemont and Heidelberg, and the artists involved became known as the Heidelberg School (see Heidelberg School ).
The Heidelberg School, which McCubbin helped to create in 1886, was Australia’s first revolutionary art movement. The common interest of the artists was Impressionism, then a new movement in France, which sought to capture a direct experience of the natural world. McCubbin was especially interested in its emphasis on working en plein air (outdoors). McCubbin made his only visit to Europe in 1907. After this trip, his atmospheric landscapes and paintings of Melbourne reflected the French method of painting with small, related brushstrokes of Impressionistic color. The Australian author Henry Lawson’s poetry and involvement with Australian history also influenced McCubbin. McCubbin, like Lawson, had deep concern for the social problems of bush dwellers. From such themes came some of his most famous paintings of pioneer life, notably the Bush Burial (1890) and his triptych (three connected paintings) The Pioneers (1904).
Frederick McCubbin was born on Feb. 25, 1855, in Melbourne. He trained at the Artisans School of Design in Melbourne and at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School. He taught drawing at the Melbourne National Gallery School from 1866 until his death. McCubbin died on Dec. 20, 1917.
