A Glover Experience in Tasmania.
I had a whirlwind encounter with John Glover’s paintings and followers, on a recent visit to Tasmania from Melbourne. I was focused on the Glover Prize. My trip was a way of seeing Tasmania through the colonial artist’s eyes, while still embracing Tasmania’s other offerings – its dining culture and food, its well-preserved colonial past, its convict history and its uprooting and destruction of its original Palawa inhabitants. For me, it was also an opportunity to embrace the “quiet state” that this quiet State always brings me
Hobart in the South, and the trinity of Evandale, Deddington and Patterdale in the North, are the best focal points for Glover in Tasmania. In Hobart, you can see original Glover paintings at Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery or at the the Henry Jones Art Hotel if you fancy fine dining and luxury accommodation.
Evandale celebrates Glover differently, featuring the Glover Prize, the Glover sculpture and historic contextual murals at the heritage-listed Clarendon Arms Hotel
It’s not hard for you too to become a devotee of John Glover.
John Glover, Landscape Painter
John Glover already had a notable artistic reputation in Great Britain before he migrated to Tasmania at the age of 64 in 1831.
While he initially painted for a British sensibilities and created an English garden at his home, Patterdale, Tasmania, this colonial painter respected his new environment and recognised that “there is a peculiarity about Australian trees”. He sometimes ventured into an idealised Aboriginal past or an imagined future but was considered the first person to create colonial paintings of the Tasmanian landscape.
Evandale lures more Glover followers
If you thought that landscape painting had become unfashionable, you only need to look to the active community of Evandale in Northern Tasmania, to see what they’re doing to bring landscape painting into the modern era. Early in the 21st century, they formed the John Glover Society setting out to highlight and build on his legacy. This includes the commissioning of a quirky sculpture by Peter Corlett, unveiled in 2003 outside Falls Park in Evandale.
Then in 2004, the Society launched the Glover Prize, an acquisitive art award, for the best contemporary painting of the Tasmanian landscape, awarded on Tasmania’s Labour Day weekend in March. The John Glover Society has broadened the scope of “landscape” to allow interpretation by artists, from anywhere in the world, submitting work consideration.
The reputation of the award has spread widely. In 2024 it attracted 740 entries from all over the world and a queue of art lovers and buyers, which formed at least three hours before the opening night launch. The opening event had a festive atmosphere with the sophistication of Tasmanian wine from Josef Chromy and homey canapes and service from the local Rotary Club.
Finalists mingled with judges, the public, gallery owners, art dealers and above all, their potential buyers. Apart from the winning entry, all the works of the other 41 finalists were available for purchase.
Prices ranged from $800 to $35,000 with the winner taking home the $75,000 prize.
2024’s winning painting, which will spend at least its next few years at the Landscape Restaurant and Grill at the Henry Jones Art Hotel in Hobart, is “Lake Bed” by Nicholas Blowers of Tasmania. Painting a bleaker picture of landscape in the 21st century than John Glover’s 19th century works, it will nevertheless be in the revered company of Glover’s own paintings at this premium restaurant.
There was a buzz not just around the prize and the exhibition, but around the town itself, which was awash with visitors. I missed Sunday’s Evandale Market. I have no doubt that it would have been one of their best trading days of the year.
Where have other fans come from?
Iconic Australian impressionist painter Tom Roberts, was a twentieth century fan of Glover. He coined the term “Glover Country” to describe the Tasmanian country which Glover focused on, giving one of his own paintings the name “Glover’s Country”, in 1929. Around that time, he also led the fundraising effort for restoration of John Glover’s grave at the Nile Chapel in Deddington.
More recently, this century, a modern-day Glover aficionado, Carol Westmore, has picked up on the name Glover Country as the point of focus for her ambitious enterprise at Patterdale Farm, slightly south-west of Evandale. Working with arts, heritage, environmental bodies and consultants, she has lovingly restored his farmhouse, studio and garden. The English garden restoration had to leave a few specimens out – plants which are now considered noxious for the local environment. But the garden still complements the home beautifully, letting you see it much as Glover did.
A welcome option is to follow the artists trail where Glover created specific paintings. There’s an opportunity to stay in this well appointed four-bedroom home of four bedrooms, internally showcasing contemporary Tasmanian artists. You can glance, or gaze, outside to Glover Country, as Glover would have. Just contact Carol via the Glover Country website.
Going back five decades, the heritage-listed Clarendon Arms Hotel at Evandale features murals from Arne Brewster, a Norwegian artist who lived in Tasmania. It’s a mere five minute drive from Launceston Airport. The murals showcase the area’s history, necessarily including references to Glover Country in depictions of the Nile River near Deddington. I’m sure these murals are creating their own new set of John Glover followers.
Glover as a drawcard
The Glover Prize and Glover, were certainly a drawcard in Tasmania for me – and the attendees at the Exhibition and Award ceremony. And if you include a Glover experience on your next visit, you too may find yourself becoming a member of the John Glover “fan club”.
