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R. Godfrey Rivers / England/Australia 1858–1925 / (The Recital or Woman at a piano) c.1886–90 / Watercolour over pencil on cream wove paper / 23 x 13.9cm / Purchased 1983 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
R. Godfrey Rivers(The recital or woman at a piano) c.1886
Not Currently on Display
This early work in Godfrey Rivers’ Australian oeuvre was completed during the time when Rivers taught at Katoomba College in New South Wales. The composition is well resolved in the lower half of the picture and clearly demonstrates the influence of fellow artist Blamire Young’s watercolour technique who was also at Katoomba at the same time.
The free treatment of the remainder suggests the possibility of its being a preliminary sketch for a larger work. As such, the watercolour also represents Rivers’ consistent interest in experimentation.
Rivers had an eclectic approach, common among many English artists of the period, which revealed a careful study of a range of other artists’ work, ranging from Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) and the Pre-Raphaelites to the Australian plein air painters, especially Tom Roberts.
Richard Godfrey Rivers was born in 1858 in Plymouth, England. He studied at the Slade School of Fine Art and exhibited at the Royal Academy before moving to Australia in 1889. Along with many painters of the Australian landscape who studied in Europe, Rivers needed to adapt his colour palette for Australia’s intense sunlight.
Rivers was Art Master at the Brisbane Technical College from 1891 to 1915, and during this time he made the adjoining City Botanic Gardens a popular outdoor painting and sketching location. His students included Bessie Gibson, Vida Lahey and Lloyd Rees.
An active member of the Queensland Art Society, he exhibited annually between 1891 and 1916, and was president of the society several times. A tireless advocate for the establishment of a public art gallery in Queensland, he was successful in persuading Premier Hugh Nelson to establish such an institution. The Queensland National Art Gallery opened in 1895, with Rivers serving as honorary secretary to the trustees. Shortly afterwards, he was appointed honorary curator. In 1915, Rivers moved to Tasmania where he died in 1925.
Discussion Questions
1. What sort of music do you imagine the woman at the piano is playing? Who might she be playing for?
2. Artists have often attempted to capture sound in a two-dimensional art form, to celebrate both the performer and the instrument. Identify and discuss what artistic means Rivers has used to emphasise aspects of the performer and the performance in this music recital.
Classroom Activities
1. Create a painting or write a poem about someone playing your favourite musical instrument. Consider the shape of the instrument and the silhouette of the performer and make them a feature of your composition.
2. Carefully video someone playing a sport, a musical instrument, or acting and try to capture a ‘moment in time’. Edit the video to enhance movement, activity and the sense of place. Create a soundscape to accompany the video.