( Magnetic Island researcher Gary Davies recalls drinking sessions with internationally regarded Leonard French OBE , who died , aged 88 , on January 10 , at Heathcote ,Victoria , where he lived and had his studio. The award winning artist was responsible for one of the world's largest stained glass ceilings , below, in the main hall of the National Gallery of Victoria )
In the late 1960s I was a bank clerk
in the service of the Commercial Bank of Australia NOT to be confused with the modern
Commonwealth Bank. I used to go from branch to branch filling any vacancies from
teller to accountant ... all at the age of 19. For a very short time , I was even made acting manager when the manager, who had a few problems , disappeared just before the inspectors arrived to interview him .
One of my stops was Heathcote , and
at night I would go to the pub for a counter meal and a few beers. It was a
small, friendly and intimate bar filled with a curious mix of imbibers. One was Len French , and I was lucky, as occasionally he let a brash young bloke who knew nothing about art, wine or stained glass chat with him .
My memories of him are still fresh nearly 50 years on . Tall, upright and distinguished , he wore a near full length suede jacket . I asked him why he wore such a long coat and he explained that he worked with stained glass and it is very sharp and could tear ordinary clothes to pieces.
He looked very classy sipping a glass of red from a half bottle of Lindeman's Cawarra Claret that he kept on the bar . There was no sign of arrogance , although he was certainly the only bloke in the bar drinking wine . He did not mention to me his huge 60 metre long ceiling in the Great Hall of the National Gallery of Victoria , but his friends made me aware of this . When I raised it with Len , he told me how excited he was about the project .
He also chatted about struggles in his own life and in the art world . I formed the impression that he was a highly skilled artisan who was about to fly. Even though his feet were firmly on the ground , he was big enough to have his head in the clouds, a great combination .
Our conversations were regularly interrupted by another artist who gave us beautifully inspired renditions of Italian operas . I was really lucky to have been in Heathcote at that time, an experience which left me with an ongoing appreciation for a glass of red and Puccini . RIP, Len .
FRENCH: Born Brunswick , Melbourne, of Cornish family origin , left school at 14 , worked on farms and studied epics of Homer in spare time , apprenticed to signwriter ; studied art at Melbourne Technical College ; first mural was for a Brunswick church at the age of 19; worked passage to London , studied in Ireland , struggled , seven hungry weeks in Amsterdam . Returning to Melbourne , his work displayed in various galleries in the early 1950s and in 1955 he painted seven panels , The legend of Sinbad the Sailor , for the Legend Café . His wide body of work included stained glass and mosaic windows for a Melbourne chapel, artwork in the Great Hall at University House ANU , paintings on the life and death of 16th century British Jesuit priest Edmund Campion who was hanged, disembowelled , beheaded and quartered . Along the way he won the Sulman Prize and the Blake Prize for Religious Art twice . Three wives .
DAVIES : Deeply involved in research into artists connected with The Bulletin , an early Australian weekly news magazine , now defunct ; likes a drop of red , when it comes to caffeine, not a latte drinker ; recent acquisition a book about wartime art .
