John Brahms Trinick and World War I Cathy Mulcahy

As a student on a placement with drawings, some made on paper Documentary and photographic the Ian Potter Museum of Art in provided by Australian Red Cross, materials were given to the University 2014, I was asked to explore the reflect his courage, endurance of Melbourne Archives. In her effects of World War I on the life and and determination to continue comprehensive examination of the career of artist John Brahms Trinick to develop as an artist, despite life and art of John Trinick, Fiona (1890–1974), who served in the being transported to a challenging Moore observes the depth and scope Australian Imperial Force (AIF) from environment and having limited art of these resources: the John Trinick 1916 to 1919. The starting point materials available. They also reveal Study Collection at the University of for this research was an examination an Australian artist who became Melbourne is ‘a visual art collection of two sketchbooks dating to those more familiar with, and involved in, and the archive of a craftsman’, as well war years and recently presented to European artistic traditions through as providing an ‘invaluable insight the University of Melbourne Art war service. into Trinick’s creative process and the Collection in memory of Ms Ruth history of stained glass design’.2 The Trinick, a niece of the artist. The John Trinick Collection 2013 gift also contains many items The centenary of the Gallipoli at the University of conveying Trinick’s thoughts, feelings campaign has brought to light the Melbourne and artistic process while an enlisted personal stories of many of those We can research Trinick’s creative soldier in World War I. Australians who served in World life’s work thanks to the generosity Early influences on Trinick’s War I. Diaries and letters have and loving care of the Trinick family, development as an artist established been investigated and found to who have made two major donations enduring themes and preoccupations communicate the thoughts and to the cultural collections of the in his creative practice. He was born dreams of soldiers, while sketchbooks University of Melbourne. The first in the inner-Melbourne suburb of have given us a visual record of artists was in 1997, when ‘Mr Harold Richmond in 1890 and commenced under wartime conditions. In this Trinick donated a study collection of study at the National Gallery School context is timely to consider the effect the work of his uncle, stained glass in the city in 1910. While studying, he of World War I on John Trinick, who artist and ecclesiastical craftsman won five prizes for his art, including revisited Australia only briefly after John Trinick (1890–1974)’.1 This first prize for drawing in 1911.3 the war, soon returning to England to was followed by another substantial He also met artists Napier Waller complete his training in the arts and gift by the family in 2013 made in and Christian Yandell, who were to pursue a career as a stained glass artist memory of Ruth Trinick, which become his lifelong friends.4 Waller and ecclesiastical craftsman. comprises artworks, preparatory and Trinick shared many influences, Although John Trinick did not material, sketchbooks, working including an interest in the Arts and write or draw details of a soldier’s drawings and designs, all donated Crafts movement, which emphasised daily experience (unlike many to the University of Melbourne craftsmanship in art and was other artists, including his friend Art Collection, managed by influential for both of them in their Napier Waller), his sketchbooks and the Ian Potter Museum of Art. development as stained glass artists.

Cathy Mulcahy, ‘John Brahms Trinick and World War I’ 3 John B. Trinick as a soldier, c. 1916–19, photograph, 13.0 × 8.5 cm. Unit 5, reference no. 2013.0049, donated in memory of Ruth Trinick, John B. Trinick Archive Collection, University of Melbourne Archives.

Leckie window’, which survived the develop his practice, going beyond fire that partly destroyed Wilson Hall realism and using legends and at the University of Melbourne in spiritual symbols to express his 1952.5 This stained glass window is interpretation of the ineffable. Trinick now permanently installed in the Ian was also interested in Rosicrucianism, Potter Museum of Art, where many Freemasonry, alchemy and other of Trinick’s stained glass designs are aspects of ancient spirituality.9 housed, maintaining a link between the two artists that began early in the A career interrupted 20th century. As for many young Australians, Melbourne was a stimulating Trinick’s career was interrupted as environment for Trinick and Waller it began to unfold in Melbourne. to study art, surrounded as they Both John Trinick and Napier Waller were by a lively culture informed by enlisted for active service in the an awareness of major English art AIF, with Trinick embarking from movements, in particular the Pre- Melbourne with the 8th Infantry Raphaelites, who would influence Battalion on the troop ship HMAT Trinick’s later drawings and stained Nestor on 2 October 1916.10 glass designs.6 In 1906 William Trinick experienced many Holman Hunt’s enormously popular tribulations during has active service allegorical painting of Christ, as a signaller and observer, including The light of the world (1853), was hospitalisation on 15 December exhibited in Melbourne as part of an 1917 for pyrexia (fever); he was sent international tour, giving Trinick an back to duty on 26 February 1918.11 opportunity to see a Pre-Raphaelite He was severely wounded in France painter’s work, in addition to works on 23 April 1918 and admitted to By 1915, Trinick, Waller and by this artist held by the National Reading War Hospital in England Yandell were listed as members of Gallery of Victoria.7 on 29 April, returning to active duty the Victorian Artists’ Society. After Trinick was interested in on 1 July.12 On 1 August 1919 he left the war, Waller and Yandell married mysticism, particularly the doctrine England to return to Melbourne and and decided to live in Australia, while of Theosophy, which was explored was discharged from the AIF on Trinick emigrated to England, going by a number of artists in Melbourne, 6 November, after which he returned on to become an esteemed stained including one of Trinick’s teachers to his mother’s home in Liddiard glass artist. at the National Gallery School, Street, Glenferrie (now Hawthorn), Napier Waller also continued his Frederick McCubbin.8 This provided for a short time before leaving stained glass career and designed ‘The Trinick with an alternative way to Australia for England late in 1919.13

4 University of Melbourne Collections, issue 16, June 2015 John B. Trinick, Tilshead Church, 10 June 1917, pencil on paper, 12.5 × 17.7 cm. Accession no. 2013.0343, gift in memory of Ruth Trinick 2013, University of Melbourne Art Collection.

Sketchbooks and drawings, Two of Trinick’s sketchbooks show while thinking about spending 1916 to 1919 that he was attracted to the beauty Christmas away from home and Enlisting in the AIF took many of the architecture he encountered family. Perhaps he also reflected Australian artists, including Trinick, in England. Seventeen loose pages, on the opportunities presented by to countries they probably would dated between 7 December 1916 being in England, where he was able not have visited at the time, if not and 10 June 1917, were found within to observe and draw architectural for the war. Camping in England the marbled covers of a sketchbook. and spiritual heritage beyond his and marching through villages in These pencil drawings depict church experience in Australia. France exposed John Trinick to exteriors and interiors, churchyards, One of the church drawings is new ideas, history, architecture and memorials and stone buildings, and Tilshead Church, dated 10 June 1917 natural landscape, which he recorded include a drawing of Stonehenge (below). Built in 1100, the Church of in correspondence to his family on made on Christmas Eve 1916. It is St Thomas à Becket is situated in the postcards14 and by drawing. possible to imagine the artist drawing village of Tilshead on the Salisbury

Cathy Mulcahy, ‘John Brahms Trinick and World War I’ 5 John B. Trinick, … and when he awaked he looked afore him and saw the city of Sarras, c. 1916–19, pencil and ink on paper, 17.5 × 12.5 cm. Accession no. 2013.0324, gift in memory of Ruth Trinick 2013, University of Melbourne Art Collection.

use shading and intricate lines to the University of Melbourne Art capture the essence of an enduring Collection as part of the gift of Harold and architecturally beautiful church Trinick in 1997 and, like the drawing in a field of long grass, creating a of Sarras, bears an inscription taken peaceful atmosphere, despite the from a poem, in this case from W.B. military activity nearby. Yeats’ The shadowy waters (1906):19 Another drawing found in the ‘O morning star / Trembling in the marbled-cover sketchbook shows a blue heavens like a white fawn’.20 city perched high on a mountain, The white fawn symbol is also found watched by a knight in armour in La morte d’Arthur, when knights (left). It is unique among these Galahad, Percivale and Bors, who loose drawings as it is undated and have seen a white hart, are told: ‘And obviously a work of the imagination. well Our Lord be signified to an hart, It reflects Trinick’s interest in the for the hart when he is old he waxeth legendary search for the Holy Grail. young again in his white skin’.21 In Arthurian legends, Sarras was a holy city in the spiritual realm. Drawings on Australian The knight Galahad (son of King Red Cross paper Pelle’s daughter) took the Grail to Australian Red Cross was formed Sarras and upon contemplating it as a branch of British Red Cross was said to have left the earth ‘in a on 13 August 1914, only nine days blaze of ecstasy’.16 The inscription after the outbreak of World War I. below the drawing of Sarras comes Australian Red Cross volunteers from Malory’s Morte d’Arthur17 and helped those serving in the war in describes Galahad (the figure in the many ways, including sending care drawing) upon first seeing Sarras: parcels to the sick and wounded.22 ‘… and when he awaked he looked One of these parcels may have afore him and saw the city of contained the Australian Red Cross Sarras’.18 paper that Trinick used for some of This use of symbolism from the his drawings. Alternatively, Australian legend of the Holy Grail appears to Red Cross may have given him the coincide with Trinick’s war service. paper when he was in hospital, or Plain and is ‘completely surrounded These interests can also be traced when being transported by ambulance, by military training land’.15 This in future works such as a triangular as other paper supplies were scarce. sketch demonstrates Trinick’s range glass panel depicting a white fawn He may also have believed that of fine drawing skills and ability to (c. 1950s). This work is held in drawings on this paper would come

6 University of Melbourne Collections, issue 16, June 2015 John B. Trinick, Sappho, 1918, pencil on paper, sheet 16.5 × 22.5 cm; image 14.2 × 10.5 cm. Accession no. 2013.0218, gift in memory of Ruth Trinick 2013, University of Melbourne Art Collection.

to the attention of Australian Red The intricate pencil drawings on associated with mysticism, poetry, Cross and be sent home to his paper stamped with the Australian legend and religion: Jeanne d’Arc, mother in the event of his being Red Cross logo and found in Trinick’s Sappho, King Pelle’s daughter and Mary wounded or killed, as the organisation marbled-cover sketchbook are Magdalene. Trinick’s inscriptions on offered a tracing service for families intriguing. There are four detailed the backs of King Pelle’s daughter, of wounded and dead soldiers. drawings, depicting four women Jeanne d’Arc and Sappho ask for each

Cathy Mulcahy, ‘John Brahms Trinick and World War I’ 7 drawing to be sent to his mother, 29/4/18, wounded, severe’.23 In the embodiment of a direct spiritual Clara (presumably in the event of contrast to the drawings, disturbing experience’.26 In Dead sanctuary, his death): ‘Will finder please send imagery in Trinick’s long poem Dead enlightenment and escape from the this diary to Mrs C.E. Trinick C/O sanctuary, published in 1922, suggests ‘desecration and destruction through / Mrs [indecipherable] 59 Liddiard St that he was deeply affected by the All the world’s wasted empires— Glenferrie Victoria Australia’. On the devastation he witnessed in France at doomed to hold / Forever in unsleeping back of the finely rendered drawing the front, but chose not to share this memory’,27 come through unity with of Sappho, Trinick made another through visual representation. The an archetypal woman figure where life pencil inscription: ‘These five to poem begins: returns to him ‘As lamps ashine our Mother with love from Jack’. Perhaps bodies were become— / So wrought Trinick, after surviving the war, gave Night was upon the world. to manifest the infinite / Deep hidden one drawing to his mother to keep, I followed, over Life of our most hallowed home’.28 or perhaps the fifth drawing was lost, Vast wastes of desolation, Another sketchbook in the leaving only four in the group. in the gloom, collection is bound in khaki cloth, and These were remarkable drawings The poisonous track of an inscribed inside the front cover with for a son to plan to send to his unearthly flood,— the artist’s cipher, JBT, combined with mother posthumously. We can Dark, hideous and silent: the date 1918. Below the cipher, J.B. speculate that he intended them saw it cover Trinick is underlined and followed by to provide comfort to his mother, All forms of flower and tree: Private (No 6607) / 23rd Australian counterbalancing bland military saw it entomb Battalion. This sketchbook contains correspondence and showing her that The homes and haunts of men.24 relatively few drawings: a faint he maintained and developed his pencil drawing of a female figure, personal, spiritual and artistic values The women depicted in the a twig and branch study and three despite the difficult circumstances of drawings on Australian Red Cross stained glass window designs. In war. During those years, thousands paper foreshadow Trinick’s dedication comparison to the 1916–17 drawings, of relatives of servicemen, including to ecclesiastical stained glass art this indicates Trinick’s other interest: Trinick’s mother, dreaded a typed and design after the war and also recording stained glass designs. When letter arriving at their home, as these reflect his earlier interest in the work enlisting in the AIF, Trinick gave his terse missives brought worrying or of Pre-Raphaelite and Symbolist occupation as ‘painter’; perhaps it was tragic news about loved ones. Clara artists.25 In the ‘Introductory note’ to his subsequent exposure to the churches Trinick received two such letters, one Dead sanctuary, the Scottish literary and architecture of England and on 7 May 1918 saying that Trinick critic and classical scholar J.W. France that drew him towards a career had been wounded, and another on Mackail described the influence of designing stained glass windows for 15 May 1918 saying that he had Pre-Raphaelite poets on the mystical churches.29 been ‘reported admitted to Reading themes in Trinick’s poem, saying ‘it Another significant effect of war War Hospital Reading England, must be recognized unhesitatingly as service on Trinick’s development as

8 University of Melbourne Collections, issue 16, June 2015 John B. Trinick, Design for rose window, 1934, watercolour pigment and ink on paper, sheet 26.5 × 26.5 cm. Accession no. 2013.0230, gift in memory of Ruth Trinick 2013, University of Melbourne Art Collection.

Cathy Mulcahy, ‘John Brahms Trinick and World War I’ 9 an artist was that he was granted working with the John Trinick Collection; and 16 John Matthews, The Grail: Quest for the leave in 1919 to attend the Byam Fiona Moore for sharing her knowledge about eternal, London: Thames & Hudson, 1981, John Trinick and making constructive suggestions p. 63. Shaw and Vicat Cole School of Art for the final draft of this essay. 17 Alan Lupack, ‘Sarras’, The Camelot project, in London.30 His training there University of Rochester, http://d.lib. stressed figure drawing, especially Cathy Mulcahy is a librarian and alumna of rochester.edu/camelot/theme/Sarras, the University of Melbourne. She is currently accessed 10 January 2015. the draped figure in the style of the undertaking a Masters in Cultural Heritage at 18 Thomas Malory, Le morte d’Arthur, 31 Pre-Raphaelites, and figures such Deakin University. Book XVII, Chapter XX1, eBooks@ as these would recur frequently in his Adelaide, University of Adelaide, later designs. One benefit of Trinick’s 1 Belinda Nemec, ‘A culture of giving and https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au, 2014, collecting’, Melbourne University Magazine, accessed 28 January 2015. war service was that after returning 2004, p. 11. 19 William Butler Yeats, Shadowy waters to London after the war, he was able 2 Fiona Elizabeth Moore, ‘Revealing the light: (1906), in Collected poems of W.B. Yeats, to regain his place at the school.32 Stained glass and the art of John Trinick’, MA Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions, thesis, School of Culture and Communications, 1994, pp. 370–1. When he completed his studies in University of Melbourne, 2008, p. 13. 20 John B. Trinick, Triangular fawn panel, 1920 he was ‘commissioned by A.E. 3 Moore, ‘Revealing the light’, p. 20. c. 1950s, stained glass, lead; max. height Waite to design a set of tarot cards 4 Moore, ‘Revealing the light’, p. 19. 148.0 cm. Accession no. 1997.0095, gift depicting the Great Symbols of the 5 Nicholas Draffin,The art of M. Napier Waller, of Harold Trinick 1997, University of 33 Melbourne: Sun Books, 1978, p. 59. Melbourne Art Collection. Tarot’, which also featured many 6 Moore, ‘Revealing the light’, p. 37. 21 Malory, Le morte d’Arthur, Book XVII, draped female forms and Christian 7 Moore, ‘Revealing the light’, pp. 23–4. Chapter IX. mystical symbols. 8 Moore, ‘Revealing the light’, p. 28. 22 Museum Victoria, ‘The Australian Red During his career, John Trinick 9 Heather Lowe, ‘Painting with light: The John Cross Society’, http://museumvictoria.com. Trinick Collection at the Ian Potter Museum au/collections/themes/1854/australian-red- created more than 50 stained glass of Art’, Australian Antique Collector, no. 55, cross-society, accessed 3 October 2014. window schemes and held regular July–December 1998, pp. 119–23. 23 Officer in Charge, Base Records, Australian exhibitions at the Royal Academy 10 ‘John Brahms Trinick’, Australian War Imperial Force, letter to Clara Trinick, Memorial: Embarkation rolls, www.awm. 15 May 1918. NAA B2455, National of Arts; a selection of his stained gov.au/people/roll-search/nominal_rolls/ Archives of Australia, http://recordsearch. glass drawings was acquired by the first_world_war_embarkation/, accessed naa.gov.au/, accessed 3 October 2014. Victoria and Albert Museum. He 3 October 2014. 24 J.B. Trinick, Dead sanctuary, London: made a substantial contribution to 11 No. 6607, Private John Brahms Trinick, Oxford University Press, 1922, p. 1. 25 November 1919. NAA B2455, p. 29, 25 Moore, ‘Revealing the light’, p. 41. the art of stained glass in England National Archives of Australia, http:// 26 J.W. Mackail, ‘Introductory note’, in and deserves to be better known recordsearch.naa.gov.au/, accessed Trinick, Dead sanctuary, p. vi. in Australia, where he spent his 3 October 2014. 27 Trinick, Dead sanctuary, p. 59. 12 John Brahms Trinick. NAA B2455, p. 29, 28 Trinick, Dead sanctuary, p. 50. foundation years as an artist. National Archives of Australia. 29 Moore, ‘Revealing the light’, p. 32. 13 Moore, ‘Revealing the light’, pp. 134–5. 30 Ruth Trinick, interview with Fiona Moore, Author’s acknowledgement: I would like to thank 14 Christine Trautwein, personal communication 1 August 2005, cited in Moore, ‘Revealing Helen Arnoldi for coordinating my participation with Cathy Mulcahy, 29 January 2015. the light’, p. 33. in the Cultural Collections Program; Jay Miller, 15 Tilshead Parish Council, ‘Tilshead: A village 31 Moore, ‘Revealing the light’, p. 33. assistant collections manager at the Ian Potter on the Salisbury Plain’, www.tilsheadvillage. 32 Moore, ‘Revealing the light’, p. 33. Museum of Art, for supervising my placement com/stab.shtml, accessed 2 February 2015. 33 Moore, ‘Revealing the light’, p. 135.

10 University of Melbourne Collections, issue 16, June 2015