William Robinson 2018

WILLIAM ROBINSON

Painted from my life AU S T R A L I A N GA L L E R I E S

First published by Australian Galleries and William Robinson 2018 Australian Galleries Publishing PO BOX 1183 Collingwood Victoria 3066 T + 61 3 8415 1524 publications@australiangalleries.com.au australiangalleries.com.au This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any other process without written permission Design: Stephanie Hall Printing: Adams Print National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry: Author: Robinson, William Title: William Robinson: Painted from my life ISBN: 978-0-6481162-2-6 Subjects: Robinson, William Still-life painting, Australian Landscape painting, Australian 759.994 All works reproduced in the catalogue are Š William Robinson and are reproduced with his permission

Front cover: cat No 6 Farmyard with diagonal cows 2017 oil on linen 75 x 101 cm Back cover: cat No 2 Garden with Allamanda & Tibouchina 2018 oil on linen 122 x 98 cm Page 2: cat No 1 November garden (detail) 2017 oil on linen 122 x 98 cm Page 4: cat No 32 Chookrun (detail) 2017 gouache on paper 18 x 26 cm Page 66: cat No 41 Early light, Purlingbrook (detail) 1998 oil on linen 46 x 56 cm Page 71: cat No 34 Saanens (detail) 2017 gouache on paper 18 x 26 cm

WI L L I A M ROB I N SON Painted from my life

Sydney 3 - 21 October 2018 Melbourne 20 November - 9 December 2018

AU S T R A L I A N GA L L E R I E S 3

Contents

William Robinson by Maria Myers AC

4-5

Garden paintings

6 - 13

Farmyard paintings

14 - 27

Farmyard works on paper

28 - 53

Early paintings

54 - 65

Biographical Details

66 - 71

List of Works

72

5

William Robinson William Robinson’s paintings and artworks draw people to him.

what he knew intimately. Like Pierre Bonnard who shared this view

They come in a variety of media including oils, pastels, watercolours,

Robinson said “it was making do with one’s house and backyard as a

charcoals, etchings and coloured lithographs and a wondrous variety

subject”. It is impossible to view William Robinson’s life and work without

of subject matter from endearing goats and hens in farmyard scenes,

recognising the presence of his wife Shirley who is often portrayed in his

self-portraits that are self-deprecating, wry and poignant with absurd

‘backyard’ paintings and consistently reported as working alongside him.

touches to visionary landscapes charged with ethereal mystery and

The luminosity of his late landscapes reminds one of Monet’s late work,

much more.

another painter who continued working into his ninth decade, with a

similar profound gentleness.

His work celebrates humanity with humour and affection, with insight

into the profundity of life and with wonder at the beauty laid before us in

the natural world. He looks at the landscape with a different perspective

a deepened sense of the mystery of life with broader questions of

from most. He sees something wondrous, something visionary and puts it

creation and a concern with expressing underlying universal truths. With

down for us all to see, wonder at and celebrate.

the spiritual always part of his approach to life this development can

In the late 20th Century, Robinson came to be recognised as one of

also be traced to the deep tragedy he and his family experienced

Australia’s truly significant landscape painters, his contribution following

in the loss of two daughters within a year. He went searching for the

that of Sidney Nolan, Russell Drysdale and Fred Williams, particularly in

meaning of life and in giving expression to the transcendent in the

his personal response to Queensland’s rainforests and beaches.

Creation series he takes us all further down that road.

As Gerard Vaughan has pointed out William Robinson is especially

By the 1990s Robinson’s increasing capacities as a painter combined

The spiritual dimension in his sublime Creation series also brings

well known for his expansive, multi-viewpoint complex envisioning of

us close to the musical elements that can be identified in his work. It is

the natural world, inspired by experiences within particular landscapes.

reported that he starts and finishes the day with playing the piano and

He revealed his thinking in an interview:

that he chose not to pursue a career as a concert pianist when that

option was open to him. He himself has pointed to the parallels in his

“Living in the country, everything moves - the seasons, the clouds,

nothing is set. There are things behind you, all around you and you are

compositions with Bach particularly in sustaining rhythms and variations

in it. Everything is constantly moving…“

in his large canvases but what strikes one about the Creation series is

the closeness of his vision with that of Richard Strauss as expressed in

These words are at the heart of his revolutionary approach to

painting the Australian landscape, about a world in continual flux. As is

his symphonic poem ‘Thus Spake Zarathustra’.

also his sense of the sublime, of an awe-inspiring presence within the

natural world.

the Wynne twice, an Order of Australia and rare for any artist a

William Robinson has been painting a long time. He is now in his 80’s

gallery specifically dedicated to honouring his life and work, The

and still painting. Howard Arkely was known to tell his painting students

William Robinson Gallery at QUT. There is much more that can

that they should expect a 50 year apprenticeship. William Robinson has

be said about William Robinson and all of it is in praise and delight

completed his but he recognises that it is more than an apprenticeship

and gratitude. His appeal is universal.

He has numerous awards and honours. The Archibald twice,

he has completed “in the end my paintings are a trail of a life that’s left behind – whether it’s satisfactory or not”. The life left behind is

Maria Myers AC,

Robinson’s world, his everyday world. He was committed to painting

Dunkeld, Victoria

7

Garden Paintings

1.

November garden 2017 oil on linen 122 x 98 cm

9

2.

Garden with Allamanda & Tibouchina 2018 oil on linen 122 x 98 cm

11

3.

December garden with Poinciana 2018 oil on linen 122 x 92 cm

13

4.

Garden with Scrub Turkey 2018 oil on linen 52 x 116 cm

15

Farmyard Paintings

5.

Chookyard with pecking order 2018 oil on linen 93 x 122 cm

17

6.

Farmyard with diagonal cows 2017 oil on linen 75 x 101 cm

7.

Farmyard with wayward fence 2017 oil on linen 75 x 101 cm

19

8.

Puddle paddock & crooked fence 2017 oil on linen 75 x 101 cm

21

9.

Leaders, followers & onlookers 2018 oil on linen 69 x 92 cm

23

10. Chookyard with relatives & friends 2017 oil on linen 41 x 51 cm

11. Farmyard – formal & informal 2018 oil on linen 41 x 51 cm

25

12. Mixed breeds 2017 oil on linen 32 x 36 cm

13. Green pasture, Guernseys & goats 2018 oil on linen 31 x 36 cm

27

14. Drinkers & reflections 2017 oil on linen 36 x 31 cm

29

Farmyard Works on Paper

15. Two Guernseys 2017 gouache on paper 46 x 61 cm

31

16. Community pool 2017 gouache on paper 46 x 61 cm

33

17. Expressions of interest 2017 gouache on paper 36 x 51 cm

18. Farm establishment 2017 gouache on paper 36 x 51 cm

35

19. Farmyard with duck enclosure 2017 gouache on paper 36 x 51 cm

20. Farmyard with new Saanen kids 2017 gouache on paper 36 x 51 cm

37

21. Chookyard with vertical takeoff 2017 gouache on paper 36 x 51 cm

39

22. Farmyard with startled Nubians 2017 gouache on paper 26 x 36 cm

23. Springtime farmyard 2017 gouache on paper 26 x 36 cm

41

24. Farmyard with sunflowers 2017 gouache on paper 26 x 36 cm

25. Farmyard with calmness & light 2018 gouache on paper 26 x 36 cm

43

26. Chookyard with infiltrating roosters 2017 gouache on paper 26 x 36 cm

27. At the trough 2017 gouache on paper 26 x 36 cm

45

28. Farmyard with round feeder 2017 gouache on paper 26 x 36 cm

47

29. Pathway through the weeds 2017 gouache on paper 26 x 18 cm

30. Chookyard with geese 2017 gouache on paper 26 x 18 cm

49

31. British Alpine & Saanen goats 2017 gouache on paper 18 x 26 cm

32. Chookrun 2017 gouache on paper 18 x 26 cm

51

33. Garden with Spangled chooks 2017 gouache on paper 18 x 26 cm

34. Saanens 2017 gouache on paper 18 x 26 cm

53

35. Farmyard with casual construction 2017 gouache on paper 18 x 26 cm

55

Early Paintings

36. Numinbah with blue pools 1999 oil on linen 91 x 122 cm

57

37. Bushfire above Guanaba 1994 oil on linen 91 x 122 cm

38. The Jellyfish Ring 1994 oil on linen 91 x 122 cm

59

39. After the storm from Springbrook, study 1998 oil on linen 66 x 91 cm

40. Rainforest & morning sea 2004 oil on linen 51 x 66 cm

61

41. Early light, Purlingbrook 1998 oil on linen 46 x 56 cm

42. Late afternoon with rising moon, study 2002 oil on linen 31 x 41 cm

63

43. Above Twin Falls 2002 oil on linen 31 x 41 cm

44. Early golden light, Springbrook 1999 oil on linen 31 x 41 cm

65

45. Mt Cougal & sunlight 1999 oil on linen 31 x 41 cm

46. Tweed Valley & rainforest 2002 oil on linen 31 x 41 cm

67

William Robinson ~ select biographical details Born 1936, Brisbane, Australia SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2018-19 ‘Nature Imagined’, William Robinson Gallery, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane 2018

‘Painted from my life’, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

‘Painted from my life’, Australian Galleries, Sydney

2017-18 ‘Genesis’, William Robinson Gallery, Queensland University Technology,

Brisbane travelling to Embassy of Australia, Washington DC; Embassy of Australia, Paris;

Hamilton Gallery, VIC; S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney

‘Eternal Present: The Still Life Paintings of William Robinson’, Curated by John McDonald,

William Robinson Gallery, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane

2017

‘Still lives and interiors’, Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane

2016

‘The artist’s garden, house and memories’, Australian Galleries, Sydney

‘The artist’s garden, house and memories’, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

2015-16 ‘Inspirations’, William Robinson Gallery, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane 2014-15 ‘Infinite sphere’, William Robinson Gallery, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane 2014

‘Paintings and pastels’, Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane

2013

‘The farmyards’, William Robinson Gallery, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane

2012

‘Still life and landscape paintings 2010 – 2012’, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

‘Still life and landscape paintings 2010 – 2012’, Australian Galleries, Sydney

‘Insights’, William Robinson Gallery, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane

2011

‘William Robinson: The transfigured landscape’, William Robinson Gallery,

Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane

Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane

2010

‘Hinterland: The rainforest works of William Robinson’, William Robinson Gallery,

Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane

‘Ekka series 1-20’, Phillip Bacon Heritage Gallery, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane

‘Twenty ink drawings, Eight paintings, One sculpture, New works 2009’, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

‘Twenty ink drawings, Eight paintings, One sculpture, New works 2009’, Australian Galleries, Sydney

2009

‘Paintings 2009’, Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane

2007

‘Paintings and Lithographs 2000 – 2007’, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

‘Paintings and Lithographs 2000 – 2007’, Australian Galleries, Sydney 69

2007

‘The French Lithographs’, Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane

2006

‘Paintings and Pastels 2006’, Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane

2005

‘Landscapes’, Australian Galleries, Sydney

‘Landscapes’, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

2004

‘Place & Memory: The Graphic Work of William Robinson’, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane

travelling to Cairns Regional Art Gallery, QLD; Campbelltown City Bicentennial Art Gallery, Sydney;

Gold Coast City Art Gallery, QLD; New England Regional Art Museum, NSW;

Stonington Stables Museum of Art, Melbourne; Deakin University Melbourne;

Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, QLD; Wagga Wagga Regional Art Gallery, NSW

‘Self portraits 2004’, Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Sydney

‘Self portraits 2004’, Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Melbourne

‘Self portraits 2004’, Australian Galleries Stand 17A, Melbourne Ar t Fair, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne

‘Self portraits 2004’, Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane

‘William Robinson: The Revelation of Landscape’, University of South Australia Art Museum

2003

‘Paintings and pastels’, Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane

‘William Robinson: The Revelation of Landscape’, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney

and Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington, VIC

2002

‘Recent Paintings’, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

‘Recent Paintings’, Australian Galleries, Sydney

2001

‘Darkness and Light – The Art of William Robinson’, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane;

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

‘Pastels and prints’, Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Melbourne

‘Pastels, watercolours and prints’, Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Sydney

Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane

1998

Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney

1997

Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane

1996

Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney

1994

Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney

1992

Darren Knight Gallery, Melbourne

1991

‘Creation Landscape: Water and Land’,

Ray Hughes Gallery stand, International Print Fair, Sydney

Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney

‘Selected Works from the University Art Collection’, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane

1989

Kelvin Grove College of Advanced Education, Brisbane

Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane

1988

Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane

1986

Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane

1985

Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney

1984

‘Ray Hughes Gallery at Reconnaissance’, Reconnaissance Gallery, Melbourne

1982

Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane

1981

‘Farm Images’, New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale, NSW

1980

Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane

1978

Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane

1977

Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane

1975

Kelvin Grove College of Advanced Education, Brisbane

1974

Leveson Street Gallery, Melbourne

1971

Leveson Street Gallery, Melbourne

1969

Design Arts Centre, Brisbane

1967

Design Arts Centre, Brisbane

AWARDS 2009

Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus Award, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane

2007

Officer of the Order (AO), Queen’s Birthday Honours, Australia

2005

Honorary Doctorate, Griffith University, Brisbane

2002

Honorary Doctorate, University of South Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD

1998

Honorary Doctorate, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane

1996

Wynne Prize (Winner), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

1995

Archibald Prize (Winner), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

1991-92 John McCaughey Memorial Prize (Winner), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 1990

Wynne Prize (Winner), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

1987

Archibald Prize (Winner), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

1985

Aberdare Art Prize (Winner), Ipswich City Art Gallery, Ispwich, QLD

1970

David Jones Painting Prize, Australia

1956

Godfrey Rivers Memorial Medal, Central Technical College, Brisbane

71

COLLECTIONS ANZ Bank, Australia Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat, VIC Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth Artbank, Sydney Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand Australian Print Workshop Archive, Melbourne Benalla Art Gallery, Benalla, VIC Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo, VIC Brisbane Grammar School, Brisbane Burnie Regional Art Gallery, Burnie, TAS Cairns Regional Art Gallery, Cairns, QLD Campbelltown City Bicentennial Art Gallery, Sydney First Chicago National Bank, Chicago, USA Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Surfers Paradise, QLD Griffith University, Brisbane IBM, Australia

Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane

Ipswich City Art Gallery, Ipswich, QLD

Redcliffe City Art Gallery, Redcliffe, QLD

JP Morgan Chase, Australia

Rockhampton Art Gallery, Rockhampton, QLD

Macquarie Bank, Australia

Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery, Stanthorpe, QLD

Melbourne State College, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne

State Library of Queensland, Brisbane

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, Toowoomba, QLD

Museum of Brisbane, Brisbane

Tweed Regional Gallery, Murwillumbah, NSW

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

UC Art Collection, University of Canberra, Canberra

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

University of New South Wales, Sydney

Newcastle Art Gallery, Newcastle, NSW

University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane

New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale, NSW

University of Tasmania Fine Art Collection, Hobart

Parliament House, Canberra

Vatican Museums, Vatican City, Italy

Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane

Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, NSW

Queensland University Art Museum, Brisbane

Waikato Art Museum, Hamilton, New Zealand

73

List of Works NO. TITLE

YEAR

MEDIUM

SIZE

GARDEN PAINTINGS 1. November garden 2. Garden with Allamanda & Tibouchina 3. December garden with Poinciana 4. Garden with Scrub Turkey

2017 2018 2018 2018

oil on linen oil on linen oil on linen oil on linen

122 x 98 cm 122 x 98 cm 122 x 92 cm 52 x 116 cm

2018 2017 2017 2017 2018 2017 2018 2017 2018 2017

oil on linen oil on linen oil on linen oil on linen oil on linen oil on linen oil on linen oil on linen oil on linen oil on linen

93 75 75 75 69 41 41 32 31 36

x 122 cm x 101 cm x 101 cm x 101 cm x 92 cm x 51 cm x 51 cm x 36 cm x 36 cm x 31 cm

46 46 36 36 36 36 36 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 18 18 18 18 18

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

91 91 91 66 51 46 31 31 31 31 31

x 122 cm x 122 cm x 122 cm x 91 cm x 66 cm x 56 cm x 41 cm x 41 cm x 41 cm x 41 cm x 41 cm

FARMYARD PAINTINGS 5. Chookyard with pecking order 6. Farmyard with diagonal cows 7. Farmyard with wayward fence 8. Puddle paddock & crooked fence 9. Leaders, followers & onlookers 10. Chookyard with relatives & friends 11. Farmyard – formal & informal 12. Mixed breeds 13. Green pasture, Guernseys & goats 14. Drinkers & reflections

FARMYARD WORKS ON PAPER 15. Two Guernseys 16. Community pool 17. Expressions of interest 18. Farm establishment 19. Farmyard with duck enclosure 20. Farmyard with new Saanen kids 21. Chookyard with vertical takeoff 22. Farmyard with startled Nubians 23. Springtime farmyard 24. Farmyard with sunflowers 25. Farmyard with calmness & light 26. Chookyard with infiltrating roosters 27. At the trough 28. Farmyard with round feeder 29. Pathway through the weeds 30. Chookyard with geese 31. British Alpine & Saanen goats 32. Chookrun 33. Garden with Spangled chooks 34. Saanens 35. Farmyard with casual construction

2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2018 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017

gouache on paper gouache on paper gouache on paper gouache on paper gouache on paper gouache on paper gouache on paper gouache on paper gouache on paper gouache on paper gouache on paper gouache on paper gouache on paper gouache on paper gouache on paper gouache on paper gouache on paper gouache on paper gouache on paper gouache on paper gouache on paper

EARLY PAINTINGS 36. Numinbah with blue pools 37. Bushfire above Guanaba 38. The Jellyfish Ring 39. After the storm from Springbrook, study 40. Rainforest & morning sea 41. Early light, Purlingbrook 42. Late afternoon with rising moon, study 43. Above Twin Falls 44. Early golden light, Springbrook 45. Mt Cougal & sunlight 46. Tweed Valley & rainforest

1999 1994 1994 1998 2004 1998 2002 2002 1999 1999 2002

oil on linen oil on linen oil on linen oil on linen oil on linen oil on linen oil on linen oil on linen oil on linen oil on linen oil on linen

61 61 51 51 51 51 51 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 18 18 26 26 26 26 26

cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm cm

75

WILLIAM ROBINSON

ISBN 978-0-6481162-2-6

9 780648 116226 >