FRY, Douglas (1872-1911)

artist

was born at Ipswich, Suffolk, England, in 1872. He was educated at Ipswich Grammar School and studied art at Julien's, Paris, and in London. He did some illustrative work in London and in 1899 came to Australia. He stayed at Melbourne for some time, did some paintings of horses, and then went on to Sydney where he became a member of the Society of Artists. In 1908 his "Mountain King" was purchased for the national gallery of New South Wales. He did illustrative work for the Lone Hand and exhibited regularly with the Society of Artists. His reputation was steadily growing when he died from pneumonia on 9 July 1911 at the early age of 39. A quiet, rather reserved man, much liked in sporting and artistic circles, Fry did some of the best animal painting ever done in Australia. He was much interested in the differing characteristics of horses and made many studies of them before finishing each work. He was an excellent draughtsman and as a painter quite frankly endeavoured to paint the thing exactly as he saw it, with a high degree of finish.

L. Lindsay, The Lone Hand, 1 November 1911; W. Moore, The Story of Australian Art; The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 July 1911.