William Ernest Maurice Fletcher, 1924-83 has 97 works listed in the Australian Art Sales Digest.

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William Ernest Maurice Fletcher, 1924-83, Australia.

William Ernest Maurice Fletcher (1924-1983)
1. Born, Bellbird, NSW, 27/10/1924. Deceased. Church Point, NSW, 22/01/1983
2. Educated at Cessnock High School.
3. Enlisted in Royal Australian Navy, aged 18, in 1942 and served until demobbed in 1946. Served in destroyers with active service in various engagements especially the Battle of the Coral Sea.
4. Education: Self-taught initially but on return from the war, he studied at East Sydney Technical College, initially jewellery design and engraving, then painting and drawing at National Art School, as a CRTS (Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme) student for ex-servicemen from 1947 to 1952 and the Julian Ashton School in 1952.
5. Important teachers: William Dobell.
6. Characteristics of artist's work:
Fletcher produced a limited output of work in his short lifetime. His most esteemed work was of three main genres:
(i) pen and wash sketches and oil paintings of inner city landscapes and figurative studies in various styles (1949- 65); (ii) pen and wash sketches and oil paintings of circus entertainers while travelled around Australia with Sorlie's Tent Show in 1961 (1962-66); (iii) pen and wash, gouache and oil paintings, and silk screen prints (in limited editions of 15 or 25) of beautiful Australian wildflower groupings. (1966-83). The Australian wildflower subjects constitute his most esteemed, meticulous paintings admired for their botanical accuracy, dramatic, strong composition, fine colour with often surreal arrangements of flowers against backgrounds suggestive of the ephemerality of the floral subjects, the harshness of dry landscapes or of approaching fire. He captures the hardness and dryness of leaves and stems: the dramatic groupings of flowers have been described by a Canberra writer as a masculine view of floral subjects- they are not softly prettified. These paintings were completed after intense botanical studies of Australian flora around Sydney and in Central Australia, often in the company of the Canberra artist,writer and botanist, Jane Bradhurst. From auction records these Australian wildflower studies and the early city landscape, figurative and circus studies are his most valued oevres.
Some early studies of garden flowers such as camellias, roses and chrysanthemums completed in his early experimental period (to 1965) now appear stilted or experimental. However, there are some notably exquisite exceptions such as pen and wash paintings of formal flower arrangements in classical settings.
The precise extent of Fletcher's output is unknown, as the artist kept imperfect records: he led a reclusive life due to continued heart and lung problems following his active service in World War II, and sold or gave away work to interested visitors. His public exhibitions (solo or group) were infrequent. Several paintings are in private collections overseas and cannot now be easily traced. However, it is true to say that his output over his short professional life is comparatively small, about 400 of all genres, contributing to the rarity of his work at auctions.
The William Fletcher Trust intends to release more of the artist's paintings in the near future (late 2005 and 2006).
7. Other influences at the time by association: Jeffrey Smart, Frank Hinder, Russell Drysdale, Donald Friend (with brief visits to Hill End), Sali Herman, Elaine Haxton, Loudon Sainthill (theatre designer); associations with a group of Parramatta artists led by Collinridge Rivett, who moved to the cottages at Barrenjoey Lighthouse in the early '50s. Contemporary Art Society of NSW in early '50s. Later when studying flower painting and still life, Margaret Olley whose Newcastle house he visited on several occasions in the mid '70s, Margaret Preston, Paul Jones, Louisa Meredith, Ellis Rowan, Jane Bradhurst (botanist), Betty Maloney.
8. Association with particular art movements: He generally avoided aligning himself with particular schools, preferring to be eclectic, Due to his cardiac asthma (developed in the '50s), he moved from the inner city to Barrenjoey, then Newport then finally to Church Point. He tended to adopt a reclusive lifestyle with occasional solitary visits to city galleries. He lacked the promotional skills of a gallery director initially preferring to sell work privately to the many visitors (local, interstate and overseas) who had heard of his work. In the late '40s and early '50s he was associated with the Contemporary Art Society of NSW and with a group of figurative and landscape artists at Parramatta and around Palm Beach, Sydney. These influences were transient. He experimented for a while in the early '60s with furniture design and restoration.
9. Relevant information about his life: Due to his health problems he became reclusive making several sketching sorties to the bush around Sydney and to the Flinders Ranges and Central Australia on wildflower sketching trips. These field sketches of individual flowers he used to design beautifully imagined wildflower groupings in evocative settings. None of his paintings of wildflowers was executed in the field, or was a painting of an arranged still-life setting. Late in his short life, when he was 53, he toured galleries in England and Europe, including an archaeological tour of Greece. In all of these he sketched extensively, but only realised some of these sketches as finished paintings on his return before his death five years later eg, his symbolic use of stylized Greek statuary in some of his wildflower studies (illustrated in T. Andersen’s monograph on the artist).
10. Major Collections in which the artist is represented: ANG Print collection and paintings in the National Collection, Artbank and the Commonwealth Parliament House; the S.H.Irvin Collection (National Trust); various regional galleries such as those at Rockhampton and Newcastle, and the print collection at the Royal Botanic Gardens.
11.Critical review of exhibitions:
Major reviews of Fletcher’s work and of Trevor Andersen’s book on the artist have appeared in the Weekend Australian (Sandra McGrath, 19-20 November, 1983); The Sydney Morning Herald (Humphrey McQueen, 14 April, 1984); The Canberra Times (Nancy Parker, 17 March, 1984); and in the periodical, Art and Australia, (Elwyn Lynn, Winter edition, June 1984). Earlier reviews appeared in The Canberra Times, April 1974 and April 1978 for Fletcher's contribution to two multi-media exhibitions, “The Australian Bush -74” and “Rainforest -78”.
12. Major past exhibitions (a) Group (Cityscapes, figurative, circus, formal flowers subjects) Exhibited in each of the annual exhibitions of the Contemporary Art Society of NSW in the Education Department Gallery, Sydney (1949-54), and Blaxland Galleries (1951).
Parramatta Art Society Exhibition, Waratah Gallery Restaurant, (1950 and 1952) Parramatta Jubilee Year Historical and Art exhibition, Parramatta City Hall, (1951). Over period 1958 - 81, Fletcher contributed to various charity exhibitions in association with arts and craft groups and schools on the northern beaches of Sydney (Mona Vale, Newport and Avalon and St Ives) and a tent exhibition in Mackay, Queensland while on tour with Sorlie's Tent Show.
“The Australian Bush-74 “ (1974)-Canberra Theatre Centre Gallery and “Rainforest-78” (1978)–Albert Hall, Canberra, both multi -media exhibitions (painters, Fletcher, Finey, Bradhurst, sculpture, Helena Andersen, poetry Campbell, music, John Sullivan).
1976-81- on display at Barry Stern Galleries, Paddington.
Fletcher’s Australian wildflower paintings/prints on display with works by others at the National Trust, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney (1979) and Masada College Exhibition, Sydney; (1979); Russell Davis and Editions Galleries, Melbourne, (displays of paintings and silk-screen prints); 1982, Lister Gallery, Perth (silk screen prints)

(b) Solo Exhibitions (Australian wildflower paintings)
1968- Theatre Centre Gallery, Canberra
Artarmon Galleries, Sydney
Macquarie Galleries, Canberra
1974- Max Adams Galleries, Adelaide
1980- Solander Gallery, Canberra (silk-screen prints only)
(c) Posthumous exhibitions
1983 - Artarmon Galleries, Sydney Solo Retrospective Exhibition (all genres)
1985 - Rex Irwin Galleries, Woollahra, Sydney (Solo Exhibition, wildflower paintings and prints)
1987- contributed to a National Trust watercolour exhibition in SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney (wildflower paintings)
1987- featured artist at Annual Shore School Exhibition
1988- variously to present: wildflower paintings in collections on display at several galleries in Sydney, such as Artarmon Galleries (Artarmon), Holdsworth Galleries (Woollahra, till gallery’s closure), Barry Stern Galleries (Paddington).
Website: www.williamfletchertrust.org.au describes the work of the Trust which manages the artist's remaining estate and its activities providing grants to young artists. The site also has information about the artist and many fine colour illustrations of his work. Apart from auction houses, purchase of the artist's work is possible directly from:
The William Fletcher Trust (email: info@williamfletchertrust.org.au ), or, by contacting the Artarmon Galleries.

Top Five Sale Prices

William Ernest Maurice Fletcher, Gompholobium and Banksia, c. 1969, oil on board, 54 x 43 cm, Price $****, Sotheby's, Sydney, 14/08/90

William Fletcher, Jugglers, 1963, oil on artist's board, signed lower centre, 58.5 x 47 cm, Price $****, Sotheby's, Melbourne, 19/08/91

William Ernest Fletcher, Banksia Serrata, oil on board, signed and dated lower right 68, 77.5 x 54.5 cm, Price $****, Lawsons, Sydney, 16/04/96

William Fletcher, Christmas Bells and Hibbertia, oil on board, signed and dated right quadrant Fletcher '68, 43 x 33 cm, Price $****, Christies, Sydney, 03/10/89

William Ernest Maurice Fletcher, Spider Flower, Epacris, Lambertia and Flannel Flowers, oil on board, signed and dated 'Fletcher 72' lower left; titled 'Spider Flower, Epacris, Lambertia and Flannel Flowers' on gallery label on the reverse, 43 x 35 cm, Price $****, Christies, Melbourne, 10/04/06

William Ernest Maurice Fletcher, Banksia Integrifolia, oil on board, signed 'Fletcher' lower right; titled 'Banksia integrifolia' on gallery label on the reverse, 65 x 47 cm, Price $****, Christies, Melbourne, 10/04/06

The table below shows the number of works of art by William Ernest Maurice Fletcher offered and sold by auction in Australia and New Zealand over the last thirty years and listed in our database. Full details of each work, including title, medium, size, signature and sold price are available to subscribers.

Medium Offered Sold

Paintings 63 33

Works on Paper 30 15

Prints & Graphics 4 3

The Australian Art Sales Digest is a database of over 300,000 works by more than 11,400 artists who have either lived or worked in Australia or New Zealand, offered for sale by auction in Australia and New Zealand since the early 1970s. The database is regularly updated with current year auction results, as they become available.
The information is used Access to the database is available on either a monthly subscription for $Au25.00 or annual subscription for $Au145.00. During the subscription period you have unlimited access to the site. If you would like to subscribe, please click here for our Secure Subscription Form
Please note we do not buy, sell, appraise or value works of art, but offer an information resource used by auction houses, collectors, commercial galleries, valuers, researchers and consultants.

The Australian Art Sales Digest is published by John Furphy Pty. Ltd., Melbourne, Australia.

William Ernest Maurice Fletcher, 1924-83, Australia.
William Ernest Maurice Fletcher (1924-1983) 1. Born, Bellbird, NSW, 27/10/1924. Deceased. Church Point, NSW, 22/01/1983 2. Educated at Cessnock High School. 3. Enlisted in Royal Australian Navy, aged 18, in 1942 and served until demobbed in 1946. Served in destroyers with active service in various engagements especially the Battle of the Coral Sea. 4. Education: Self-taught initially but on return from the war, he studied at East Sydney Technical College, initially jewellery design and engraving, then painting and drawing at National Art School, as a CRTS (Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme) student for ex-servicemen from 1947 to 1952 and the Julian Ashton School in 1952. 5. Important teachers: William Dobell. 6. Characteristics of artist's work: Fletcher produced a limited output of work in his short lifetime. His most esteemed work was of three main genres: (i) pen and wash sketches and oil paintings of inner city landscapes and figurative studies in various styles (1949- 65); (ii) pen and wash sketches and oil paintings of circus entertainers while travelled around Australia with Sorlie's Tent Show in 1961 (1962-66); (iii) pen and wash, gouache and oil paintings, and silk screen prints (in limited editions of 15 or 25) of beautiful Australian wildflower groupings. (1966-83). The Australian wildflower subjects constitute his most esteemed, meticulous paintings admired for their botanical accuracy, dramatic, strong composition, fine colour with often surreal arrangements of flowers against backgrounds suggestive of the ephemerality of the floral subjects, the harshness of dry landscapes or of approaching fire. He captures the hardness and dryness of leaves and stems: the dramatic groupings of flowers have been described by a Canberra writer as a masculine view of floral subjects- they are not softly prettified. These paintings were completed after intense botanical studies of Australian flora around Sydney and in Central Australia, often in the company of the Canberra artist,writer and botanist, Jane Bradhurst. From auction records these Australian wildflower studies and the early city landscape, figurative and circus studies are his most valued oevres. Some early studies of garden flowers such as camellias, roses and chrysanthemums completed in his early experimental period (to 1965) now appear stilted or experimental. However, there are some notably exquisite exceptions such as pen and wash paintings of formal flower arrangements in classical settings. The precise extent of Fletcher's output is unknown, as the artist kept imperfect records: he led a reclusive life due to continued heart and lung problems following his active service in World War II, and sold or gave away work to interested visitors. His public exhibitions (solo or group) were infrequent. Several paintings are in private collections overseas and cannot now be easily traced. However, it is true to say that his output over his short professional life is comparatively small, about 400 of all genres, contributing to the rarity of his work at auctions. The William Fletcher Trust intends to release more of the artist's paintings in the near future (late 2005 and 2006). 7. Other influences at the time by association: Jeffrey Smart, Frank Hinder, Russell Drysdale, Donald Friend (with brief visits to Hill End), Sali Herman, Elaine Haxton, Loudon Sainthill (theatre designer); associations with a group of Parramatta artists led by Collinridge Rivett, who moved to the cottages at Barrenjoey Lighthouse in the early '50s. Contemporary Art Society of NSW in early '50s. Later when studying flower painting and still life, Margaret Olley whose Newcastle house he visited on several occasions in the mid '70s, Margaret Preston, Paul Jones, Louisa Meredith, Ellis Rowan, Jane Bradhurst (botanist), Betty Maloney. 8. Association with particular art movements: He generally avoided aligning himself with particular schools, preferring to be eclectic, Due to his cardiac asthma (developed in the '50s), he moved from the inner city to Barrenjoey, then Newport then finally to Church Point. He tended to adopt a reclusive lifestyle with occasional solitary visits to city galleries. He lacked the promotional skills of a gallery director initially preferring to sell work privately to the many visitors (local, interstate and overseas) who had heard of his work. In the late '40s and early '50s he was associated with the Contemporary Art Society of NSW and with a group of figurative and landscape artists at Parramatta and around Palm Beach, Sydney. These influences were transient. He experimented for a while in the early '60s with furniture design and restoration. 9. Relevant information about his life: Due to his health problems he became reclusive making several sketching sorties to the bush around Sydney and to the Flinders Ranges and Central Australia on wildflower sketching trips. These field sketches of individual flowers he used to design beautifully imagined wildflower groupings in evocative settings. None of his paintings of wildflowers was executed in the field, or was a painting of an arranged still-life setting. Late in his short life, when he was 53, he toured galleries in England and Europe, including an archaeological tour of Greece. In all of these he sketched extensively, but only realised some of these sketches as finished paintings on his return before his death five years later eg, his symbolic use of stylized Greek statuary in some of his wildflower studies (illustrated in T. Andersen’s monograph on the artist). 10. Major Collections in which the artist is represented: ANG Print collection and paintings in the National Collection, Artbank and the Commonwealth Parliament House; the S.H.Irvin Collection (National Trust); various regional galleries such as those at Rockhampton and Newcastle, and the print collection at the Royal Botanic Gardens. 11.Critical review of exhibitions: Major reviews of Fletcher’s work and of Trevor Andersen’s book on the artist have appeared in the Weekend Australian (Sandra McGrath, 19-20 November, 1983); The Sydney Morning Herald (Humphrey McQueen, 14 April, 1984); The Canberra Times (Nancy Parker, 17 March, 1984); and in the periodical, Art and Australia, (Elwyn Lynn, Winter edition, June 1984). Earlier reviews appeared in The Canberra Times, April 1974 and April 1978 for Fletcher's contribution to two multi-media exhibitions, “The Australian Bush -74” and “Rainforest -78”. 12. Major past exhibitions (a) Group (Cityscapes, figurative, circus, formal flowers subjects) Exhibited in each of the annual exhibitions of the Contemporary Art Society of NSW in the Education Department Gallery, Sydney (1949-54), and Blaxland Galleries (1951). Parramatta Art Society Exhibition, Waratah Gallery Restaurant, (1950 and 1952) Parramatta Jubilee Year Historical and Art exhibition, Parramatta City Hall, (1951). Over period 1958 - 81, Fletcher contributed to various charity exhibitions in association with arts and craft groups and schools on the northern beaches of Sydney (Mona Vale, Newport and Avalon and St Ives) and a tent exhibition in Mackay, Queensland while on tour with Sorlie's Tent Show. “The Australian Bush-74 “ (1974)-Canberra Theatre Centre Gallery and “Rainforest-78” (1978)–Albert Hall, Canberra, both multi -media exhibitions (painters, Fletcher, Finey, Bradhurst, sculpture, Helena Andersen, poetry Campbell, music, John Sullivan). 1976-81- on display at Barry Stern Galleries, Paddington. Fletcher’s Australian wildflower paintings/prints on display with works by others at the National Trust, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney (1979) and Masada College Exhibition, Sydney; (1979); Russell Davis and Editions Galleries, Melbourne, (displays of paintings and silk-screen prints); 1982, Lister Gallery, Perth (silk screen prints) (b) Solo Exhibitions (Australian wildflower paintings) 1968- Theatre Centre Gallery, Canberra Artarmon Galleries, Sydney Macquarie Galleries, Canberra 1974- Max Adams Galleries, Adelaide 1980- Solander Gallery, Canberra (silk-screen prints only) (c) Posthumous exhibitions 1983 - Artarmon Galleries, Sydney Solo Retrospective Exhibition (all genres) 1985 - Rex Irwin Galleries, Woollahra, Sydney (Solo Exhibition, wildflower paintings and prints) 1987- contributed to a National Trust watercolour exhibition in SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney (wildflower paintings) 1987- featured artist at Annual Shore School Exhibition 1988- variously to present: wildflower paintings in collections on display at several galleries in Sydney, such as Artarmon Galleries (Artarmon), Holdsworth Galleries (Woollahra, till gallery’s closure), Barry Stern Galleries (Paddington). Website: www.williamfletchertrust.org.au describes the work of the Trust which manages the artist's remaining estate and its activities providing grants to young artists. The site also has information about the artist and many fine colour illustrations of his work. Apart from auction houses, purchase of the artist's work is possible directly from: The William Fletcher Trust (email: info@williamfletchertrust.org.au ), or, by contacting the Artarmon Galleries.
Top Five Sale Prices
William Ernest Maurice Fletcher, Gompholobium and Banksia, c. 1969, oil on board, 54 x 43 cm, Price $****, Sotheby's, Sydney, 14/08/90
William Fletcher, Jugglers, 1963, oil on artist's board, signed lower centre, 58.5 x 47 cm, Price $****, Sotheby's, Melbourne, 19/08/91
William Ernest Fletcher, Banksia Serrata, oil on board, signed and dated lower right 68, 77.5 x 54.5 cm, Price $****, Lawsons, Sydney, 16/04/96
William Fletcher, Christmas Bells and Hibbertia, oil on board, signed and dated right quadrant Fletcher '68, 43 x 33 cm, Price $****, Christies, Sydney, 03/10/89
William Ernest Maurice Fletcher, Spider Flower, Epacris, Lambertia and Flannel Flowers, oil on board, signed and dated 'Fletcher 72' lower left; titled 'Spider Flower, Epacris, Lambertia and Flannel Flowers' on gallery label on the reverse, 43 x 35 cm, Price $****, Christies, Melbourne, 10/04/06
William Ernest Maurice Fletcher, Banksia Integrifolia, oil on board, signed 'Fletcher' lower right; titled 'Banksia integrifolia' on gallery label on the reverse, 65 x 47 cm, Price $****, Christies, Melbourne, 10/04/06
The table below shows the number of works of art by William Ernest Maurice Fletcher offered and sold by auction in Australia and New Zealand over the last thirty years and listed in our database. Full details of each work, including title, medium, size, signature and sold price are available to subscribers.
Medium	Offered	Sold
Paintings	63	33
Works on Paper	30	15
Prints & Graphics	4	3
The Australian Art Sales Digest is a database of over 300,000 works by more than 11,400 artists who have either lived or worked in Australia or New Zealand, offered for sale by auction in Australia and New Zealand since the early 1970s. The database is regularly updated with current year auction results, as they become available. The information is used Access to the database is available on either a monthly subscription for $Au25.00 or annual subscription for $Au145.00. During the subscription period you have unlimited access to the site. If you would like to subscribe, please click here for our Secure Subscription Form Please note we do not buy, sell, appraise or value works of art, but offer an information resource used by auction houses, collectors, commercial galleries, valuers, researchers and consultants.