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he Wynne Prize for landscape was first awarded to in 1897 for his painting T The Storm.Since then the list of prizewinners reads like a Who's Who of : W. Lister Lister, Hans Heysen, Elioth Gruner, , Sall Herman, Russell Drysdale, William Debell, Lloyd Rees, John Perceval, Eva Kubbos, Fred Williams, John Olsen and are just a few.

More recent winners Include Rosemary Madigan, Ian He had married Mary-Ann Neich, and had become the first Bettinson, , William Robinson, Peter Mayor of Burwood-in contrast to the humble Schlpperheyn, George Gittoes , Suzanne Archer and David circumstances of his arrival here asa penniless 19 year-old Aspden. Judged by the Trustees of the Art Gallery of New bricklayer from Dublin in 1842. South Wales , this prestigious pr ize has perpetuated the name of Its founder and benefactor for one hundred years. Wynne had succeeded and with his new wealth he could afford to rcallse his vision of a grand estate. Impressed Less well known, however, is the magnificent property with the luxuriant vegetation of Mount Wilson-one of Richard Wynne established In the cool crisp air of Mount several volcanic caps in the region- he recognisedit had Wilson, on the Blue Mountains, west of . Begun In all the natural requirements for hts cool-climate garden 1875 as a summer retreat from the heat and humidity of landscape. Wynne was not alone in appreciating these Sydney. Wynstaywas built In che tradition of the Indian hill characteristics and other gardens would follow . Mount station. where the British Raj escaped the heat of the Delhi Wilson was to become very popular With Victorian plant summers. WynstayIs the only home In Mount Wilson to collectors and amateur botanists. have been occupied by the same family to the present day. From it-s elevated position at the end of The Avenue, It Settled later than other areas of the Blue Mountains, look s down through acres of gardens and surrounding Mount Wilson's relative isolation was overcome with the fields to the village below. construction of the railway In the 1860s. The first crossing

An Impressive survivor from the 19th century, most of its early buildings have remained virtually unchanged, although some have succumbed to the passageof time. Laid out in the English picturesque manner, these buildings complement the exotic collection of conifers and deciduous trees planted by Richard Wynne himself. Nurtured on deep rich volcanic soil and years of plentiful mountain rain. giant S quoiadendron, Caucasian Fir, Himalayan Cedar and Monterey Cypress have almost dwarfed the buildings on this unique heritage estate. This Is Richard Wynn e's ocher enduring legacy.

After Mount WIi son was surveyed by E.S.Wyndham in 1868, Richard Wynn e and his friend Eccleston Du Faur were among its first pioneers. Du Faur was a major figure in the development of the visual arts in Sydney. He had many associations with artists and was a foundation member of the Art Gallery of New South W ales. Du Faur's Influence was germane to the cultural life of Sydney and it was probably he who inspired Wynne to establish what is now the oldest art prize in .

With Du Faur's passionate dedication to art and their common interest in Mount Wilson, It seems unlikely that their conversation would not have turned to this remarkable new landscape. and to a previous time when English garden design was influenced by the classical landscape painters. Ultimately Wynne's achievement would be a combination of his own vision and English ideas, all expressed through the unique topography and climate of this part of the Blue Mountains.

At the time of Wynn e's Involvement in the founding of Mount Wilson, he was already middle.aged and prosperous . A successful importer of building materials, he had business promises In Pitt Street, near Circular Quay.

~ 17 Topi Turkish b th, 1892, Richard Wynne's most remarkable building. It function d as st am (hot, tepid .lnd cool) bath house, The boilers and heaters wer hous d in th b:uement. In 1920 It was altered to house three Scottish ston masoos who w r mployed to build the present Wynitay in 1911-23. Plans ar now underway to co11s rve, restore and adapt It to a museum of local history ,

Above: The old hous of 1880. Built as , r tr at, In the manner of an Indian hill station, It is typically hidd n amongst the shrubbery.

Right: Original cottag of I 87S, th oldest r maining building In Mount WIison ,

Opposite: Gat -Ice p r's lodg and doubl g t way, c.1891, as It appeared In c. 1920, The lodge is now hidden behind trees (photo courtesy Wynstoy) .

18 of the mountains in 1813 and the subsequent exploration integrated the house and other buildings with the garden, and expansion of the colony westward over the Blue allowing them to become picturesque elements in the Mountains is now as legendary as the literature and overall design. painting that documented Its progress. Since that time the Australian landscape has continued to be a powerful As we move into the 19th century, newer ideas began to influence and a source of Inspiration to generations of tak hold as urban areas grew up around cities. The painters and the Imagery that It has engendered has given century of collecting had begun as the emerging middle this country its cultural Identity. class becam involved In the joys of gardening. In response to this new demand for planes and information, John David Aspden's recent painting Seasonsof Drought,awarded Claudius Louden started the Gardener'sMagazine . He the Wynne Prize for 1995, will now cake its place in this produced an encyclopaedia of gardening and an 8-volume honoured tradition, It Is in part the scale of the work- set on the known trees and shrubs of Britain. The emphasis 360x I SOcms- that evokes its subject and achieves its was now more on collecting rare and exotic plants, a emotional impact. scientific disciplinesignificantly developed by Sir Joseph Banks. Many of these exotic plants needed the protection Now universallyaccepted as an Important genre. landscape of sp cial environments, and this gave rise to the glass painting Is a comparatively recent development In the house conservatory, of which there are many b autiful history of Western art. The Flemish painter Joachim examples. most notably those of Sir Joseph Paxton. The Patlnler, who died at Antwerp in I 524, is usually credited ubiquitous English garden has continued co be influentialto as the first artist to have made landscape the principal this day. subject In his pictures. But it was due co the 17th century classical landscape artists Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorraln that chis genre was brought to prominence. Claude, as he is known, lived most of his life in and around Rome. The Eternal City and the Campagna had much that attracted him. As a northerner he was Impressed with the ruins of classicala ntiquity, often including them in his landscapes. Imbued with a sense of nostalgia, they were greatly admired by visiting Englishconnoisseurs who would return home to transform vast areas of their country estates In lmltatlon of his painting. This Ironic reversal of the creative process, where nature imitates art, resulted in che birth of the English landscape garden movement and a fashion for pseudo classical ruins, temples and follies. Many earlier formal gardens became casualties of this new fashion for contrived informality. Sylvanscenes and arcadlan vistas were created by transplanting mature trees and diverting streams and rivers to form lakes. At the centre of all this earth moving was the most famous landscape gardener of all, Capability Brown. While Brown was mainly concerned with the appearance of the garden as seen from the house, othe r designers who followed would combine them as one. Humphry Repton Aspden : Seasons ~ght, I 50x360 cm, ~anel oil on ~· awarded the e Prize in 1995. ustralian ape at its driest nag e s of isolation ispair strewn over nvas.

July 1889 at the early age of' 53. She had borne five sons , But the ideas and sensibilities that informed the English garden underwent a transformation when introduced to four of whom pre-deceased her. the Australian topography and climate , due to the Richard was then 67 and her death was probably a shallower soils, warmer temperatures and infrequent contributing reason why the grand residence was never rainfall. Among the rare exceptions to this are areas such built, although a site was prepared. However , the rest of as Mount Wilson and its neighbours Mount Irvine and the plan was completed between 1890 and 1892 in a style Mount Tomah. poetically interpreted as rustic Gothic. Australian gardening publications and plant catalogues also Also from this period comes the most remarkable building began to appear in the 19th century , with all the seasonal Wynne was to erect. Distinctive in both style and function, information needed for the enthusiast , gardener and plant the Turkish bath is almost unique, there being only one collector. Wishing to acquire the rarest of plant specimens, other known to exist in Australia . Far from being rustic, Victorian collectors loved to compete and out-do one this very stylish building in polychrome brick with Italianate another. This early period of Australian gardening saw the decoration operated as a steam (hot, tepid and cool) bath introduction of many exotic species and this is evident in house, incorporating unusual double cavity walls with the the numerous trees and flowering shrubs at Wynstay. most lavish interior appointments. However, it would be a mistake to think of Wynne's The architect was Ernest Bonney of Sydney. According to garden as merely a collection or a retreat. Gardens are the Sydney MorningHerald of September 1913 'it cost places of charm and delight; they give pleasure and engage thousands to build'. our senses with endless displays of seasonal colour and fragrant smells year round. It took Wynne almost 25 years Exactly why Wynne needed to build a Turkish bath to establish his garden. The built structures were erected remains unclear. Whether it was for his own health , or just over two distinct periods, separated by about ten years. an eccentric folly, we will probably never know. Whatever During the first period from 1875 to 1880, he established the reason, the building serves as a picturesque element in himself on the mountain by building a succession of three the garden and has been carefully sited by the carriageway, timber dwellings. Recent research would suggest that he so as to be visible from the Mount Irvine Road below. and his wife lived there permanently from 1886. After all his efforts, Richard Wynne had less than three Plans for the second phase of building were rather more years to enjoy his new building. When he died in 1895, he ambitious. Stone was the material used and the plan left a considerable fortune and a testamentary provision in included a new grand residence, with an equally impressive his will to establish an annual art prize, to be known as the entrance gate and gate-keeper's lodge, a coach house and Wynne Art Prize. stables, as well as extensive crenellated walls to enclose the garden. It was at this stage, before the work could be It is timely that recognition be given to Richard Wynne and carried out, that Richard Wynne's wife Mary-Ann died in his achievements. During the centenary year of his death, the family generously donated the Turkish bath to the y Richard community for use as a museum of local history. Over the e's grandson in years the building has fallen into disuse, since it was this fine sandston e adapted for another purpose in 1920. Although this g demonstrates compromised the integrity of its internal function, the \ssive exterior of the building remains reasonably well preserved lpmen t of the site and with its double cavity walls, is ideally suited to the Wynne family !he late 19th to purpose of a museum. The Turkish bath deserves to be ly 20th century. more than just a decorative item in the garden and looks forward to a bright new future.

The community is now raising funds for its conservation and restoration. Wynstay will be open to the public for three weekends during Autumn 1996 ( 13-14, 20-21 and 27-28 April) and in the following Spring. Graham Whale

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