Ernest William Christmas was an Australian painter. He was born near Adelaide, South Australia in 1863 and studied art in Adelaide, Sydney and in London. He painted widely in England, exhibiting in the early years of the century at the Royal Academy, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Royal Society of British Artists, the Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts and in the provinces.

He was elected to the British Royal British Academy in 1909. In 1910-11, he painted mountains and lakes in Argentina and Chile. He lived in San Francisco around 1900 and again around 1915. He was an avid traveller, but spent the last two years of his life in Hawaii, where he painted landscapes including dramatic volcano scenes. Ernest William Christmas died in Honolulu in 1918.

'Kilauea Caldera', oil on canvas painting by Ernest William Christmas, 1863-1918

[edit] References

• Encyclopedia of Australian Art Volume One A-K by Alan McCulloch (Hawthorn, Victoria: Hutchinson of Australia, 1984

• Allgemeines Künstler-Lexicon: die bildenden Künstler aller Zeiten und Völker (München: K G Saur, 2002)

• Dictionary of British Artists Working 1900-1950 by Grant M Waters (Eastbourne: Eastbourne Fine Art Publications, 1975)

• The Dictionary of British Artists 1880-1940 by J Johnson & A Greutzner (Woodbridge, Suffolk: Antique Collectors' Club, 1976)
• Severson, Don R., "Finding Paradise, Island Art in Private Collections", University of Hawaii Press, 2002, 114-115.

[edit] External links

• The life and work of Ernest William Christmas