#be minns

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Benjamin Edwin Minns (1863-1937) - Drover with Cattle , 1931, watercolour; BE Minns - Midday Rest, 1929, watercolour

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Benjamin Edwin Minns (1863-1937) - Woman by the Harbour, 1916; Manly from Mossan Heights, 1930, watercolour

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Benjamin Edwin Minns (1863-1937) - Manly from Mosman Heights, 1930, watercolour; Sydney Harbour and Bridge, 1931, watercolour

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Trifles Light as Air. He: "Miss Brown, whenever I hear the piano, I shall think of you." She: "And Whenever I smell whisky, I shall think of you." -- Benjamin Edwin Minns (1863-1937) - The Bulletin, Vol. 29 No. 1476, 28th May, 1908

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Benjamin Edwin Minns (1863-1937) - The Visitor, ink

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Muses She plays her harp by hidden rills, The sweet shy Muse who dwells In secret hollows of the hills, And green untrodden dells.

Her voice is as the voice of streams That under myrtles glide; Our Kendall saw her face in dreams, And loved her till he died.

At times, by some green-eyelashed pool, She lies in slumber deep; Her slender hands are white and cool As are the hands of sleep.

And when the sun of Summer flaunts His fire the hills along, She keeps her secret sunless haunts, And sings a shadowy song.

She weaves a wild, sweet magic rune, When. o'er the tree-tops high, The silver sickle of the moon Shines in a rose-grey sky.

But in the dawn, the soft red dawn, When fade the stars above, She walks upon a shining lawn, And sings the song of love. -- poem by Victor J. Daley (1858 – 1905), illustration by Benjamin Edwin Minns (1863-1937), The Lone Hand, Vol. 1, No. 4 (1st August 1907)

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Benjamin Edwin Minns (1863-1937) - John Milton's House, 1902, watercolour

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BE Minns - Feeding the Cockatoo, 1891, watercolour; Colonial Farm Building with Figure in Doorway and Dog, 1921, watercolour; Arranging Flowers, 1903, watercolour

Benjamin Edwin Minns (1863-1937) was a watercolour and black-and-white artist. He was born in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, Australia. At age 14, Minns began taking drawing lessons locally.

At the age of 17, Minns moved to Sydney to pursue a profession in law. However, Minns was much more interested in creating art. He shared a studio with the young artist, Charles Condor and they often attended Julian Ashton’s classes together at the Art Society. Conder assisted Minns to get a job for the Illustrated Sydney News. He soon started drawing for the Sydney Mail. Minns studied at Sydney Technical College under Lucien Henry. By the late 1880s, Condor became the first regular freelance cartoonist for the Bulletin magazine.

From 1895, Minns and his wife lived for twenty years in England. He drew for a variety of English periodicals including Punch, The Strand Magazine, The Bystander, and Idler. Minns extended beyond cartooning by painting and drawing portraits and landscapes. He frequently exhibited at the Royal Academy and at the Paris Salon.

In 1923, Minns founded the Australian Watercolour Institute and was its first president.