Architectural drawings of 'Whitley' in Cranbrook Road, Rose Bay, built for W. F. Owens, 1925 / by John D. Moore

PXD 1301

fonds

1925

902667

2 architectural drawings - 35 x 87 cm. or smaller - printed, ink

John Drummond Macpherson Moore (1888-1958), artist and architect, was born on 6 September 1888 at Waverley, Sydney, son of Frederic Moore, draughtsman, and his wife Emily Mary, née Macpherson. He was educated at Sydney Grammar School and later studied painting at Julian Ashton's Sydney Art School. Articled in 1908 to McCredie & Anderson, architects, about 1913 he visited San Francisco, United States of America, and worked in the New York office of the architect B. G. Goodhue in 1914-15. Moving to London he enlisted in the Royal Engineers in 1915, was commissioned and served in France. After the war he studied in London at the Polytechnic School of Art and the Architectural Association school

Returning to Sydney in 1919 after some months in New York, Moore set up practice as an architect and was known professionally as John D. Moore. In 1919-35 he was instructor in architectural design and draughtsmanship at the University of Sydney

Most of his architecture was domestic, but he also designed projects for hospitals and schools and a Roman Catholic cathedral for Canberra. A friend of Winifred West, he designed many buildings for her school, Frensham, winning the Sulman prize for its West Wing in 1937; he later served on the school council and encouraged her to develop the craft centre, Sturt. In the 1930s Moore campaigned for the preservation of the Hyde Park Barracks and in 1937 was appointed to the Board of Architects of New South Wales. In World War II he was deputy director of camouflage for New South Wales in 1942-45

A fellow of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects and an associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects, from 1943 he practiced in several short-lived partnerships and sometimes alone. In magazine articles, radio broadcasts and his book, Home Again (1944), Moore deplored reliance on 'styles' and 'isms', advocating a rational approach to planning and design in keeping with Australian conditions. Philosophically his ideas had much in common with those of the architects Hardy Wilson and Leslie Wilkinson

As a painter in watercolours and oils, Moore was noted for his freshness of approach to the Australian landscape. In the 1930s he was a member of the Contemporary Group of Sydney and was classed among such 'moderns' as Rah Fizelle and Margaret Preston, more because of his skill at composition and distinctive palette of pinks and indigos than for any urge to adopt forms of expressionism or abstraction. Between 1925 and 1951 he held eight exhibitions at the Macquarie Galleries, Sydney. He was a vice-president of the Society of Artists and in 1954 was awarded its medal. His best-known painting is probably a sparkling oil of Sydney Harbour, bought by the National Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1936; it was painted from the family home he designed at Vaucluse

Reference:
Australian Dictionary of Biography. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/moore-john-drummond-macpherson-7638 (accessed 22 March, 2013)

Contains 2 Architectural plans of 'Whitley' in Cranbrook Road, Rose Bay, built for W. F. Owens by John D. Moore. Both plans feature cross sections of the house from various angles and the slightly smaller sheet shows sections of the house highlighted in ink in various colours

Forms part of MLMSS 4844

Copyright status:: In copyright
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy copyright holder

Pic.Acc. Upgrade Project - Information transferred from Pic.Acc.6337 as part of the eRecords Project 2012-13

'W.F.L. Owen 6th February 1925'
'James A. Lawson 11th Feb 1925'

Slightly torn at edges