Louis McCubbin

Louis Frederick McCubbin, artist and gallery director, was born on 18 March 1890 at Hawthorn, Melbourne, and educated privately and at the National Gallery School, Melbourne, under Lindsay Bernard Hall and his father in 1906-11.

In May 1916 he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force, 14th Battalion and served in France from November 1917 as a stretcher-bearer with the 10th Field Ambulance. Appointed an official war artist under the Australian Records Section scheme to the 3rd Division, he visited scenes of battles with Wallace Anderson and Charles Web Gilbert after the war to collect data for proposed dioramas.

In 1920 McCubbin returned to Australia and joined the staff of the Australian War Museum, then located in the Exhibition Building, Melbourne, to paint backgrounds for dioramas and murals until 1930. He was awarded the Crouch prize for landscape in 1928. After a break pursuing other opportunities he undertook further work on the dioramas for the War Memorial in 1935-36.

McCubbin was director of the Art Gallery of South Australia in 1936-50, and revitalized it through his many innovations.

During World War II McCubbin was deputy director of camouflage, South Australia (1941-43), and was a member of the art committee of the Australian War Memorial.

McCubbin died, on 6 December 1952 aged 62.

His work is represented in several Australian public collections.