A surprise find in North Queensland is the above 1926 Old Master Drawings quarterly magazine from one of the many art schools run by dynamic Antonio Salvatore Dattilo-Rubbo in Sydney . It is stamped A. Dattilo-Rubbo Art School in 27 places , possibly to prevent any light - fingered student from taking it home .
It also bears the cover trade sticker of the Sydney bookstore Swains and Co., which included an art gallery and a rare books section. Swains later merged with the book publishers Angus and Robertson .
Born in Naples on June 21, l870, Antonio Salvatore Dattilo Rubbo , had a varied artistic life before coming to Australia, which included attending Rome's School of Fine Arts , four years military service during which he drew soldiers and study tours of Italian art galleries .
Arriving in Sydney in 1897, Rubbo soon became associated with Eirene Mort , a council member of the Australian Painter-Etchers' Society, daughter of Queensland born Anglican clergyman Canon Henry Wallace Mort.
In return for accommodation and English lessons , Antonio conducted an art class in the Mort house at Strathfield.
He had a studio flat at one stage near The Bulletin office , which brought him in contact with writers and artists. A popular member of Sydney's Bohemian society and clubs , he was naturalised in l903, became hyphenated Datillo-Rubbo, Rubbo his mother's maiden name ; his father a grain merchant .
He ran several art schools in various locations over a period of 48 years and also taught at the Royal Art Society for 28 years , even challenging a commitee member of the latter to a duel that never eventuated. At the outbreak of WWll he was placed in an internment camp, yet he held Australia in high regard .
His influence on Australian art was immense , many prominent artists passing through his schools . He married one of his students , Mildred Russell Jobson, who bore him two sons, one, Sydney, who became a prominent microbiologist, highly regarded in London, and prominent in Australian medical and academic circles .
In l937, Sydney was the "brilliant and provocative" senior lecturer in the department of bacteriology at the University of Melbourne . He co- authored a London published book which became the standard text worldwide on sterilization and disinfectant applied to medical, industrial and laboratory practice.
A founder and president of the Australian Society for Microbiology ,his many interests included chemotherapy, the prevention of tetanus , the reduction of cross infection in hospitals and the sterilization of spacecraft to prevent terrestrial organisms contaminating outer space.
He married artist , designer Ellen Christine Gray who had studied at the Julian Ashton School and in London.
The Dictionary of Australian Biography states Sydney Rubbo , interested in the arts himself , was outspoken on political and moral issues and had opposed Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War.
He fostered cultural relations between Australia and Italy and was appointed to the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy in l967.
(Italian. Art. Microbiology.)
