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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-04-02 Daily Xml
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DOWIE, MR J.

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:37): Following on from the remarks of the Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts, I also pay tribute to John Stuart Dowie, painter, sculptor and teacher, who passed away on 19 March this year, following one of a series of strokes. Born in Adelaide in 1915, he was a prolific creative talent who made an extraordinary contribution to the arts in South Australia especially, but also, as the minister said, nationally for more than six decades. In December 2004, at the time he received the University of Adelaide's Doctor of the University (honoris causa) Degree, the university put out a media release detailing his brilliant career.

He first studied art in the mid-1920s at the South Australian School of Art and later worked with Marie Tuck and Ivor Hele. He studied architecture at the University of Adelaide between 1936 and 1940, while working with Hubert Cowell & Company as a draftsman and still studying at night at the School of Art. When the war started, Dowie interrupted his work and enlisted in June 1940, serving in Palestine, New Guinea and Tobruk. He was one of the famed Rats serving in the 9th Division 2nd/43rd Battalion. After service with the Military History Section of the AIF and a time assisting the official war sculptor, Lyndon Dadswell, Dowie studied sculpture in London and Florence and, on his return to Australia, he lectured at the South Australian School of Arts and Crafts from 1954 to 1962.

In 1954, he was commissioned to carve a stone sculpture for Michelmore's War Memorial Chapel at Roseworthy. This work and his 1957 sculpture of Sir Ross and Keith Smith for Michelmore's memorial at the Adelaide Airport led to many commissions that formed the body of his public and private works. Dowie will always be remembered for his public sculptures, including more than 50 commissions which can be found (as the minister said) throughout Australia. Nationally, as he said, the statue of Queen Elizabeth II is a feature of the grounds of Parliament House in Canberra.

His works in Adelaide include: Alice in Rymill Park; Girl on a Slide in Rundle Mall; busts of Sir Douglas Mawson, Sir Robert Helpmann, Sir Mark Oliphant and, of course, my favourite, Lord Florey. Sir Thomas Playford, as we know, is in the hall outside the House of Assembly in Parliament House. Dowie was responsible for the Pan fountain amongst the roses in South Terrace and the iconic Three Rivers fountain in Victoria Square. All three universities in South Australia proudly include his works in their collection.

In 1981, he was made a member of the Order of Australia for services to Australian art, and in 2005 he was named South Australia's Senior Australian of the Year. Although known mostly as a sculptor, he was also a talented painter and it was here his connection to one of my favourite places, Carrick Hill, is well known. Sir Edward and Ursula Hayward's home was a haven for artists and art. Sir Edward was actually Dowie's transport officer during the war, when their friendship blossomed. Ursula attended many Dowie classes and arranged for him to give tuition in sculpture at Carrick Hill to her and a group of her friends. His 1945 painting St Vincent's Gulf—Noon is part of the collection. A Dowie retrospective was held in Carrick Hill and the book John Dowie—a Life in the Round was printed and should still be available through the Art Gallery of South Australia.

Samela Harris knew him and interviewed him in his Dulwich home in 2006. Her article in The Advertiser of 20 March states:

Despite several strokes, he had kept working from his Dulwich home until only last year when he was moved to a rest home. He was, however, able to return for a recent sojourn in the old house which had been the centre of his creative universe. He had lived there since 1917. From its airy studio, he produced the many sculptural works...

She went on to speak of his other great claim to fame—the Dowie character. During the interview he lamented the uglification of Adelaide by developers whose works had undermined the symmetry and proportions decreed by that 'great man who planned the city', Colonel Light. He said that what was 'old and strong and beautiful' now is 'destroyed by people building huge and absolutely ordinary things, ugly and commonplace'.

Anyone who has seen his work knows that he has done his best to represent all that is wondrous and of beauty. I pass on my condolences to John Dowie's family. It was my privilege to meet him once in Parliament House and to speak to him about his works. He was truly inspirational and, even from a person who cannot draw a cat with circles and Ms, his art was something I truly admired from my first visit to Carrick Hill.

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