William H. Constable

William Constable was born in Eaglehawk a suburb of Bendigo, Victoria. Constable was raised with two younger brothers in the family of the Reverend Archibald Henry Constable, rector of St. John's Church of England. Constable's childhood home still standing next to the church in Malmsbury, a small town in regional Victoria, Australia. Trained as apprentice electrical fitter at the Jolimont Workshops he worked for Victorian Railways. He took watercolour lessons from Meta Townsend. In 1926 he was laid off from the position, he left for England, where studied in London's Saint Martin's School of Art. At nights, he was involved with the most advanced experimental theatres in England, which set his passion for life. On return to Australia in 1930s, Constable worked on several commercial design projects, and was noticed after his very first theatrical commission in 1933, the cubist stage decorations for the Gregan McMahon Players’ production of Bridie's Jonah and the Whale at the Garrick in South Melbourne. The play was directed by Alec Coppel. The press claimed that the "production will be notable for the unusual settings by William Constable, a young artist who recently reached Melbourne from abroad ... Constable's stage settings are great fun. They are simple and attractive." Constable took several commissions to create promotional visuals for Ford, Shell, some Government departments and even designed the float. In 1940s Constable illustrated Sir Eugene Goossens’ vision of his "dream child" Opera House. The two published an article with the visual proposal to build an Australian National Theatre in the style of a Greek amphitheatre built at Bennelong Point (4) With Constable's departure for Europe and the scandalous conclusion of Goossen's career in Australia, the proposed design was forgotten along with a few others of the time. Constable's artwork is not held in the Opera House archives. Ironically, Constable's older son, Bill Junior, was involved in the production of the documentary 'Autopsy on a Dream' re-discovered in 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuHtP8OFOIA. The film contains photographs and camera work of Bill Constable Jnr. As an ABC cameraman, his job was to make video/photo recording of day by day building of what is now the iconic view of Sydney. Constable and Edouard Borovansky met in the 1940s, beginning a lifelong creative partnership and friendship. As scenic director of the Borovansky Ballet Company for 15 years, Constable was behind most productions as a designer and a painter. Frank Salter described Borovansky and Constable working together "in total harmony over his [Constable] entire Australian career." Constable "was always fascinated by Boro's method of working with him" and often was entertained by Boro's comments, such as "You clever bastard, Bill; you've realised exactly what I had in mind". (2) The 1950 World Premier of Australian ballet Corroboree with the Rock motif on the backdrop designed by Constable was a milestone for Constable's career. This minimalistic composition accurately translated the desert of Central Australia. He used bold organic shapes, strong details, variation in textures and contrasting colours. The inclusion of a full solar eclipse added drama and mystery, and possibly represented the everlasting life cycle. The highlighted top of the stone is the visual focus of the composition, where a pastel pink sandy foreground is the centre of action during the dance. The fine lines of dried