Edward Officer

Edward Cairns Officer (19 September 1871 – 7 July 1921) was an Australian artist and the inaugural president of the Australian Art Association.^[1]

Edward Cairns Officer
Edward Cairns Officer, c. 1921
Born	19 Sept 1871 Murray Downs, NSW, Australia
Died	7 July 1921 Macedon, Victoria
Occupation	Artist

Early life and education

Officer was born in 1871 at Murray Downs, New South Wales, near Swan Hill, Victoria.^[1][2] He was the third son of Suetonius Henry Officer and his wife Mary Lillias Rigg, a daughter of the Rev. Adam Cairns. His grandfather, Sir Robert Officer,^[3] was speaker of the Tasmanian house of assembly for many years. Officer was educated at Toorak College^[3] and studied art under Frederick McCubbin at the National Gallery of Victoria.^[2][4] From there, he went to Paris^[3] in 1895^[2] and studied at Julien's.

Career

Officer exhibited at leading exhibitions in Paris and London, including the Paris Salons,^[3] and, in 1903, was the winner of the Wynne prize awarded by the national gallery, Sydney.^[5] In 1912, his painting, "The Woolshed", was purchased under the Alfred Felton bequest for the national gallery, Melbourne. Unable to enlist to serve in World War I,^[2] Officer organised the sale of 95 of his paintings^[6] netting £800 for the Red Cross Fund.^[7]

The Old Mill, Normandy by Edward Cairns Officer

At a meeting on 30 August 1912 which founded the Australian Art Association at Melbourne, he was elected its president and held the position for the rest of his life.^[1] He was appointed a trustee of the public library, museums and national gallery of Victoria in 1916.

Death

He died at Macedon, Victoria, on 7 July 1921.^[3] He was survived by his wife Grace, the daughter of Sir Thomas Fitzgerald,^[3] whom he had married in 1908.^[2]