The work of William Evans Dutton ‘Wed’ Stuart features in a collection currently on display in Bolton Court. Dedicated to the early beginnings of Bendigo, the room features a variety of goldfields artists and significant works from private donors and benefactors of the Bendigo Art Gallery.
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Pall Mall from Bull Street c1860 is possibly one of the only works to hang in the gallery as an unfinished painting and some research on Stuart points to a number of explanations for the curious state of this work.
Originally from Stepney, London Wed Stuart’s parents were popular artists in their own right who also ran a successful art school.
Stuart’s artistic inclination was nurtured by his parents and at the age of nineteen, his work was selected for exhibition at the prestigious Royal Academy where he exhibited over an eight-year period.
In 1859 Stuart arrived in Bendigo (then Sandhurst) hoping to pursue a career as an artist in a flourishing new colony.
Like many new emigrants, Stuart sought out gold and – after an early unsuccessful attempt as a digger – ended up in gaol for unpaid debts. Stuart reportedly continued to paint from gaol and many of his paintings bear the initials HMG ‘Her Majesty's Gaol’ - no doubt a major comedown from the hallowed galleries of the Royal Academy.
Stuart was a local character and community identity, also maintaining careers in amateur theatre and teaching. His painting afforded him a living and a modest studio at the rear of the Macords Commercial Hotel on Pall Mall.
While Stuart experienced some success in Australia, with works exhibited at the Intercolonial Exhibition in Melbourne, his affection for the drink and good times were costly and he mounted many exhibitions in Bendigo hotels in attempts to raise funds.
This unfinished painting Pall Mall from Bull Street, depicts the Macords Hotel where Stuart held many exhibitions and bears the signage to the artist’s studio.
The work displays flashes of the technical brilliance of a Royal Academy artist and is also a curious ‘expose’ into the haphazard way Stuart arranged his compositions.
Figures appear and are obliterated – the disembodied remnants of a man’s legs hover above ground, a silhouette of a horse and rider trail off into a ghostly smear of white paint. The painting reveals as much about Stuart’s chaotic lifestyle as it does about his technique.
Pall Mall at Bull Street with all its curiosities is an iconic work within the gallery’s collection and provides a valuable insight into early colonial life.
