Early years James Charles Nuttall was born on 6 September 1872 in the Melbourne suburb of
Fitzroy, the eldest born and only son of James Charles Nuttall and Caroline (
née Dean). His English-born father was a house-painter and decorator. After leaving school Nuttall probably spent a number of years working for his father. His parents encouraged their son to pursue an artistic career and in 1895 Charles Nuttall enrolled in the
Art School conducted at the
National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. The drawing classes were held under the instruction of
Frederick McCubbin and under his guidance Nuttall developed a confident linear style of illustration. Constrained by colour blindness, Nuttall focussed on black and white and monochrome work.
The Melbourne arts community Nuttall joined the Victorian Artists' Society in 1896, where he was an occasional exhibitor. Nuttall was a prominent member of Melbourne's
bohemian community of writers, artists and poets. He belonged to the
Melbourne Savage Club, a private
social club with a bohemian spirit. In 1898 and 1899 Nuttall conducted drawing classes at the Collingwood School of Art held in the
Collingwood Town Hall. Nuttall was an early member of the Melbourne Black and White Club which formed in 1900. A number of Nuttall's "spirited chalk-drawings" (described as being "admirable as rapid studies") were included in the club's first exhibition held in July 1900 at their rooms at 62 Elizabeth Street. In December 1900 Nuttall gave a lecture at the Black and White Club discussing 'What is Art?', attended by about forty people. After the lecture the architect and artist
Robert J. Haddon remarked that "it was only a very young man who would attempt to lecture on the great question upon which older artists hesitate to give an opinion"; Haddon added that "he admired his pluck, and enjoyed the lecture, which, after all, was the chief thing". Nuttall served as secretary of the Black and White Club. About a year the club's formation it was affiliated with the
Victorian Artists' Society. From about September 1901 cartoons by Nuttall were occasionally published in
The Bulletin magazine, based in Sydney.
The opening of parliament painting After
Federation the first
Australian parliament was opened on 9 May 1901 by
Prince George, the Duke of Cornwall and York, in a ceremony held in the western annexe of the
Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne. Charles Nuttall was commissioned by the Commonwealth Publishing Company Ltd. (described as "a little band of patriotic citizens") to paint a picture of the historic event. The artist began work on the painting in oils in August 1901, in a studio within the Exhibition Building on a canvas measuring 12 by 8 feet (3.65 by 2.4 metres). Nuttall was asked to include as many recognisable faces as possible in his painting, for which purpose he arranged sittings with some of the attendees in order to sketch their features in preparatory drawings. In October 1901 the artist was granted sittings at Government House in Melbourne to capture portraits of
John Hope, the Earl of Hopetoun and Australia's first Governor-General, as well as his wife the Countess of Hopetoun,
Major-General Downes and Captain Wellington (the Governor-General's private secretary). Nuttall was required to travel to other states to complete some of his preparatory drawings. In early February 1902 he travelled by steamer to Adelaide to complete sketches of the
Governor and other "prominent" South Australians who had attended the parliamentary opening. Nuttall's large monochromatic sepia-toned painting depicting the opening of parliament was unveiled in June 1902. The painting included a total of 343 identifiable portraits of the dignitaries present at the historic ceremony. The writer for the
Table Talk weekly newspaper at the unveiling was candid about the painting's artistic merits, commenting that Nuttall had "not attempted to make his work beautiful... his work was purely commercial". The writer added: "Every politician had to be placed in as prominent a position as possible, for no politician would allow his brilliant personality to be sacrificed for aesthetic truth". The article concluded: "From the artistic point, it is hardly fair to judge Mr. Nuttall's work at all, but the painter may be congratulated on having produced a picture that has been conscientiously treated, and that, we hope, will have considerable commercial value". After its completion the painting was sent to Paris to be reproduced by a
photogravure process by the art dealership of
Goupil & Cie, internationally known for their fine art reproductions. An entity called the Historical Picture Association of Australia, under the management of Abraham S. Gordon, obtained the sole rights to sell and distribute reproductions of Nuttall's painting. Framed prints were marketed as patriotic adornments suitable for public buildings, schools, places of business and private homes. Prints were sold at three guineas (£3 3s.) each (described as "Best
India Prints"), in addition to limited numbers of more expensive "artists' proofs and prints before letters". The sale of prints of Nuttall's painting suffered in comparison to
Tom Roberts'
painting of the same subject, completed in November 1903, of which monochromatic sepia-toned photogravure prints were also sold (thus competing with the sale of prints of Nuttall's painting). In newspaper advertisements and a pamphlet issued in connection with the sale of prints of Nuttall's painting the claim was made that the painting "was produced under the personal patronage of all members of the Federal Government", but this claim was refuted by the prime minister,
Edmund Barton, after enquiries were made by the group that had commissioned Tom Roberts' painting.
Illustrator and cartoonist In 1903 a booklet by Nuttall titled
Peter Wayback Visits the Melbourne Cup: 15 Humourous Sketches, selling for threepence each, was published by Edgerton and Moore of Melbourne. Nuttall produced twelve illustrations for
Tales of Old Times: Early Australian Incident and Adventure, written by
C. H. Chomley and published in 1903 by W. T. Pater & Co. in Melbourne. Chomley's book covered aspects of Australian history such as the founding of
Sydney, the
Myall Creek massacre in 1838 and the Diamond Creek bushrangers (Fogarty, Jepps and Ellis,
hanged in Melbourne in 1842). In January 1904 it was reported that Nuttall had been commissioned by the
Melbourne Cricket Club to complete a painting of the final
test match between
Australia and England, to be held at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground in early March 1904. The painting, on a canvas measuring 8 by 5 feet (2.4 by 1.5 metres), was completed during the week after the final day of the test match. The painting depicted a mass of spectators in the grandstand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the background. The foreground was made up of a large group of men (with about one hundred recognisable faces) in front of the members' stand, including the members of the English team taking the field and the Australian team members amongst the group in the members' reserve. The other figures in the foreground included administrators, distinguished guests and cricketing veterans. Nuttall's painting was reproduced by the Australian Fine Arts Publishing Company and prints were sold for one guinea (or three guineas for an artist's proof). The original painting was installed in one of the rooms of the Melbourne Cricket Club. In January 1904 the Melbourne publishers, the
Fitchett brothers, launched an Australian edition of
Life magazine, published monthly. The March 1904 issue included an interview with Charles Nuttall (in 'The Day's Work' series). The article, illustrated by the artist, included an account of how he painted his test match picture over a period of six weeks. Nuttall's drawings were used to illustrate an article in the July 1904 issue of
Life, written by the pianist,
Ignacy Jan Paderewski (then touring in Australia), in which he "gives a bright and breezy account of his 'day's work'". Nuttall's illustrations were described as "sketches from life", one of which was "a very fine whole-page study of the pianist's head, drawn whilst he was actually playing the piano". Nuttall also had his work published in
The New Idea, another of the Fitchett brothers' publications. In June 1904 Nuttall was appointed as the "special cartoonist" for Melbourne's
Table Talk magazine, replacing
Claude Marquet who had left Victoria "to fill an important position in a neighbouring State". Nuttall became responsible for the regular double-page political cartoons in the body of the weekly journal. From March 1905 his cartoons were published on page three of the magazine (the leading page after the advertisements). Nuttall's final feature cartoon for
Table Talk was published in the 29 June 1905 issue. In early 1905 Nuttall designed the cover of an information booklet about the Australian Women's National Club that had been established in Melbourne. The club was associated with the
Australian Women's National League, a conservative political lobby group with the objective of influencing female voters. By June 1905 it had become known that Nuttall intended to depart for America to further his career. On the eve of his overseas departure a writer for Adelaide's weekly magazine,
The Critic, described Nuttall as "a newspaper artist of the 'useful' type", adding: "None of his work is particularly brilliant, and as a caricaturist he is not prominent". Nuttall left for the United States on 10 July 1905 aboard the steamship
R.M.S. Manuka.
New York After arriving in the United States Charles Nuttall established himself in a studio in
New York City. An article written by the artist recording his impressions of New York was published in the January 1906 issue of the Australian edition of
Life. The article was titled 'Glimpses of New York: An Australian in America' and was illustrated with his sketches. During his years in New York Nuttall had cartoons and illustrations published in a number of the New York-based illustrated magazines such as
Life,
The Century Magazine, ''
Scribner's Magazine and Harper's Bazaar. During 1907 several of his cartoons were published in the humour section of Harper's Bazaar'' (in the September and December editions). One of Nuttall's cartoons was used as the cover illustration for the 9 January 1908 edition of
Life. Nuttall joined the staff of the
New York Herald and was engaged to draw the '
Buster Brown'
comic strip, possibly as early as 1906. The 'Buster Brown' character had been created by
Richard F. Outcault in May 1902 for the
New York Herald. In January 1906 Outcault was hired by the
Hearst newspaper group and tried to bring the 'Buster Brown' comic strip with him. In a subsequent court decision the
Herald retained the rights to the name 'Buster Brown' and continued to publish the comic strip in its Sunday edition using other artists. Outcault continued to draw the character as well, now nameless, in comic strips published in Hearst-owned rival newspapers. The
New York Herald also retained the rights to Outcault's work undertaken during his previous employment by the newspaper. The New York publishers Cupples & Leon Co. took over the reprint rights for Outcault's
Herald comic strips. The first volume by Cupples & Leon,
Buster Brown, His Dog Tige and Their Jolly Times, compiling part of the final series of Outcault's
Herald comic strips, was published in 1906 with a cover by Charles Nuttall. The fact that Nuttall was involved as early as 1906 possibly indicates that he was employed to draw the 'Buster Brown' comic strip soon after Outcault's departure. Contrary to the usual practice, the post-Outcault 'Buster Brown' comic strips were not signed by the artist, but each one displayed a copyright notification (for example "Copyright, 1906 by the New York Herald Co."). Nuttall's New York studio was located nearby to the residence of the celebrated writer and humorist
Mark Twain, then aged in his early seventies. One day in 1907 the artist visited Twain and undertook a number of sketches of the writer. Later the two men played billiards, "in a game of 100 up" (that was comprehensively won by Twain). After Mark Twain died in April 1910 an article written by Nuttall recalling details of the visit, and illustrated by his sketches of the writer, was published in the June issue of the Australian
Life. In about March 1907 the prolific writer of
children's fiction Edward Stratemeyer met with Charles Nuttall in New York, an encounter that led to the artist being commissioned to provide the illustrations for an estimated 64 different titles over a period of about three years for the
Stratemeyer Syndicate book packaging company. Stratemeyer's company organised the production of fiction books for children, written by Stratemeyer and a team of freelance writers and using publishers in New York and Boston. The books were published in series featuring the same characters, often using
pseudonyms for the author's name. Stratemeyer's regular artist, Augustus Shute, had died in March 1906 and Stratemeyer was displeased with the artists commissioned since then by his Boston publisher to illustrate his books in the 'Dave Porter' series. When ''Dave Porter's Return to School'', the third volume in the series, was published in March 1907, the publisher had chosen F. Gilbert Edge to do the artwork, but Stratemeyer was appalled by Edge's pictures after he was sent an advance copy of the book in early 1907. In a letter to the publisher Stratemeyer expressed his feelings: "I am so disgusted, disheartened and discouraged I hardly know what to say further". He ordered that any copies of the book already sent to booksellers be recalled. Stratemeyer resolved to find an artist to provide replacement artwork for ''Dave Porter's Return to School'' and decided to meet with Nuttall. After their meeting Stratemeyer gave Nuttall written instructions of his requirements. He requested that the artist use Shute's illustrations as a stylistic guide "but give us something clean-cut and gentlemanly", adding that "we prefer pictures 'filled out' to the marginal lines". Nuttall was commissioned to produce illustrations for many of the Stratemeyer Syndicate titles for the remainder of his period of working in America. The artist intimated that after returning to New York "he has contracts to fulfill which will take him well on to the end of next year". In March 1909 it was reported that
Life magazine in New York had offered Nuttall "a retainer of a thousand dollars a year for first call on his work". Nuttall departed from New York in June 1910 "to take a three months' holiday trip through Europe" before returning to Australia. Prior to his departure the staff of
Life magazine gave a farewell dinner for the artist. It was reported that Nuttall intended "doing numerous sketches abroad with the view of holding an exhibition in Melbourne on his return".
Return to Australia Nuttall returned to Melbourne from Europe in November 1910 aboard the mail steamer
Bremen. In an interview after his arrival the artist declared: "There is such a big demand for artistic work in New York that any man with original ideas and matter is absolutely sure of a field there". He added that "the daily paper humorist is one of the most highly-paid and hardest to get" and "the man who has succeeded in Melbourne should certainly succeed in New York, but there is no earthly chance for the third-rater". On the subject of American humor Nuttall was of the opinion that it "must be broad", adding: "In spite of their many good qualities, the Americans are not a humorous people. Subtleties are lost. The idea must be thrown out in bold outlines". Nuttall became a regular contributor to ''Everylady's Journal
(previously New Idea''), first published under its new name in June 1911. In 1911 Nuttall was one of seven artists who contributed illustrations to a publication commemorating an incident in the
Second Boer War in February 1900 when members of the
Victorian Mounted Rifles were part of a force covering the retreat of the Wiltshire regiment by holding a
kopje named Pink Hill, west of Rensburg, against overwhelming odds. The Victorian casualties were the first of the war. Nuttall's political cartoons were regularly published in Melbourne's
Punch from 24 April 1913 to at least December 1918. In June 1916 an exhibition of cartoon illustrations by Nuttall and
George Dancey, both artists working for Melbourne's
Punch newspaper, was held at the Athenaeum Hall. The exhibition, titled 'The Story of the War in Cartoon', "commanded much attention and appreciation". Nuttall was politically conservative and strongly nationalist. Charles Nuttall and Leila Blackbourn were married on 4 December 1918 in St. John's Anglican church in Toorak. The couple had no children. In the mid-1920s Nuttall undertook an extended trip through Europe and the
Malay Peninsula and
Indonesian islands. From his period of working in New York and his subsequent world travels, Nuttall made use of his experiences and sketches in his pictorial journalism in
Life magazine and other publications, as well as during his later radio talks in the late 1920s and 1930s. His talks were broadcast on both 3LO and
3AR from 1926 until 1934 (the year of his death). In July 1927 Nuttall contributed an article to the Australian
Life, described as his "discourses on the world at large and its affairs". His writings and sketches became a regular feature of the magazine under the heading of 'The World at Large'. The last instalment of 'The World at Large' was published in December 1934, written before his death on 28 November. Nuttall had been a contributor to the Australian edition of
Life since its inception in 1904, both as a writer and artist. Charles Nuttall died on 28 November 1934, aged 62, of a cerebral haemorrhage at his home in Pasley Street, in the Melbourne suburb of
South Yarra. He was buried in
Boroondara General Cemetery in Kew. The December 1934 issue of the Australian
Life magazine included a tribute to Nuttall, written by W. A. Somerset Shum. ==Exhibitions==