Design and Art Australia Online

Gerrard Gayfield Shaw was born in the Adelaide suburb of Parkside on 27 August 1885. He came from a long established art family involved with painting and printmaking. His grandfather was James Shaw (1815-1881), an artist who made a noteworthy reputation in Australia after moving to Adelaide from his native Scotland. Before emigrating, James Shaw’s family lived at 28 Gayfield Square in Edinburgh, an address that helps explain the choice of 'Gayfield’ as the artist’s second and preferred forename. Perhaps reflecting the long established status of printmaking as a profession in his family, Gayfield Shaw was encouraged to study art by his father and attended the South Australian School of Design.

After moving to Sydney in 1908 Shaw studied art at the J.S. Watkins School of Art. The first sign of his involvement with the arts dates from 1910 when he designed decorative floral borders for a small publication called Life’s Wallaby by Sydney Partrige. By 1914 Shaw was working at J.R. Tyrrell’s Bookshop in Sydney, where he also had a financial stake in the company. Shaw’s relationship with James Tyrrell is unclear, but by 1916 Shaw had opened his own Sydney gallery on the ground floor of 48 Elizabeth Street and by 1917 was presenting regular solo shows. During 1918 Shaw relocated his gallery to the 4th floor of Penzance Chambers at 29 Elizabeth Street, where he remained until early 1922. During this time he presented exhibitions by many leading Australian artists, including, among others: Sydney Ure Smith, Charles Wheeler, W.B. McInnes, Percy Leason, Dora Wilson, James R. Jackson, Norman Lindsay, Blamire Young, M.J. MacNally, Harold Herbert and H. Van Raalte. Shaw’s best remembered exhibition during this time was his 1919 exhibition of the early abstract works of Roland Wakelin and Roy de Maistre. Although open to debate, this show was, argubly, Australia’s first organised avant-garde art exhibition.

Shaw seems to have developed a reputation for being parsimonious and this led to grumblings from some of his exhibiting artists. Norman Lindsay complained about Shaw’s business practises in a May 1923 letter to his older brother Lionel:

'[Gayfield Shaw] is a fool, on his own account, for I send a lot of work elsewhere that would go to him, but for the fact that he never lets us know when a work is sold, and delays payment till one is forced to drag it out of him by threats which makes it impossible to allow him to carry too much money, for if he cracked up suddenly, as he well might, the loss is inevitable. I recall [Hugh] McCrae’s description of him as perfect, by the way. “A kind but crafty young man, who held my hand tight, as if it had sovereigns in it”’.

Despite this negative description, Norman Lindsay described Shaw (in the same letter) as “the most capable dealer here”.

Early in the twentieth century there was a western revival in etching and by the end of the Great War artistic etching had also become popular in Australia. Shaw seems to have been instrumental in establishing, in August 1920, the Australian Painter-Etchers’ Society. The importance of his role as the group’s founder can be seen in his appointment as the Honorary Secretary and Treasurer, while Lionel Lindsay was appointed President. At the first Society exhibition, at the Education Department’s gallery in Sydney in 1921, Shaw exhibited 12 of his own etchings, which were mainly landscapes and architectural studies. At the second Sydney annual show Shaw exhibited four works and was listed on the catalogue as Exhibition Manager. The third annual exhibition saw a dispute develop between Shaw and Lionel Lindsay over whether it was ethical for Shaw to sell his works while he was working as the exhibition manager. This dispute led to Lindsay resigning from the Society. Not long after, Shaw himself stepped down as Honorary Secretary and Treasurer.

By the mid 1920s the growing popularity of Australian art saw several new commercial galleries open their doors in Sydney. Perhaps in response to increased competition, Shaw promoted a novel plan to sell Australian art works to country towns. By late 1923 Shaw was advertising a planned tour of 12 NSW country towns. While it is unknown whether the country tour was a financial success it certainly led to Shaw’s decision to close down his Sydney gallery and become a farmer. The Gayfield Shaw gallery had closed its doors by late 1924 and much of his stock was sold at a high profile sale at James R. Lawson’s auction rooms in March 1925. The Sydney auction included a large amount of work by the leading Australian artists of the period as well as some foreign works, including three Rembrandt etchings. Cashed up, Shaw became a grazier on a New England sheep property named “Tangalola” near Inverell. Despite his high hopes of making a success on the land, the inexperienced farmer was unfortunate to suffer from the harsh effects of the Depression and a lingering drought. Despondent, Shaw sold up and returned to Sydney with his family in 1931.

Shaw settled in the attractive harbour side suburb of Rose Bay. He quickly resumed his art career and concentrated his creative efforts on the production of book plates, which at the time were at the peek of their popularity in Australia. While many respected bookplate artists (such as Lionel Lindsay and Adrian Feint) were attracted to woodblock printing in the 1930s, Shaw specialised in fine detail etched images. One Shaw bookplate won the 1932 International Award for Best Etched Bookplate of the Year in Los Angeles and in 1939 the American Society of Bookplate Artists devoted a major part of their Annual Yearbook to Shaw’s work.

While he had been instrumental in the founding of the Australian Painter-Etchers Society in the early 1920s, Shaw became involved with the newly established NSW Bookplate Club in the early 1930s. In 1932 Shaw was one of three artists chosen to feature in the Club’s first limited edition publication. The Club also held an international exhibition of bookplates in 1933, at the David Jones Gallery, Sydney, and Shaw won two prizes for historical themed images. Shaw produced many fine bookplates for people, such as: Frances Zabel, C.H. Bertie, W.W. Ingram, Francis Clune, James R. Tyrrell and Dame Mary Gilmore. His reputation as a highly skilled etcher was mentioned by P. Neville Barnett in his 1950 book-plate survey:

'Shaw is an artist who has produced a large number of remarkable fine etched and engraved plates, which have enriched the Australian series enormously. He sprang into full world-stature so quickly once he began and so noble is his series that regret can be felt that he did not start with book-plates earlier in life.’

While Shaw had sold his pioneer gallery business in the mid 1920s, there is evidence that he briefly relaunched his gallery after returning to Sydney. In November 1933 the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the Society of Women Painters was holding an exhibition at the Gayfield Shaw Gallery at 104 Hunter Street, Sydney. This was the only mention of this art enterprise, so possibly, the revived Shaw gallery was only operating for a short period of time.

In the mid 1930s Shaw’s reputation as an expert printmaker was noticed by the Melbourne Mint’s note issue department, who recruited him to supervise the engraving of banknotes. For this skilled work he relocated to Melbourne for several years while his wife and family continued to live in Rose Bay. By 1944 Shaw was back in Sydney and took up a position with the Commonwealth Bank. Despite his bank duties, Shaw continued to produce bookplates throughout the 1930s, 40s and early 50s. One of his last bookplates was for Sir Winston Churchill (1955). He retired from etching in 1956, aged 71. The artist died in Sydney in 1961. Significant examples of his work can be found in public collections including: the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Australia and the State Library of New South Wales.

Two decades after his death, Sydney auction house James R. Lawson Pty Ltd held a sale, in March 1981, of a large family owned collection of art created by, or once owned by, Gayfield Shaw. The highlight of this auction was the sale of the etching press (lot 255) used by Shaw and many of his Scottish forebears. As well as being the creator of many images, Shaw was also the subject for several artists. These include two celebrated photographs by Harold Cazneaux, an oil likeness by W.B. McInnes (1918) and a woodblock bookplate portrait by George Aria.

Writers:

Clifford-Smith, SilasNote:

Date written:

2008

Last updated:

2011

Status:

peer-reviewed