Alfred Clint (28 August 1842 – 20 November 1923) was an Australian theatrical scene painter, illustrator and cartoonist. He was born in England into a distinguished family of artists and emigrated to Australia in the 1860s. In 1867 Clint began working as a theatrical scene-painter as an assistant to John Hennings at the Theatre Royal in Melbourne. After several years he was working in Sydney as an established scenic artist. In 1873 he relocated to Adelaide where he also worked as a cartoonist and illustrator, developing a reputation for crowd scenes with identifiable subjects. In 1875 Clint returned to Sydney where he continued to work as a theatrical scene-artist as well as a cartoonist and illustrator. He was on the staff of Sydney Punch from 1875 to 1888 and also contributed to other publications. By the late 1890s Clint's eldest son was working alongside his father as a theatrical scene-painter. In 1919 Clint and his three sons established a scene-painting studio at Camperdown.
Biography
Early years
Alfred Clint was born on 28 August 1842 in Kensington, England, the son of the landscape and marine painter Alfred Clint and grandson of portraitist George Clint.Ailsa McPherson (2012), 'Clint, Alfred', Dictionary of Sydney website (archived), State Library of New South Wales; accessed 22 July 2025.Alfred Clint, Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 23 November 1923, pages 6, 14.
Clint emigrated to Australia as a young man, possibly as early as 1860.
Scenic artist
By October 1867 Alfred Clint was working as a theatrical scene-painter at the Theatre Royal in Melbourne, as an assistant to John Hennings. In October 1867 he was involved in the production of new scenery for Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, starring Walter Montgomery.Theatre Royal, Melbourne, Bell's Life in Victoria and Sporting Chronicle (Melbourne), 26 October 1867, page 4. In December 1867 Clint and John Little were listed as assistants to Henning in designing and painting "the new and magnificent scenery" for the Christmas pantomime at the Theatre Royal, Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son, and Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary (written by W. M. Akhurst).Amusements: Theatre Royal, The Argus (Melbourne), 25 December 1867, page 8.
By July 1869 Clint and John Little were assisting John Hennings in Sydney, painting the scenery for After Dark (described as "a tale of London life"), being staged at the Prince of Wales Opera House.Prince of Wales Opera House, The Empire (Sydney), 12 July 1869, page 1. Clint remained in Sydney after being appointed scenic artist of the Prince of Wales Opera House, where he began working on scenery for the forthcoming production of The Tempest, which opened in September 1869 and was advertised as having "entirely New, Magnificent, and Brilliant Scenery by Mr. Alfred Clint, from the Theatre Royal, Melbourne".Death of Alfred Clint, Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 22 November 1923, page 4Prince of Wales Opera House, The Empire (Sydney), 25 September 1869, page 1. A review of The Tempest in Sydney Punch complimented Clint's "ability he has displayed as the scenic artist... having established himself in the good opinion of the Sydney public". Several of his theatrical scenes were considered noteworthy: "The wreck of the king's ship, the surf breaking on the beach, and Prospero's cell were quite triumphs of scenic skill".Our Dramatic Gallery, Sydney Punch, 2 October 1869, page 7.
In March 1871 Clint and the theatrical mechanist John Renno presented a diorama at the Sydney School of Arts incorporating scenes of the Franco-Prussian war and views of Sydney. From December 1871 the pantomime The House That Jack Built was presented at the Prince of Wales Opera House after a highly successful season during 1870 at the Theatre Royal in Melbourne. The scenery for the Sydney production, "on the most liberal and gigantic scale... being the foundation and progress of Australia", was produced by William J. Wilson, Alfred Clint "and assistants".Prince of Wales Opera House, Evening News (Sydney), 23 December 1871, page 3.
Alfred Clint and Mary Jane Percy Lake were married in Sydney on 22 June 1872.Marriages, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 10 August 1872, page 188. The couple had eight children, born between 1873 and 1893.Family records, Ancestry.com website.
Adelaide
By March 1873 Clint had relocated to Adelaide after being engaged by Samuel Lazar as scenic artist for the Theatre Royal.The Theatre Royal, South Australian Register (Adelaide), 29 March 1873, page 5. In July 1873 it was written that Clint's "scenery on the stage of the Royal has won so much well-deserved admiration during the recent dramatic season".This morning a new..., The Express and Telegraph (Adelaide), 2 July 1873, page 2.
While living in Adelaide Clint was the chief cartoonist for the short-lived weekly illustrated newspaper The Mirror, first published in July 1873. His images in the first edition included "representations of street scenes in Adelaide, and an excellent portrait of Governor Musgrave, who is exhibited as being warmly welcomed by fair Australia on his landing". Clint's cartoons were later featured in The Lantern from its first issue of 5 September 1874 until the end of 1875.
Walter R. Morton, the owner of the Southern Cross Hotel, employed Clint to paint several large watercolour pictures which included prominent citizens of Adelaide. The paintings were exhibited at the hotel, described as a "great attraction to the frequenters of the Southern Cross". Clint's paintings were in the form of detailed Adelaide street or interior scenes featuring a multitude of recognisable characters, sometimes in humorous situations.Portraits of Old Colonists,Evening Journal (Adelaide), 17 November 1886, page 2.Mr. Clint..., The Express and Telegraph (Adelaide), 6 March 1875, page 2.Men of Early Adelaide, The Register (Adelaide), 17 April 1911, page 6; Historical Pictures, The Register, 17 June 1914, page 8. Clint's first painting for Morton depicted "a number of colonists" assembled in the interior of the Adelaide Post Office building, "and was much admired for the excellency of most of the likenesses". His second picture, publicly displayed in March 1874, depicted a street scene in King William Street as Governor Musgrave's carriage was passing. Included in the painting as spectators were "all classes of the community", numbering about one hundred, including "brokers, and M.P.'s, knights, C.M.G.'s, editors, clergymen, lawyers, publicans, and other sinners".A Colonial Painting, Border Watch (Mount Gambier), 11 March 1874, page 2.
Return to Sydney
Clint returned to Sydney by the end of 1875, where the family settled at Balmain.
Clint's illustrations became a regular feature in Sydney Punch. The first to appear was 'Athirst!', a full-page allegorical cartoon in the issue of 3 December 1875.Athirst!, Sydney Punch, 3 December 1875, page 5. Clint remained with Sydney Punch until its closure in 1888. For most of his time with the newspaper he alternated with E. Montagu Scott as the feature cartoonist the full-page political cartoon in each issue.
In September 1878 Clint commenced a series of illustrations for Sydney Punch titled 'People We Know'. The numbered series of portraits of unnamed subjects appeared on page one of the publication, complete with incidental details and text to enable identification of the individual. The final portrait in the series (number 132) was published in May 1881.People We Know, No. 1, Sydney Punch, 28 September 1878, page 1; People We Know. - No. 132, Sydney Punch, 21 May 1881, page 1.
Clint provided the illustrations for Southerly Busters, a book of collected verse by 'Ironbark' (G. Herbert Gibson), published in 1878."Southerly Busters", Melbourne Punch, 2 January 1879, page 6.
In its issue of 4 October 1879 Sydney Punch published a chromolithograph folio sheet, illustrated by Clint, as a supplement to celebrate the opening in Sydney of the International Exhibition in a purpose-built exhibition building called the Garden Palace. His drawing was a robust and detailed crowd scene, characteristic of the artist's work, representing a procession which included over one hundred recognisable colonial identities as well as representatives of other nations.Opening of the Garden Palace, Sydney Punch, 4 October 1879, page 1 (supplement).
Clint was a founding member of the Art Society of New South Wales. His contributions to the Society's first exhibition in December 1880 were "eight or nine of those clever characteristic sketches of public men which he hits off so quickly and so well".Art Society of New South Wales, Sydney Morning Herald, 23 December 1880, page 3.
Clint was briefly employed by The Bulletin magazine in early 1883, though his cartoons do not appear after the American cartoonist Livingston Hopkins began work in May 1883, at which time the magazine was revamped with additional pages and illustrations.The Bulletin New Series, The Bulletin, 12 May 1883, page 1.
In the late 1870s and early 1880s, at the height of his career as an artist of theatrical scenery, Clint was recognised as one of the four masters of scenic art in the Australian theatre alongside John Hennings, George Gordon and John Brunton.Veteran Scenic Artist, The World's News (Sydney), 2 December 1922, page 11.Scenic Artists: Alfred Clint, Australian Variety Theatre Archive website; accessed 13 July 2025. After his return to Sydney in 1875 Clint worked as the scenic artist in various theatres: the Royal Victoria, Criterion, Her Majesty's and Prince of Wales Opera House. The critic for The Australasian newspaper was fulsome in his praises for the scenery of Clint and J. R. Setright for the pantomime Amphibio, the Rhine Queen, which opened in December 1879 at the Victoria Theatre: "The scenery is in the truest sense gorgeous, and the transformation eminently lovely".Amusements: Victoria Theatre, Sydney Daily Telegraph, 27 December 1879, page 8. From the early 1880s and into the late 1890s Clint was responsible for theatrical scenery for the productions staged by George Rignold.Obituary: Mr. Alfred Clint, Sen., Sydney Morning Herald, 26 November 1923, page 11. When the newly-built Criterion Theatre opened in 1886, the theatre's drop-scene was a painting of 'The Landing of Captain Cook at Kurnell' by Alfred Clint.The Criterion, Sydney Mail, 3 July 1935, page 11. The theatre critic for the Sydney Morning Herald praised Clint's scenery for Rignold's production of Julius Caesar at Her Majesty's Theatre in September 1889. The critic described Clint's "splendid scenery" as "beautifully painted", adding: "It is accurate in design, harmonious and striking in colour, and fine in effect".Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney Morning Herald, 11 September 1889, page 11.
Alfred Clint's three sons – Alfred (junior), George and Sydney – studied scene-painting under their father's tuition.Mr. Sydney R. Clint, Sydney Morning Herald, 9 August 1930, page 19.The Adelphi, Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 6 July 1912, page 10.
By the late 1890s Clint's eldest son, Alfred Clint (junior), was working with his father in the design and painting of theatrical scenery. A production of Charles Darrell's 'The Power and the Glory', staged by Charles Holloway at Melbourne's Theatre Royal in November 1899, advertised "new and superb scenery" by Clint and Edward Vaughan, assisted by "W. Little and A. Clint, jun."Theatre Royal, The Age (Melbourne), 18 November 1899, page 12. Darrell's melodrama opened in Sydney at the Lyceum Theatre on 23 December 1899.Lyceum Theatre, Sydney Morning Herald, 23 December 1899, page 2.
From about the late 1890s Clint (senior) was described as being in less than robust health, "but he possessed a recuperative constitution and always managed to pull through". His wife, Mary Jane, died in 1918 at Burwood.
In 1919 Alfred Clint and his sons established theatrical scene-painting premises, known as Clint's Art Studios, in Grose Street, Camperdown.
Final years