
About the Julian Ashton Art School
In 1890 when Julian Ashton opened the, now famous, Sydney Art School in Beaumont Chambers, King St, it was at a time when young painters like Arthur Streeton and Tom Roberts were criticised for depicting the harsh sun-lit Australian landscape. Julian Ashton became the leader in the battle for the recognition of a new, truly Australian art based on the unique qualities of the light of this great south land.
In 1933, the school moved to the Rocks where it remains, opposite the MCA.
The list of celebrated painters who have studied at the Sydney Art School / Julian Ashton Art School is lengthy. George Lambert, Thea Proctor, William Dobell, John Passmore, Max Dupain, John Olsen and Brett Whiteley are just a few of the past students who have achieved acclaim – there are many more.
Norman Lindsay said of the the School; “An educational institution of the highest cultural importance where the students are inspired to emulate the achievements of past students by the very atmosphere in which they worked.”
Read more about the Julian Ashton Art School.