Charles Meere

Matthew Charles Meere (6 December 1890 – 17 October 1961), generally known as Charles Meere, was a London-born artist who studied art in England and France, served in the First World War, and eventually settled in Australia in 1932/33. While pursuing his Sydney art practice, he also worked as a commercial artist, exhibited widely and taught life classes to students such as Freda Robertshaw. He achieved considerable artistic and commercial success, winning the Sulman prize in 1938 with Atalanta's Eclipse, a neo-classical interpretation of the Greek myth. One of his colleagues described him as 'somewhat of a character, slightly eccentric, looking like a businessman, with a droll sense of humour' ^[1][2]

Meere is best known for his stylised art deco paintings during the interwar period, including his masterpiece Australian Beach Pattern (1938–40). Alternately criticised or praised for its studied formality, this painting has been variously interpreted as a celebration of beach culture, a glorification of heroic racial purity, or as a nuanced reflection of Australia's unpreparedness for the war.^[3][4] It was among the quintessential Australian images chosen for the 2000 Olympics Opening Ceremony program and was included in the major exhibition of Australian art held at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 2013.^[5]

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