Person
McCubbin, Charles Wilson (1930 - 2010)
- Born
- 24 August 1930
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - Died
- 21 June 2010
Sale, Victoria, Australia - Occupation
- Artist, Conservationist, Entomologist and Environmentalist
Summary
Charles McCubbin was an artist, entomologist and environmentalist widely known for his paintings depicting Australian landscapes and fauna. Those painting reflected his many excursions across Australia and his first-hand observations of the fauna. Notable excursions included crossing the Simpson Desert in 1973 on foot with Warren Bonython, pulling the trailer with their supplies; and frequent trips to Tasmania with Arthur Neboiss of the National Museum of Victoria, to discover and study new insect species, particularly beetles, flies and caddis flies. McCubbin's paintings were published in many books, the best-known being his prize-winning Australian butterflies (1971). His expertise in butterflies was put to good use in the 1980s when he helped to set up the butterfly house at the Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens. McCubbin was a founding and Life Member of the Wildlife Art Society of Australasia.
Related entries
Colleague
Published resources
Books
- Cribb, A. B.; and Cribb, J. W., Wild food in Australia (Sydney: Collins, 1974), 240 pp. Details
- McCubbin, Charles, Australian butterflies (Melbourne: Nelson, 1971), 206 pp. Details
- McCubbin, Charles, and the educational staff of the Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens, How to breed butterflies (Parkville, Vic.: Zoological Board of Victoria, 1985), 33 pp. Details
Journal Articles
- Honan, Patrick, 'Charles W. McCubbin (1930 - 2010)', Metamorphosis Australia: magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club Inc, 58 (2010), 33-4, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mslMHZAFXS42TrsCd2LpCLvmQKCjT_gR/view. Details
Newspaper Articles
- McCubbin, Jo and Edwards, Margot, 'A life lived close to nature: Charles Wilson McCubbin, environmentalist 24-8-1930 - 21-6 2010', Sydney Morning Herald (2010). Details
Helen Cohn
Created: 31 July 2025