John Dowie

John Stuart Dowie (15 January 1915 – 19 March 2008) was an Australian painter, sculptor, and teacher. His work includes over 50 public sculpture commissions, including the "Three Rivers" fountain in Victoria Square, "Alice" in Rymill Park, the "Victor Richardson Gates" at Adelaide Oval and the "Sir Ross & Sir Keith Smith Memorial" at Adelaide Airport.

Early life and education John Stuart Dowie was born in the Adelaide suburb of Prospect, a son of Charles Stuart Dowie (c. 1874–1937) and his wife Gertrude Phillis Dowie, née Davey (1881–1956), who married in 1910. His siblings were David Lincoln Dowie (1911–1991), Jean Phillis Dowie (1913–2010), and Donald Alexander "Don" Dowie (1917–2016). The family moved to the leafy suburb of Dulwich in 1917.

He attended Rose Park Primary School and Adelaide High School before studying architecture at the University of Adelaide and painting at the South Australian School of Art; teachers included Ivor Hele and Marie Tuck. Between 1936 and 1940 he studied architecture at the University of Adelaide, immersed in the avant-garde movement then prevalent; he designed the cover for Phoenix, which gave rise to Angry Penguins. He contributed eight linocuts to Phoenix in 1935 and 1936.

Wartime service Dowie enlisted with the 2nd AIF in 1940, serving in the 2/43rd Battalion. He fought in the Siege of Tobruk, where the Allied soldiers were dubbed "The Rats of Tobruk".

He next worked in the Military History Unit of the 2nd AIF as an assistant to Australia's first official war sculptor, Lyndon Dadswell.

One of his earliest commissions was from Adelaide architect D. P. Michelmore for the Ross and Keith Smith memorial, first installed outside the Vickers-Vimy hangar at the domestic terminal, West Beach Airport (since renamed Adelaide Airport). A massive undertaking, it consists of four oversize standing figures in high relief, carved in Gosford sandstone, overall size , and was unveiled on 27 April 1958. It now stands outside the Vickers-Vimy Memorial at the east end of the new terminal.

He created dozens of statues, mostly in bronze, of prominent figures, none more so perhaps than the bust of Elizabeth II, who sat for him on five occasions in 1987 in the Yellow Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace. Dowie modelled directly in clay, from which he made plaster moulds (at the Palace) which were sent to the Meridian Sculpture Foundry, Fitzroy, Melbourne, to be cast in bronze using the lost-wax process, in time for the official opening of New Parliament House, Canberra in March 1988.

Recognition and honours Dowie was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1981 in recognition of his service to the arts as a sculptor and painter.

In 2004 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Adelaide, "for his contribution to the spiritual and artistic life of Adelaide and the nation".

A bust of Dowie, sculpted in 2006 by another South Australian sculptor, John Woffinden, stands in front of the State Library of South Australia on North Terrace in Adelaide. daughter of Donald Alexander "Don" and Margaret "Peg" Dowie, née Burden,

He was a regular attendee at the Unitarian Church on Osmond Terrace in Norwood. One of his paintings, described as a "large colourful painting depicting liberal religion" adorns the church.

Death Dowie had a stroke which took his speech away two years before his death. However, he continued to communicate by means of his intonation, gestures, and facial expressions.

He was given a state funeral in March 2008 and a memorial service for him was held in Bonython Hall at the University of Adelaide on 22 April 2008. Name Year Location Notes Soldier 1955 Roseworthy College chapel Ross and Keith Smith 1958 Adelaide Airport sandstone bas relief Platypus fountain 1960 Raleigh Walk, Elizabeth in pool designed by Geoff Shedley Piccaninny drinking fountain 1960 Rymill Park, Adelaide Hans Heysen 1961 Hahndorf Academy duplicate at "The Cedars" Alice 1961 Rymill Park, Adelaide Pan fountain 1962 Veale Gardens, Adelaide Kangaroo and Platypus 1963 Hemel Hempstead, UK a gift from the town of Elizabeth, SA Stilt Boy 1963 Adelaide High School Father and Son 1964 Garema Place, Canberra Professor Hubert Edwin Whitfeld1964University of Western AustraliaHoward Florey 1966 North Terrace, Adelaide Vic Richardson gates 1967 Adelaide Oval Three Rivers fountain 1968 Victoria Square, Adelaide Charles Bean 1969 Australian War Memorial, Canberra Mellis Napier 1970 North Terrace, Adelaide Edward Morgan 1970 Art Gallery of South Australia Icarus 1971 Melbourne Airport, Melbourne Tjilbruke 1972 Kingston Park, South Australia assemblage of gneiss boulders The Art of Learning 1972 University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes 85 relief mullions from four designs Keith Russack memorial 1972 Adelaide High School Lachlan Macquarie 1973 FAI Insurance building, Macquarie Street, Sydney Thomas Playford 1973 Parliament House, Adelaide Memorial (to whom?) 1974 St Columba's Church, Hawthorn, Adelaide bronze aumbry and plaque George the orangutan 1976 Adelaide Zoo The Slide 1977 Rundle Mall, Adelaide Mark Oliphant 1978 North Terrace, Adelaide Child with hula hoop 1978 Nurses memorial gardens Zelman Cowen 1979 University of Queensland, Brisbane Hamish Bruce memorial gate 1980s St Peter's College, Adelaide depicts discus, rowing, football Mildred Mocatta fountain 1980s Hackney, Adelaide 2/43 Battalion memorial cairn 1980 Woodside army camp John Hackett 1980 Geelong Grammar School Thomas & Co. fountain 1981 Port Adelaide Douglas Mawson 1982 North Terrace, Adelaide duplicate at Mawson Base, Antarctica Elizabeth II 1984 Queen's Place, Brisbane Robert Richard Torrens 1985 South Australian Parliament Research Library duplicate at Scotch College John Bishop 1986 Adelaide Festival Centre Robert Helpmann 1986 Adelaide Festival Centre Matthew Flinders 1986 Flinders University unveiled by the Duke of Edinburgh W. A. N. Wells 1987 Lands Titles Office, Adelaide Elizabeth II 1987 Parliament House, Canberra duplicate at Windsor Castle, London AIF Malaya memorial 1988 Australian War Memorial, Canberra John Bray 1990 State Library of SA Alexander Cameron 1997 Penola, South Australia Skater 1997 Burnside Town Hall, Tusmore John Rymill 1998 Coonawarra, SA duplicate at Rymill winery John Riddoch 1998 Rymill winery, Coonawarra

Gallery By John Dowie

About John Dowie