Moments of Pride
- About John Downton
Born in Sydney in 1939, John Downton (OAM) is one of Australia's finest international landscape and navy artists. He was awarded the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to visual arts as a landscape and maritime artist and for services to the community in 2017.
He initially trained and worked in watchmaking but realised his dream later to become a professional artist. He attended classes at the Royal Art Society of NSW and private lessons with George Duncan.
He is passionate about the sea, and he travelled to East Timor in 2000 as an official Navy artist and documented naval and peacekeeping activities in paintings. He continues to paint historical and present-day naval activities, and a gallery has been named after him at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at HMAS Albatross.
John Downton has held exhibitions in Sydney, Eden, Canberra, and internationally. Companies and public institutions have used John's work on calendars and cards. If you want to know more about John’s life he has published a 338 page autobiography, The Dirty Big Red Book: Downton, An Artist on the Move, which includes colour photographs of many of John's works.
- About HMAS Melbourne (ll)
HMAS Melbourne was originally one of six Majestic Class light fleet aircraft carriers ordered for the Royal Navy during World War II. Laid down for the Royal Navy as HMS Majestic on 15 April 1943 and launched in 1945, the ship was nearing completion when construction was virtually brought to a halt with the cessation of wartime hostilities.
On 3 June 1947 the Commonwealth Government approved the acquisition of two aircraft carriers for the RAN. It was decided that two of the Majestic Class, HM Ships Terrible and Majestic, would be taken over by the RAN and named Sydney and Melbourne respectively.
Post-war technological developments were included in the final updating of Majestic and on 28 October 1955, the ship was officially named and commissioned into the RAN as HMAS Melbourne.
More reading
- Additional resources for John Downton
- Additional resources for HMAS Melbourne (ll)
