Richard Godfrey Rivers

Richard Godfrey Rivers (c.1859 – 4 February 1925) was an English artist, active in Australia and president of the Queensland Art Society from 1892-1901 and 1904-08.

Rivers was born in Plymouth and studied at the Slade School of Art in London under Professor Alphonse Legros. He won a landscape painting prize there in 1883 and exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1884. He emigrated to Australia in 1889 and was director of the technical college, Brisbane, from 1890 to 1915; and was president of the Queensland Art Society from 1892, almost continuously until 1908. He was also honorary curator of the Queensland National Art Gallery from 1895 to 1914.

Rivers established a local reputation as a portrait painter, and portraits by him of Sir Samuel Griffith and others hang in the supreme court at Brisbane. He also taught at Brisbane High School for Girls and at Brisbane Girls Grammar School. He moved to Hobart, Tasmania in 1915 and tried to raise interest in the Hobart gallery. He died in 1925. Examples of his outdoor work are in the national galleries at Sydney and Brisbane.

References

*Janet Hogan, ' [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110407b.htm Rivers, Richard Godfrey (1859? - 1925)] ', "Australian Dictionary of Biography", Volume 11, MUP, 1988, pp 397-398.

Additional Resource listed by the Australian Dictionary of Biography:
*"Illustrated Catalogue of the Queensland National Art Gallery" (Brisb, 1908)
*Royal Queensland Art Society, "Golden Jubilee Review and Catalogue" (Brisb, 1937)
*V. Lahey, "Art in Queensland", 1859-1959 (Brisb, 1959)
*J. K. Brown and M. Maynard, "Fine Art Exhibitions in Brisbane 1884-1916" (Brisb, 1980)
*A. Graves, "The Royal Academy of Arts", vol 3 (Lond, 1970)
*Church of England, Diocese of Brisbane, "Church Chronicle", 1 Nov 1900, p 52
*"Courier Mail" (Brisbane), 29, 30 Mar 1895, 26 Sept 1901, 29 Sept 1979, 18 Apr 1980
*"Queenslander", 13 June 1925
*G. R. Cooke, The Milieu of the Arts and Crafts in Brisbane 1890-1915 (manuscript, privately held)
*McConnell papers (State Library of Queensland)
*Godfrey Rivers Trust file and Godfrey Rivers correspondence and biography files (Queensland Art Gallery)
*Royal Queensland Art Society, newsclippings book
*EDU/A416 (Queensland State Archives)