{{Short description|Australian official war artist of World War II}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Rex Julius | image = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing brackets --> | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1914|06|05|df=y}} | birth_place = Sydney, Australia | death_date = {{Death date and age|1944|05|19|1914|06|05|df=y}} | death_place = Milne Bay, Territory of Papua | other_names = | years_active = | known_for = Australian official war artist of World War II | notable_works = }} '''Rex Julius''' (5 June 1914 – 19 May 1944) was an Australian official war artist of World War II. A commercial artist before the war, Julius enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in June 1940. He served overseas with the RAN and Royal Navy and was selected as the RAN's first official war artist in 1944 on the strength of drawings he had completed during his spare time. As an official war artist Julius prepared works in Sydney and on a corvette. He died of disease in May 1944.
==Biography==
Rex Julius was born in Sydney on 5 June 1914.<ref name="AWM bio">{{cite web |title=Able Seaman Rex Lawson Julius |url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676873 |publisher=Australian War Memorial |access-date=4 September 2021}}</ref> He was the son of Harry Julius, a well known caricaturist who jointly ran a commercial art businesses and later established an advertising company, and Isabel Julius.<ref name="NAA bio">{{cite web |title=Sketching naval life: the war art of Rex Julius |url=https://www.naa.gov.au/blog/sketching-naval-life-war-art-rex-julius |publisher=National Archives of Australia |access-date=4 September 2021 |date=28 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Harry Julius |url=https://www.daao.org.au/bio/harry-julius/biography/ |website=Design & Art Australia Online |access-date=4 September 2021 |date=2007}}</ref><ref name="CWGC">{{cite web |title=Able Seaman Rex Lawson Julius |url=https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2165463/REX%20LAWSON%20JULIUS/ |publisher=Commonwealth War Graves Commission |access-date=4 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article42052019 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Courier-mail|date=3 June 1944 |accessdate=4 September 2021 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> His only sibling, Ruth Julius, also became a successful artist.<ref name="NAA bio" /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article231024419 |title=Harry Julius Dead|newspaper=The Sun|date=29 June 1938 |accessdate=5 September 2021 |page=14|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> [[File:Upper deck of a Fairmile ship 1944 - Rex Julius.jpg|thumb|left|One of Julius' 1944 works depicting Fairmile B motor launch operations]] Julius worked as a commercial artist prior to World War II. He joined the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) on 17 June 1940.<ref name="NAA bio" /><ref name="NAA file">{{cite web |title=JULIUS REX LAWSON : Service Number - S/4176 |url=https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=4434871&S=1 |website=Royal Australian Navy personnel file |publisher=National Archives of Australian |access-date=4 September 2021}}</ref> Julius was trained for anti-submarine warfare roles.<ref name="NAA bio" />
After completing training, Julius served overseas with the Royal Navy and RAN for three years.<ref name="SMH_obit">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17908159 |title=First War Artist's Death|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=23 May 1944 |accessdate=4 September 2021 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> He was promoted to the rank of able seaman on 17 June 1941.<ref name="NAA file" />
Julius made a number of drawings during his spare time while in the navy.<ref name="SMH_obit" /> In October 1943 one of these works depicting Aden was exhibited in Sydney; Julius helped to hang the works shown at the exhibition during a period of leave.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article247808250 |title=Seaman-artist spent leave at exhibition |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=10 October 1943 |accessdate=4 September 2021 |page=22 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Julius was appointed as the first RAN official war artist in 1944 after senior officers saw a portfolio of his drawings.<ref name="AWM bio" /><ref name="NAA bio" /><ref name="SMH_obit" /> He was the lowest-ranked Australian official war artist of World War II, and was not promoted following his appointment.<ref name="AWM bio" />
During his time as an official war artist, Julius was initially attached to HMAS ''Rushcutter'' in Sydney. His work in this posting was focused on the operations of the RAN's Fairmile B motor launches.<ref name="NAA bio" /> During his period at ''Rushcutter'' Julius also sketched members of the Women's Royal Australian Naval Service undertaking duties for the navy.<ref name="Naval Historical Society of Australia">{{cite web |title=Rex Julius |url=https://navyhistory.au/artist/rex-julius/ |publisher=Naval Historical Society of Australia |access-date=13 June 2025 |language=en-AU}}</ref> Julius then travelled to New Guinea on board the corvette {{HMAS|Lithgow|J206|6}}, and made a series of sketches during the voyage. These works were focused on the activities of the sailors, including while they were resting.<ref name="NAA bio" />
On 19 May 1944 Julius died at Milne Bay in the Territory of Papua as the result of a throat abscess and gangrene.<ref name="AWM bio" /><ref name="NAA bio" /> He is buried at Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery.<ref name="CWGC" />
Due to his short career as an official war artist and death at a young age, Julius' work is not well known.<ref name="NAA bio" /> Two of his paintings are in the Australian War Memorial's collection.<ref name="AWM bio" /> The National Archives of Australia holds the sketchbooks from his period as an official war artist, and has noted that "Rex Julius's charcoals and watercolour sketches capture human moments against the backdrop of a ferocious naval war".<ref name="NAA bio" />
==References== {{commons category|Rex Julius}} {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Julius, Rex}} Category:1914 births Category:1944 deaths Category:20th-century Australian painters Category:20th-century Australian male artists Category:Artists from Sydney Category:Australian male painters Category:Australian military personnel killed in World War II Category:Australian war artists Category:World War II artists Category:Royal Australian Navy personnel of World War II Category:Royal Australian Navy sailors