W. Lister Lister

William Lister Lister (27 December 1859 – 6 November 1943) was an Australian painter who specialized in landscapes. He was awarded the Wynne Prize seven times. He was also a recipient of a federal government prize for his painting of the federal capital site at Canberra. In some sources the two Listers are hyphenated.

Biography At the age of eight he moved with his parents to Yorkshire, England; where his father was born. There, he studied at Bedford School, then spent a year in Paris studying art. While there, his father changed the family name from Buttrey to Lister by deed poll. From 1876 to 1880, he studied mechanical engineering at the College of Science and Arts and the Fairfield Engineering Works, both in Glasgow, after which he became a ship's engineer. While studying, he joined the St. Mungo Art Club, founded by a Scottish cartoonist known as Cynicus, and was soon exhibiting at the Royal Scottish Academy, aged only seventeen.

After four years at sea as a ship's engineer, he settled in London in 1884, In his obituary in the Sydney Morning Herald they made note of the fact that the driver was a woman. He was survived by a daughter. His wife had predeceased him in 1935.

Selected paintings

Wynne Prize awards

1898 – The Last Gleam 1906 – The Golden Splendour of the Bush 1910 – Mid Song of Birds and Insects Murmuring 1912 – Sydney Harbour 1913 – Federal Capital Site 1917 – Windswept Marshes 1925 – Track through the Bush