A life between two shores
John Ford Paterson began his time in the world in Dundee, Scotland. As a teenager, he sat in the studios of the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh, working through the early stages of his training. By the age of twenty, he was already showing his first paintings to the public. In 1872, he moved with his family to Melbourne, though the local instruction did not provide the specific growth he sought. He returned to Scotland for several years, where he lived under the influence of the Glasgow School. This period of study shaped how he saw light and form.
In 1884, he came back to Australia and stayed for the remainder of his life. His time in Melbourne was marked by a connection to the landscape and the people who painted it. He found a kinship with Louis Buvelot, adopting certain methods of painting outdoors. While others in the Heidelberg group moved toward a more impressionistic style, Paterson held onto a more romantic approach. He spent his days capturing the quiet shifts in the bush, often seeking a sense of something spiritual or fleeting within the scenery.
The brush and the bush
His work focused heavily on the landscape, particularly the scenes found in the Australian wilderness. He used oil on canvas and hardboard to record the atmosphere of the land. Some of his paintings captured specific moments, such as:
- Evening in the Bush, 1896
- Bush Symphony, 1900
- After the storm, 1884
- On the Werribee river, near Bacchus Marsh, 1877
- Shipwreck off Anglesea, Victoria, 1886–1886
He looked for a certain suggestiveness in his subjects, trying to find a beauty that was hard to grasp or hold. His paintings often dealt with twilight and the way light settles over the trees. He did not always seek the same success as his contemporaries, but his sense of color and draftsmanship remained steady. During years when money was scarce, he turned to poultry farming near Ringwood to sustain himself.
A presence in the Melbourne art scene
Paterson was a man involved in the structures of the local art community. He helped form the Australian Art Association after breaking away from the Victorian Academy of Art alongside others like Conder and Roberts. His commitment to the organized art life led him to become the President of the Victorian Artists' Society in 1902. He also participated in the plein air painting camps of the Buonarotti Club.
His life ended suddenly in Carlton in 1912. Though he lived a quiet, somewhat retiring life, his work remains in several important collections, including the National Gallery of Victoria and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. His family left their own marks on the arts, with nieces who worked as illustrators and cartoonists. He left behind a body of work that reflects a specific, romantic way of seeing the Australian landscape.
