C1924

St. Matthew’s Church Windsor N.S.W.

Artist:

William Hardy Wilson (1881 - 1951)

$A 475

Scarce, early c.20th colour collotype of the doorway at St. Matthew’s Church, Windsor by Hardy Wilson (1881-1951), “regarded as one of the most outstanding Australian architects of the twentieth century“. Construction of St Matthew’s began in 1817 after Macquarie selected … Read Full Description

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S/N: WOCAR-NC-009–530031

(C069)

Categories: New South Wales, Regional, Architecture, AUSTRALIA, PRINTS & PHOTOGRAPHS, ARCHITECTURAL & DESIGN, TOPOGRAPHICAL VIEWS

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Details

Full Title:

St. Matthew’s Church Windsor N.S.W.

Date:

C1924

Artist:

William Hardy Wilson (1881 - 1951)

Condition:

In good condition.

Technique:

Colour collotype

Image Size:

328mm

x 250mm

Paper Size:

340mm

x 260mm

Guaranteed Vintage Item
dated:

1924

Description:

Scarce, early c.20th colour collotype of the doorway at St. Matthew’s Church, Windsor by Hardy Wilson (1881-1951), “regarded as one of the most outstanding Australian architects of the twentieth century“.

Construction of St Matthew’s began in 1817 after Macquarie selected a prominent site overlooking the town. The church was designed by Francis Greenway, who was responsible for many important colonial buildings in New South Wales. Early construction work was criticised because of poor workmanship and low-quality materials, and Macquarie ordered much of the original structure demolished and rebuilt. This decision delayed progress but ensured that the final church would meet Greenway’s higher architectural standards. The church was completed and consecrated in 1822 by the Reverend Samuel Marsden. Built from sandstock bricks and sandstone, St Matthew’s is regarded as the oldest Anglican church building in Australia by foundation date. Its Georgian style, square tower and elegant proportions distinguished it from the simpler utilitarian buildings of the early colony. Later additions included a porch in 1857 and a gallery housing one of Australia’s earliest pipe organs

Dated at lower left in the image, ‘1919‘ but published 1924.

Hardy Wilson commenced his systematic survey of the early colonial architecture built between 1790 to 1840 in New South Wales and Tasmania in 1912, completing the project a decade later in 1922. At the time, no comparable architectural survey had been undertaken in Australia. The resulting body of work became an important documentary record of colonial buildings, many of which were subsequently demolished. Wilson’s drawings and written observations therefore preserve detailed evidence of architectural forms, construction methods, and domestic buildings that would otherwise have been lost. It was the first major psurvey dedicated to the documentation and conservation of Australian buildings.

From: Hardy Wilson, Old Colonial Architecture in New South Wales and Tasmania. Sydney, 1924.

Collections:

National Library Australia: Bib ID: 1730050
State Library Victoria: SLTEF 720.994 W69
State Library South Australia: Special Collection: 724 W754 d
State Library Queensland: Record number 99501954702061
Getty Museum Los Angeles: ID/Accession Number 85-B9906
National Gallery Australia: Legacy id 157373
British Library London: System Number: 003947477
Library of Congress Washington D.C.: Call Number: NA1602.N4 W5
Harvard Library: Call Number: FA 2012.3
Yale University Library & Art Gallery: Call Number: Folio 34

William Hardy Wilson (1881 - 1951)

He is regarded as one of Australia's greatest architects. Born at Campbelltown, in 1881, the great grandson of early New South Wales colonist Caleb Wilson. He attended Newington College, where he captained the First XV Rugby team and was awarded the School Drawing Prize. He went on to study at the Sydney Technical College. After early work with architects Kent and Budden, Wilson embarked on a long period abroad in 1905 during which he developed his artistic technique. He travelled extensively in Italy and the United States, and when he returned in Sydney in 1910, he was primed to embark on his architectural career proper. Wilson completed a string of houses in Sydney over the coming years, including Merion, for artist Lionel Lindsay, in Wahroonga (1911); Eryldene, also on the upper North Shore in Gordon for the linguist, literary scholar and camelia enthusiast E.B. Waterhouse (1913); and his own house, Purulia, Wahroonga (1916). In 1912, Wilson began a decade-long project to record the early colonial architecture of Australia, which would eventually culminate in the publication of Old Colonial Architecture in New South Wales and Tasmania published in 1924.

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