Flood Receding in
Winter, Evening, Arthur Boyd, Oil on canvas, 90x120cm
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
| 1920 |
July 24: Arthur Merric Bloomfield
Boyd born at Open Country, 8 Wahroonga Crescent,
Murrumbeena, now a suburb of Melbourne, the second
child of Merric (1888 – 1959) and Doris (1888
– 1960) Boyd nee Gough, potters and painters.
The house, pulled down during the late 1960’s,
had been built by Merric Boyd in 1908 in an old
orchard. Grows up in unorthodox Christian Scientist
family where all forms of creative endeavour are
strongly encouraged. Every evening, the family gathers
in the Brown Room for Bible readings by both parents
as well as regular ‘drawing bees’. |
| 1923 |
Birth of his brother Guy. |
| 1924 |
Attends a small Church of England school at Murrumbeena
with his sister, Lucy (born 1916). Birth of his
brother David. |
| 1925 – 1930 |
Moves to Murrumbeena State School. During his
school years, joins Cub Pack and the Boy Scouts
through a family friend, Max Nicholson, later lecturer
in English at the University of Melbourne. Nicholson
owns a ‘sort of black spaniel’ which
comes to live at Murrumbeena and is eventually incorporated
into numerous artworks. Spends holidays at Sandringham,
Melbourne (in a house later acquired by Guy and
Phyllis Boyd), where his grandmother, artist Emma
Minnie Boyd nee a’ Beckett (1858 – 1936),
reads stories and lessons from the family Bible.
From an early age, goes off alone on landscape painting
expeditions. Builds a kiln in which he fires the
small clay animals that he models. |
| 1926 |
Birth of his sister Mary. |
| 1929 |
Death of his maternal grandmother, newspaper owner
and writer, Evelyn Gough, who had built a house
(The Bungalow) at Open Country and moved there during
the First World War while Merric Boyd was away on
active service. The Bungalow is later used as a
studio by Merric, John Perceval and Boys himself
at various times. |
| 1931 |
Receives 1st Award for Art at Murrumbeena State
School. |
| 1932 |
Receives 1st Award for Drawing at Murrumbeena
State School. About this time, decided he wants
to be an actor, particularly a comedian. The following
year, goes with his mother to the studio of F. T.
Films in St Kilda, Melbourne, to try for a job but
is unsuccessful. Also makes films with his cousins,
Pat and Robin Boyd. |
| 1933 |
Receives 1st Award for Art at Murrumbeena State
School. |
| 1934 |
Receives Special 1st Award for Drawing at Murrumbeena
State School. Towards end of this year, meets artist
Wilfred McCulloch (brother of painter, critic and
writer, Alan McCulloch) on the beach at Wilson’s
Promontory and is taken home to meet the family.
Paints near Cape Schanck with both Wilfred and Alan
at a camp pioneered by Harold Beatty. |
| 1935 |
After leaving school, works in his uncle Ralph
Madder’s paint factory in Fitzroy where he
earns twelve and sixpence, then fifteen shillings
a week. Introduces Madder’s daughter, Patricia,
to their cousin Robin Boyd (the future Melbourne
architect) at Murrumbeena; Patricia and Robin subsequently
marry. Attends night classes at National Gallery
Art School on Melbourne but leaves, feeling frustrated,
after about six months; only other formal study
etching lessons with Jessie Traill at her Flinders
Street studio several years later and lithography
at Melbourne Technical College on the early 1950’s.
Max Nicholson visits the family regularly to read
aloud in the Brown Room and discuss literature;
Doris Boyd reads aloud as well. Boyd and Wilfred
McCulloch become acquainted with the work of Van
Gogh through a postcard owned by Robin Boyd, or
seen in the Primrose Pottery Shop, at Gino Nibbi’s
Leonardo Bok Shop, both in Melbourne. He also particularly
remembers seeing a reproduction of The tempest by
Oskar Kokoschka about this time. Takes his paints
on the cable train and goes down to the Yarra River
every Saturday afternoon; also paints regularly
with his cousin Pat Boys who teaches him to use
a palette knife. |
| 1936 |
September: death of Emma Minnie Boyd. His grandfather,
painter Arthur Merric Boyd sells the Sandringham
house and moves to family cottage at Rosebud on
the Mornington Peninsula, inviting Boyd to live
with him. Boyd stays there for about three years,
receiving tuition and painting landscapes and coastal
views, as well as numerous portraits (mainly of
family members) and self-portraits. Given an account
by his grandfather at Norman’s, an artist’s
paint shop in Melbourne. Returns at intervals to
Ralph Madder’s factory for agricultural machinery
in the Sunshine Harvesters and H. B. Massey Harris
building in Bourke Street, near Spencer Street Station,
for temporary jobs. Builds a raft, which he later
transforms into a sailing dinghy, during this period
and spends many hours at sea. |
| 1937 |
Begins to sell paintings to Sedon Galleries in
Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, above Robertson and
Mullens bookshop. Holds his first solo exhibition
(oil paintings) at Westminster Gallery, Little Collins
Street, Melbourne, run by Mr Fitzgerald; some works
sell for as much as eight guineas. From about this
time, has the use of his grandfather’s car,
a 1929 Dodge Tourer, which gives him more mobility.
Receives money from his grandfather to build studio
in the garden of Open Country, designed by Robin
Boyd who has begun to study architecture. (‘This
design was very original and modern. I built the
studio with my own hands’) December / January:
shows paintings at an exhibition held at his uncle
Penleigh Boyd’s Studio at Warrrandyte. |
| 1938 |
Through Nicholson meets recently arrived Polish
refugee painter, Josl Bergner, and hears about conditions
in Germany under National Socialism. Bergner has
already seen Boyd’s paintings in the window
of the Westminster Gallery where they are displayed
by Fitzgerald to attract passers-by. Continues to
execute landscapes and portraits but also produces
a series of more violent paintings in response to
his reading of Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers
Karamazov. |
| 1939 |
January – February: painting trip with brother
David around north-eastern Victoria, through the
Alps and to Jamieson, in the Dodge. Trips into the
country with Wilfred McCulloch and Keith Nichol
and paints bush scenes at Launching Place on the
Yarra River with artist Jo Sweatman. Later in the
year, his grandfather becomes ill and Boyd takes
him back to Murrumbeena to be looked after to be
looked after by Doris Boyd. Buys ten acres of land
at Hastings. Visits the Herald Exhibition of French
and British Contemporary Art in Melbourne and subsequently
paints in Doris Boyd’s bedroom a frieze of
horses inspired by Franz Marc. This replaces an
earlier mural by Merric Boyd. |
| 1940 |
July 30: death of Arthur Merric Boyd at Murrumbeena.
November: holds first full scale exhibition at Athenaeum
Gallery, Collins Street, Melbourne with Nichol showing
seventy-six works, mainly landscapes (catalogue
and invitation designed by Robin Boyd). Together
with Wilfred and Alan McCulloch, dances a parody
of the ballet, Spectre de la Rose in the Lower Town
Hall in aid of the Red Cross; Boyd first glimpsed
by Yvonne Lennie (born 7 August 1920), who is then
working with Alan McCulloch at the Commonwealth
Bank. Goes on painting expeditions to various parts
of Victoria with cousins Pat and Robin Boyd. |
| 1941 |
May 12: conscripted into army; joins Light Horse
unit which is soon disbanded. Encouraged by Nichol,
applies for a place in the Cartographic Company,
where he meets John Perceval. Originally stationed
at Ballarat; then goes to Balcombe on the Mornington
Peninsula where he spends two months training as
a machine gunner. Attends life drawing classes with
artist Nutter Buzacott (who is in the same army
unit) in the Dudley Building, Collins Street, Melbourne.
Perceval and Noel Counihan also attend these classes,
run by a commercial artist’ association, as
well as Yvonne Lennie. She introduces him to Joy
Hester and Bert Tucker and John and Sunday Reed;
also forms a close friendship with Sidney Nolan.
Later transfers to the Melbourne Cartographic Unit.
The company’s headquarters are in Swanston
Street, opposite the Melbourne Public Library and
National Gallery of Victoria building, where he
and Perceval go at lunchtime to study art books.
Briefly sets up studio with Perceval in old stable
at South Yarra. September: holds joint exhibition
with Bergner and Counihan at Rowden White Library,
University of Melbourne. (NB: This is the first
and only time he exhibits with Bergner; references
to a joint exhibition of 1939, mentioned in earlier
literature, are incorrect). |
1942 |
Sent with Cartographic Company to Bendigo where
they camp at an old mining mansion, Fortuna. Yvonne
comes up to Bendigo to be with him. Appalled by
the thought of war, attempts to get out of the army
by acting ‘strangely’ (a strategy suggested
to him by Tucker) and spends some time in the Heidelberg
Hospital where he undergoes psychiatric assessment.
Later changes his mind and after returning to the
Cartographic Company, begins to travel regularly
from Melbourne to Bendigo, picking up maps; when
he comes down from Bendigo, stays overnight in a
warehouse in South Melbourne. Then allowed to ‘live
out’, moves with Yvonne to a flat at 2 Henry
Street, Fitzroy (on the corner of Nicholson Street),
above a garage. Later is removed from Cartographic
Company and becomes a transport driver in Melbourne.
Paints infrequently but produces numerous drawings
on lithographic paper ‘supplied’ by
the Army. Does a few pictures while in camp at Bendigo
and is hauled up by the officers; one anti-war work
confiscated. August: Perceval discharged from army
and goes to live at Open Country where he and Peter
Herbst (later a tutor in philosophy at University
of Melbourne) learn the rudiments of pottery from
Merric Boyd. Perceval first shares Arthur’s
studio before building his own next door. August
– September: exhibits with Contemporary Art
Society in Melbourne and Sydney. |
| 1943 |
Through Tucker, becomes acquainted with Max Doerner’s
The Materials of the Artist and their Use in Painting
(first English edition, 1943) and begins to use
ICI chemical paints are obtained from Bligh’s
Colourworks in Melbourne, a firm long patronised
by Merric Boyd. Tucker also demonstrates to him
the technique of putting muslin on to thick, heavy
cardboard, again from Doerner; for several years,
these supports are prepared for Boyd by Perceval.
Meets Neil Douglas, later author, artist and conservationist,
August – September: exhibits with Contemporary
Art Society on Melbourne. |
| 1944 |
March 25: discharges from army. Still living at
2 Henry Street, Fitzroy but later moves back to
Open Country. June – July: exhibits with Contemporary
Art Society Exhibition in Sydney. November: Mary
Boyd marries Perceval at Open Country and they move
into The Bungalow. Buys Hatton Beck’s pottery
in Neerim Road, Murrumbeena with Perceval and Herbst
(Beck had gone into airforce) and forms the Arthur
Merric Boyd Pottery Workshop. Neil Douglas joins
pottery as decorator as does Tim Burstall (who arrives
the next year), Betty Burstall, Dorothy Meyer, Martin
Smith (who later becomes Boyd’s framer), John
Yule and Joy Murphy. Tucker and Charles Blackman
reputedly give occasional help as fettlers. Initially,
the pottery producers utilitarian wares as part
of the war effort. |
| 1945 |
March 6: marries Yvonne at The Manse, 109 Willesden
Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne. Begins work on series
of biblical paintings, 1945 – 47. Early purchasers
include Gerd Buchdahl (later at Cambridge University),
Franz Philipp and Allan McBriar, all staff members
at University of Melbourne. Also completes a number
of portraits of friends. August – November:
exhibits with Contemporary Art Society in Melbourne
and Sydney. |
| 1946 |
Herbst discharged from army and returns to Murrumbeena;
does some throwing and designing, but mainly concerned
with administration. Beginning of the second phase
of ceramics, biblical subjects. July: holds joint
exhibition with Nolan and Tucker at Rowden White
Library; University of Melbourne, organised by Max
Nicholson. November: birth of first child, Polly.
Exhibits with Contemporary Art Society in Sydney. |
| 1947 |
Completes cycle of religious paintings. Paints
backdrop for Peter O’Shaughnessy’s production
of Love’s Labour’s Lost at Arrow Theatre,
Middle Park, Melbourne. Tucker and Nolan leave Melbourne;
Perceval stops painting temporarily and concentrates
on pottery. |
| 1948 |
Boyd executes a number of Berwick landscapes;
visits the far south coast of New South Wales; and
over the summer of 1948 – 49, he and his family
spend painting holiday with poet Jack Stephenson,
at Horsham. August: Boyd’s uncle, novelist
Martin Boyd, returns to Australia and acquires from
a cousin the former a’ Beckett family home
known as The Grange at Harkaway near Berwick in
Victoria. Situated on the brow of a hill, it has
a superb view over open country and the distant
bay. Martin Boyd sets out to restore building and
commissions his nephew to paint murals around the
four walls of the dining room. This is Boyd’s
first commission. Work on the murals, which are
painted with casein tempera mixed with powder colour,
begins in late 1948. Each composition has a biblical
theme, the major one on the west wall depicting
the Return of the Prodigal Son. Initially commutes
from Murrumbeena but then moves with Yvonne and
Polly into a house. November: birth of son, Jamie
at The Grange. |
| 1949 |
Returns to Open Country after completing murals
at The Grange. Painting trips to north-west Victoria,
the Grampians and the Wimmera. Begins work on ceramic
(tile) paintings, devising his own techniques. Geoffrey
Dutton shows Boyd paintings to English art historian,
T. S. R. Boase, in Oxford. |
| 1950 |
Over next few years, travels through Wimmera District
and begins work on series of related paintings.
Herbst departs for Oxford and his partnership in
pottery is taken over by Neil Douglas. September:
first retrospective exhibition at David Jones’
Art Gallery, Sydney. Mid-day, the Wimmera (painting,
c. 1950) purchased by Art Gallery of New South Wales;
Irrigation lake, Wimmera (painting, c. 1950) purchased
by National Gallery of Victoria. |
| 1951 |
Takes train known as The Ghan from Port Augusta
to Alice Springs, a journey of three days; Lake
Eyre, seen en route, has water for the first time
in years. Visits Rex Batterbee in Alice Springs,
then travels by old army jeep to Arltunga, a former
mining area, where he sleeps out on the ground.
Does numerous drawings from the train as well as
the jeep; these form the basis of his later Bride
series. Martin Boyd sells The Grange and leaves
Australia. From this year has solo exhibitions in
commercial galleries almost annually, often several
in one year. |
| 1952 |
Landscape, Grampians
(painting, 1950) purchased by National Gallery
of Victoria; Irrigation Lake, Horsham (painting,
1950) purchased by Art Gallery of South Australia. |
| 1953 |
Designs programme cover for production of The
Old Man of the Mountains by Norman Nicholson, at
Ormond College and Women’s College, Melbourne.
July – August: included in Twelve Australian
Artists at New Burlington Galleries, London. The
Whale putting Jonah in its mouth (ceramic painting
1950) acquired by National Gallery of Victoria 1953
– 54: produces a small number of tempera landscapes,
based on his central Australian sketchbooks. |
| 1954 |
Sells land at Hastings. December: receives commission
for ceramic pylon (or ‘Totem Pole’)
at Olympic Swimming Pool, Melbourne. The waterhole
with birds, near Alice Springs (painting, c. 1954)
acquired by National Gallery of Victoria; Cyanide
tanks, Bendigo (painting, c. 1952) acquired by Art
Gallery of South Australia; Creek near Rosebud (painting,
1937) acquired by Art Gallery of Western Australia;
Saul and David (ceramic sculpture, 1954) purchased
by National Gallery of Victoria. |
| 1955 |
Leaves Murrumbeena early in the year and moves
to house (formerly owned by artist Sasha Halpern)
at 26 Surf Avenue, Beaumaris, a beach suburb on
Port Phillip Bay, where he and his family live until
1959. Visitors to Surf Avenue include Clifton Pugh
and family, Robert Hughes, Robert Dickerson, John
and Helen Brack, and Georges Mora and family; Charles
and Barbara Blackman often come at weekends. Engaged
in abstract work in small colour cubes for the mural
Crucifixion in St John’s Yallourn, Gippsland,
Later transferred to a new church in Morwell. Also
produces other pure abstract paintings during this
period. Executes stage designs for Love’s
Labour’s Lost produced by O’Shaughnessy
at Arrow Theatre, Middle Park, Melbourne. Invited
to join Decorations Sub-Committee (under Kenneth
Myer), of the Olympic Civic Committee, to organise
the decorations of the City of Melbourne; Robin
Boyd also a member. |
1956 |
Continues work on ceramic pylon with Yvonne and
sculptor Robert Langley: loses £400, due to
soaring costs, by completion of commission. Installation
of sculpture at Olympic Swimming Pool, Melbourne.
Painting trips to upper reaches of the Goulburn
River between Woods Point and Jamieson, to Gippsland
and to their parts of Victoria, which result in
large output of landscapes. Also visits Sorrento
with Fred Williams and Perceval. Resumes Aboriginal
themes in Love, marriage and death of a half-caste
(Bride) series. Executes stage designs for King
Lear, produced by O’Shaughnessy in Melbourne.
Opening of Australian Galleries under directorship
pf Anne and Thomas (Tam) Purves. T. S. R. Boase,
now President of Magdalen College, Oxford, visits
Australia and sees ceramic sculptures at Surf Avenue. |
| 1957 |
Continues work on Bride series; Also paints landscapes
on the Mornington Peninsula. |
| 1958 |
Selected to be co-representative with the late
Sir Arthur Streeton at Venice Biennale eight loan
works shown, all landscapes). Cessation of Arthur
Merric Boyd Pottery as a partnership. One of twelve
artists invited by Kelvinator to decorate refrigerators
which are exhibited in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne
and Adelaide (Art in Everyday Life); chooses as
his subject a version of Leda and the swan. Shearers
playing for a bride (painting, 1957) presented to
National Gallery of Victoria by Tristram Buesst.
May 1: birth of second daughter Lucy Ellen Gough.
April – May: first exhibition of Bride paintings
at Australian Galleries, Melbourne; later shown
in Adelaide and Sydney. August: enters five works
(all Bride series) in Helena Rubinstein Travelling
Art Scholarship at Art Gallery of New South Wales,
Sydney. 1958 – 59: painting trip to Barmah
and Echuca Forests with Fred Williams. |
| 1959 |
Eight-minute film, The Black Man and His Bride
(also known as Love, Marriage and Death of a Half-caste),
made by Patrick Ryan and Tim Burstall. Signs Antipodean
Manifesto together with Blackman, Brack, Dickerson,
Perceval, Pugh, Bernard Smith and David Boyd. September
9: death of Merric Boyd at Murrumbeena. September
– October: enters five works (all Bride series)
in Helena Rubinstein Travelling Art Scholarship
at Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Tam Purves
of Australian Galleries guarantees him sum of twenty
pounds a week for six months if he supplies pictures;
takes out mortgage on house for fare to England.
November: travels to London with his family aboard
Iberia, bearing introductions from Eric Westbrook,
Director of National Gallery of Victoria and Professor
Joseph Burke, University of Melbourne, to Dr Lilian
Sommerville, Director of the British Council and
to Sir Kenneth Clark. Dr Sommerville arranges a
meeting with Bryan Robertson, Director of Whitechapel
Art Gallery; also makes early contact with Anton
Zwemmer of Zwemmer Gallery through Bergner. Barry
Humphries arrives in London. Rents a house at 13
Hampstead Lane, Highgate. |
| 1960 |
First visits to National Gallery London and Louvre
in Pairs: sees Picasso retrospective at Tate Gallery.
Goes on extended car journey to Germany, Austria,
Venice and Tuscany; impressed by Simone Martini,
Piero della Francesca, Masaccio and other early
Renaissance painters. Further development of Bride
series and ‘nude in landscape’ theme.
June 13: death of Doris Boyd. August: first solo
exhibition (mainly Bride series) in London, at Zwemmer
Gallery; favourably reviewed by local press. |
| 1961 |
Continues to work on Bride series and ‘nude
in landscape; theme. June – July: two works
included in Recent Australian Painting at Whitechapel
Gallery, London. July – August: executes décor
and costume designs for Western Theatre Ballet production
of Stravinsky’s ballet Renard presented at
Edinburgh Festival and later at Sadler’s Wells.
October – November: eleven early works included
in The Formative Years 1940 – 45 at Museum
of Modern Art of Australia, Melbourne (together
with works by Nolan, Perceval and Tucker). December:
visit with Blackman and Humphries to Goya exhibition
at Jacquemart Andre Museum in Paris. |
1962 |
Moves to 42 Well Walk Hampstead for two months
(house owned by a friend of Herbst and next door
to house in which Constable had lived), then rents
house at 43 Flask Walk Hampstead. Here he installs
a kiln and printing press and begins first series
of etchings. Also starts work on a new series of
ceramic paintings. Visits European galleries with
Leonard French. Meets Walter Neurath, founder of
publishing house Thames and Hudson and publisher
T. G. Rosenthal, as well as artist Oskar Kokoschka,
who comments favourably on his work. June –
July: major retrospective exhibition at Whitechapel
Gallery, London, including sixty-four of which are
executed between 1960 and 1962. Exhibition arouses
an extraordinary amount of interest in both English
and Australian press. |
| 1963 |
Wimmera landscape commissioned for Viscount Collection
in Australia. Executes stage designs for ballet
Elektra with choreography by Robert Helpmann and
music by Malcolm Arnold; first performance (March)
at Royal Opera House, Convent Garden; later at Metropolitan
Opera House, New York and, with new costumes, at
Adelaide Festival (March 1966) and other Australian
cities. January – March: included in Australian
Painting: Colonial, Impressionist, Contemporary
exhibition at Tate Gallery, London (also toured
Canada, May / June). June: included in British Painting
in the Sixties at Tate Gallery, London. September:
awarded H. C. Richards Memorial Prize for Painting.
Included in Australian Painting Today, Commonwealth
Art Advisory Board touring exhibition shown in Europe. |
| 1964 |
Invited to produce Romeo and Juliet polyptych
for The Shakespeare Exhibition in Stratford, Edinburgh
and London March: retrospective exhibition at National
Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide (includes many
paintings from Whitechapel retrospective). May:
retrospective exhibition at Museum of Modern Art
and Design of Australia, Melbourne (includes many
paintings from retrospectives in London and Adelaide). |
| 1965 |
Buys 13 Hampstead Land, Highgate, and moves there
from 51 Flask Walk, Hampstead. Drawings for ‘Voice
and Verse’ made into stage drops for evening
of poetry readings at Royal Court Theatre, London,
during Commonwealth Festival of Art (under auspices
of Commonwealth Institute). Romeo and Juliet polyptych
purchased by National Gallery of Victoria for $5000. |
| 1966 |
Begins Nebuchadnezzar paintings in response to
self-immolations that take place on Hampstead Health,
near his house, to protest against the Vietnam War.
Takes first and only aeroplane flight, to Paris
with Nolan, to see Hommage a Pablo Picasso at Grand
Palais. March: designs new Elektra costumes for
Adelaide Festival of Arts. Taner Baybars, A Trap
for the Burglar, with fifteen drawings by Arthur
Boyd, London, Peter Owen, 1966; Sydney: Ure Smith,
1966. |
1967 |
Clune Galleries organises first tapestry, Nebuchadnezzar
subject, to be woven by the Portalegre tapestry
works in Portugal. Included in Australian Painters
1964 – 66 at Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington,
DC. Franz Philipp, Arthur Boyd, London: Thames and
Hudson. |
| 1968 |
May – September: returns to Australia (via
the Cape) for first time in nine years. Revisits
state galleries in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney
and travels north along the east coast as far as
Cooktown, Queensland, by car and train. Finds his
father’s drawings at Murrumbeena and paints
‘while going back to places like Rosebud and
around the sandbanks where my parents courted’.
This experience provides inspiration for Potter
series of paintings. March: Nebuchadnezzar paintings
shown at Bonython Art Gallery, Adelaide (Festival
of Arts). T. S. R. Boase, St Francis of Assisi,
with sixteen lithographs by Arthur Boyd, London:
Thames and Hudson, 1968. Nebuchadnezzar caught in
a forest 1967 acquired by Art Gallery of South Australia. |
| 1969 |
Rents Keeper’s
Cottage at Ramsholt, near Woodridge, Suffolk for
weekends and holidays. Bronze casts of ceramic
sculptures made by Vittorio & Fernando, Melbourne.
Towards end of year, visits Rembrandt exhibition
in Amsterdam with Tim Burstall and Patrick and
Rose Ryan. Retrospective exhibition at Richard
Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh. |
| 1970 |
Paints landscapes in Suffolk. Visits to Manufactura
de Tapeciarias de Portalegre, Portugal in connection
with tapestries made from Nebuchadnezzar series.
Lady and the Unicorn series of etchings and aquatints,
a collaboration between Boyd and Peter Porter, commissioned
by Melbourne gallery owner, Georges Mora. March:
winner of 1969 Medallion of the International Cooperation
Award Committee, Adelaide. April – May: Arthur
Boyd’s Australia shown at National Gallery
of Victoria (Cook Centenary). July – August:
Four Australian Artists: Boyd, Hessing, Nolan, Owen
at Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh. Portfolio
of Lysistrata etchings and aquatints published by
The Ganymed Press, London. |
| 1971 |
Recipient of $10,000 Britannica Australia award
for the arts. March: Lysistrata mural, a major commission,
installed at St Helier Hospital, Carshalton, UK
(Now owned by Art Gallery of New South Wales). October
1: Leaves England with his family to take up Creative
Art Fellowship at Australian National University,
Canberra; exhibition (paintings, graphics, ceramics
and tapestries) at Melville Hall, Australian National
University, organised by the Arts Council of Australia.
December: spends Christmas with his family at Bundanon
as guests of dealer, Frank McDonald, and his mother
and sister. Paints first Shoalhaven landscapes.
Peter Stark, Tomorrow’s Ghosts, twenty-eight
poems with fourteen original etchings by Arthur
Boyd, Guilford, UK, Circle Publications, 1971. Arthur
Boyd Etchings and Lithographs, with an introduction
by Imre von Maltzahn, London: Lund Humphries. |
1972 |
January: remains at Bundanon for several weeks;
back in Canberra paints life-size nude paintings
in the bush as well as landscape sketches. February:
retrospective exhibition at Skinner Galleries, Perth
(works previously shown at QNU Exhibition). Leaves
Australia at end of the month. June: Fischer Fine
Art established; Boyd taken on by Harry Fischer
as one of their regular exhibitors. December: exhibition
of graphic work shown at Municipal Gallery of Modern
Art, Dublin (organised by the Australian Embassy
and the Arts Council+. T. S. R. Boase, Arthur Boyd:
Nebuchadnezzar, London: Thames and Hudson. |
| 1973 |
August: starts negotiations to buy Riversdale,
a Shoalhaven property near Bundanon, with the assistance
of Frank McDonald who writes 27 August: ‘The
prettiest part of the farm rises steeply from the
water making it possible to have a house commanding
much better river views than we can have at Bundanon’
Christopher Tadgell, Arthur Boyd Drawings 1934 –
1970, with a foreword by Laurie Thomas, London:
Secker and Warburg and Sydney: Rudy Komon Gallery,
1983: Arthur Boyd and Peter Porter, Jonah, London:
Secker and Warburg. |
| 1974 |
Executes small paintings on copper of Shoalhaven
scenes. September: work begins at Riversdale; new
colonial-style building designed by Andre Pobreski
erected on site adjacent to original house. October;
returns to Australia to live at Earie Park (owned
by writer and critic Sandra McGrath, Later sold
to the Boyds and the Nolans) while Riversdale is
being finished. |
| 1975 |
Australian National Gallery purchases twenty tapestries
including St Francis series (some subsequently used
in re-furnishing of Yarralumla, the Governor-General’s
residence in Canberra). Visit to Shoalhaven by Peter
Porter. February: retrospective exhibition of drawings
at Rudy Komon Art Gallery, Sydney (sixty-five works
acquired from exhibition by Art Gallery of South
Australia). April: presents large collection of
pastels, sculptures, ceramics, etchings, tapestries,
about 200 paintings and more than 2500 drawings
to National Gallery of Australia. May: moves to
Riversdale. Returns to England later in the year
and takes up residence at Ramsholt, where he has
acquired a lease. Arthur Boyd and Peter Porter,
The Lady and Unicorn, London: Secker and Warburg. |
| 1976 |
Begins work on Narcissus series of paintings. |
| 1977 |
Included in The Heroic Years of Australian Painting
1940 – 1965, touring regional galleries of
Victoria. July – September: exhibition of
paintings from 1972 and 1973 at University Art Gallery,
University of Melbourne. November – December:
visits Courbet exhibition at Grand Palais, Paris. |
| 1978 |
February: returns to Australia for the whole year
to paint Shoalhaven landscapes. Visits Lawrence
Daws at Graphic Department, University of Queensland,
to use etching facilities. Alexander Pushkin, Pushkin’s
Fairy Tales, with lithographs by Arthur Boyd, translated
by Janet Dalley, London: Barrie and Jenkins. Television
film, A Man of Two Worlds with John Read (producer,
writer and narrator) a BBC and ABC co-production. |
| 1979 |
Purchases Bundanon from Frank McDonald and stockbroker
Tony McGrath. Awarded Order of Australia (AO) for
services to art. January: returns to Ramsholt. February
– March: exhibition of Shoalhaven and Narcissus
paintings, lithographs and watercolours at Fremantle
Art Gallery, Perth. August: St Francis tapestries
shown in the Great Hall, National Gallery of Victoria. |
| 1980 |
February: seventeen works included in Australian
Drawings of the Thirties and Forties at National
Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. |
| 1981 |
Returns to Australia to live at Bundanon. He and
Nolan fight to stop sand-dredging near Riversdale
on the Shoalhaven. April: Elektra design included
in exhibition of ballet costumes at Victoria and
Albert Museum, London. Solo exhibitions in Melbourne
(September – October) and Sydney (November).
November: included in Modernism, Murrumbeena and
Angry Penguins. The Boxer Collection, Nolan Gallery,
Lanyon Homestead, ACT. |
| 1982 |
The house, Paretaio (acquired in the early 1970’s),
near Palaio in Tuscany, is made available to Australia
Council’s Visual Arts Board as a studio within
their Artist in Residence programme. Bundanon declared
a Wildlife Refuge under the provisions of the New
South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Act, to
achieve by appropriate management the restoration
of the wildlife habitat and forest areas to a state
of naturalness. Also, an interim Trust comprising
Boyd, Nolan and Melbourne solicitor William Lasica,
is formed to commence work towards creating at Bundanon
a home for the artworks to be donated by Arthur
and Yvonne and other Australian artists. July: returns
to Ramsholt. August: tapestry (The prodigal son)
commissioned by Miss Margaret Feilman and Miss Patricia
Feilman in memory of their mother, Ethel Anne, presented
to Art Gallery of Western Australia. December –
March 1983: subsequently represented in The Painter
as Potter: Decorated Ceramics of the Murrumbeena
Circle, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
Sandra McGrath, The Artist and the River, Sydney:
Bay Books. |
| 1983 |
March: substantially represented in The Boyd Family.
A survey of the Bundanon Collection at Arts Council
Gallery, Canberra and touring venues. May: loan
exhibition of paintings, lithographs and etchings
mounted by Broken Hill City Art Gallery. |
| 1984 |
January: leaves London to return to Bundanon;
arrives in February. Receives commission from Parliament
House Authority to design tapestry for reception
hall at new Parliament House, Canberra. Also commissioned
to paint sixteen canvases for the foyer of the Victorian
Art Centre, Melbourne. Begins work on the Bather
series. Donates painting to set up Arthur Boyd Fund
for Marine Mammals. June: works from the collection
shown at Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.
September: during exhibition of Narcissus etchings
in Tokyo, a full frontal male nude is removed by
Customs. Arthur Boyd and Peter Porter, Narcissus,
London: Secker and Warburg, 1984. |
| 1985 |
April: leaves Australia to return to England.
June – September: Seven Persistent Images,
a major exhibition based on Arthur Boyd Gift of
1975, at Australian National Gallery, Canberra.
Arthur Boyd in the Landscape, film directed by Don
Featherstone, for London Weekend Television’s
South Bank Show, to be broadcast in 1986. |
| 1986 |
Seven Persistent Images tours regional galleries
in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales.
November – December: loan exhibition of Bride
series at Heide Park and Art Gallery, Melbourne.
Ursula Hoff, The Art of Arthur Boyd, London: Andre
Deutsch. |
| 1987 |
Tapestry installed at Parliament House, Canberra. |
| 1988 |
Executes huge enamel mural for Harry Seidler’s
Shell house in Melbourne (completed 1989). May –
August: 28 loan works included in Angry Penguins
and Realist Painting in Melbourne in the 1940’s
at Hayward Gallery, London. September: selected
to represent Australia at 43rd Venice Biennale with
eight works. Commissioned to paint Earth and fire,
front cover for 28 November issue dealing with environmental
conversation in Australia. Portrait painted by Nolan
for Archibald Prize at Art Gallery of New South
Wales, Sydney. Receives award as Irish-Australian
of the year. |
| 1989 |
February: Venice Biennale works shown at Art Gallery
of New South Wales, Sydney. February – October:
exhibition of works from collection of Mornington
Peninsula Arts Centre, touring regional galleries
in Victoria. |
| 1990 |
Australian Government accepts in principle the
gift of Bundanon. Patricia Dobrez and Peter Herbst,
The Art of the Boyds, Sydney: Bay Books. |
| 1991 |
Magic Flute series exhibited at Sydney Opera House,
organised by Wagner Gallery , and touring regional
galleries 1991 – 92. |
| 1992 |
Awarded Companion of the Order of Australia. Leaves
England for a year to travel to Italy and Australia;
his absence from England ensures no UK inheritance
tax on Bundanon gift. Arrives in Australia October. |
| 1993 |
February: Prime Minister, Paul Keating, announces
acceptance of gift of 1000 hectare property, Bundanon
(an amalgam of Bundanon, Riversdale and anther neighbouring
property) on behalf of the nation. Gift also includes
several thousand works of art from five generations
of Boyds and other Australian artists. Remains in
Australia for the whole year.
December – March 1994: major retrospective
exhibition at Art Gallery of New South Wales and
touring venues. |
| Solo Exhibitions |
| 1937 |
(Oil paintings), Westminster Gallery, Melbourne
(no catalogue) |
1949 |
(Oil and tempera paintings), Kozminsky Galleries,
Melbourne, December (no catalogue) |
| 1950 |
David Jones’ Art Gallery, Sydney, 4 –
6 September, 42 paintings |
| 1951 |
John Martin’s Art Gallery, Adelaide, opened
12 April, 17 paintings; Stanley Coe Gallery, Melbourne,
18 – 27 September, 14 paintings; (Ceramic
Paintings), Peter Bray Galleries, Melbourne, (no
catalogue); Retrospective, Princes Gallery, Melbourne
(no catalogue) |
| 1952 |
Princes Gallery, Melbourne, opened 8 July 15 paintings;
(Ceramic Paintings), Peter Bray Galleries, Melbourne,
26 August – 4 September (no catalogue); Macquarie
Galleries, Sydney, 15 – 27 October, 34 ceramic
paintings; Retrospective, John Martin’s Art
Gallery, Adelaide (no catalogue) |
| 1953 |
The Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane 9 – 19 June,
21 ceramic paintings: John Martins Art Gallery,
Adelaide, 2 – 16 July, 15 ceramic paintings,
7 ‘tempera and resin’ paintings, 3 oil
paintings; Peter Bray Gallery, Melbourne, 15 –
24 September, 36 paintings, 16 ceramic paintings. |
| 1954 |
Peter Bray Gallery, Melbourne, 15 – 24 September,
16 ceramic sculptures |
| 1958 |
Allegorical Painting , Australian Galleries, Melbourne,
22 April – 5 May, 20 paintings, 1 ceramic
painting; Exhibition by Arthur Boyd: Allegorical
Paintings, Royal South Australian Society of Arts
Gallery, Jun, 15 paintings; Allegorical Paintings,
Terry Clune Galleries, Sydney, June (no catalogue);
Paintings, David Jones’ Art Gallery, Sydney
1 – 13 October, 18 paintings, 1 ceramic painting |
| 1959 |
Australian Galleries, Melbourne, 14 – 23
April, 18 paintings |
| 1960 |
Zwemmer Gallery, London, 19 July – 20 August,
17 paintings |
| 1962 |
Retrospective, Whitechapel Gallery, London, June
– July, 150 paintings, 8 drawings, 16 ceramic
paintings |
| 1963 |
Australian Galleries,
Melbourne, 19 March – 5 April, 12 paintings,
32 drypoints and etchings; Terry Clune Galleries,
Sydney, 12 – 28 June, 17 paintings, 32 drypoints
and etchings; Zwemmer Gallery, London, 3 –
30 October, 46 ceramic paintings |
| 1964 |
Retrospective, Art Gallery of South Australia,
Adelaide (Adelaide Festival of Arts), 7 March –
5 April, 52 paintings. 7 ceramic sculptures and
ceramic paintings, 4 etchings (mainly loan works);
Retrospective, Museum of Modern Art and Design of
Australia, Melbourne, 5 – 28 May, 56 paintings;
Bear Lane Gallery, Oxford, April, 3 paintings, 1
drypoint etching, 19 etchings, 10 drypoints, 18
ceramic paintings, 22 drawings; Arts Council Gallery,
Cambridge, 6 – 27 June 1964, 3 paintings,
1 drypoint etching, 19 etchings, 10 drypoints, 18
ceramic paintings, 22 drawings |
| 1965 |
Skinner Galleries, Perth (Arts Festival of Perth),
opened 16 February, 41 pastels, 2 etchings, 10 drypoints;
Australian Galleries, Melbourne, 27 July –
13 August, 47 pastels |
| 1966 |
Hungry Horse Art Gallery, Sydney, 28 March –
14 April, 22 pastels, 21 lithographs; Bonython Art
Gallery, Adelaide, 28 August – 15 September,
14 paintings, drawings |
| 1967 |
Clune Galleries, Sydney, opened 4 July, tapestries,
drawings; The Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane, 25 July
– 9 August, 47 etchings and drypoints, 24
paintings; South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne, 11 –
28 September, tapestries, paintings, pastels, drawings,
lithographs |
| 1968 |
The Judge, Union Hall Cellar, University of South
Australia, 7 – 23 March, 12 paintings; Bonython
Art Gallery, Adelaide (Adelaide Festival of Arts),
10 – 28 March, 58 paintings; Bonython Art
Gallery, Sydney, 8 – 24 April, 58 paintings
(Nebuchadnezzar); Australian Galleries, Melbourne,
25 June – 5 July, selection from 58 paintings
(Nebuchadnezzar) |
| 1969 |
Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne, opened 16 April,
27 drawings, 7 watercolours, 3 paintings; Retrospective,
The Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh, 14 April
– 10 May 1969, 52 paintings, 56 drawings,
80 etchings and drypoints, 18 pastels, 21 lithographs,
12 ceramic tiles, 2 tapestries (mainly Nebuchadnezzar);
40 Etchings and drypoints, Compress Gallery, Glasgow,
21 June – 12 July; The Johnstone Gallery,
Brisbane, 10 – 23 August, 27 paintings, 50
etchings and drypoints; Hamet Gallery, London, 21
October – 15 November, 5 tapestries, 25 drawings,
25 pastels; Arthur Tooth and Sons Ltd, London, 21
October – 8 November, 21 paintings, 2 pastels
(Nebuchadnezzar); Maltzahn Gallery Ltd, London,
21 October – 10 November, 21 lithographs,
38 etchings and drypoints; Holdsworth Galleries,
Sydney, 28 October – 15 November, 29 works |
| 1970 |
Clune Galleries, Sydney, opened 17 February, 6
tapestries; Arthur Boyd’s Australia, National
Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2 April –
4 May, 61 paintings; South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne,
opened 15 April, 6 tapestries; Skinner Galleries,
Perth, opened 28 April, 19 paintings, 10 drawings,
41 etchings and drypoints; Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne,
opened 23 October, 14 works (stock) |
| 1971 |
Toorak Art Gallery, Melbourne, 29 April –
15 May (no catalogue), drawings; Melville Hall.
Australian National University, Canberra, 21 –
26 October, 105 paintings, 35 ceramic paintings,
5 tapestries, 14 drypoints and etchings; Lysistrata,
Ganymed Gallery, London, April, 30 etchings |
| 1972 |
Retrospective, Skinner Galleries, Perth (Festival
of Perth), opened 20 February, 51 paintings, 33
ceramic paintings, 34 drypoints and etchings; Nebuchadnezzar,
18 drawings and 34 paintings, Arthur Tooth and Sons
Ltd, London; Graphic Work, Municipal Gallery of
Modern Art, Dublin, 12 – 23 December, 54 etchings,
6 drawings, 20 lithographs, etchings, Qantas Gallery,
London (no catalogue) |
| 1973 |
Fischer Fine Art Ltd, London, 17 May – 9
June, 68 paintings, 2 lithographs, etchings |
| 1974 |
Jonah (and launch of book by Peter Porter), Australian
Galleries, Melbourne, 11 – 26 February, 30
etchings; 72 drawings; Drawings and Prints from
the Permanent Collection, National Gallery of Victoria,
Melbourne, 10 October – 10 November, 20 drawings,
8 etchings, 21 lithographs; Lysistrata, Copperfield
Gallery, Mosman, Sydney, opened 31 October, etchings |
| 1975 |
Drawings 1934 –
1970, Rudy Komon Art Gallery, Sydney, opened 8
February, 81 drawings; Drawings, Mornington Peninsula
Arts Centre, Victoria (no catalogue), 60 drawings;
Skinner Galleries, Perth, 19 August – 11
September, 17 paintings |
| 1976 |
Shoalhaven River –
Small Landscapes, Australian Galleries, Melbourne,
19 June – 13 July, 3 watercolours; 21 paintings |
| 1977 |
Fischer Fine Art Ltd, London, 17 February –
18 March, 32 paintings, 24 etchings; Fabian Carlsson
Gallery, Goteborg, Sweden, April (no catalogue):
Paintings 1972 and 1973, University Art Gallery,
University of Melbourne, 19 July – 9 September,
26 paintings; Lysistrata , Wagner Art Gallery, Sydney,
opened 7 September, 30 etchings; The Lady and the
Unicorn, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne, September
(no catalogue), 24 etchings; Bonython Art Gallery,
Adelaide, 5 – 26 November, 28 paintings; Barry
Stern’s Exhibiting Gallery, Sydney, 23 November
– 3 December, 7 lithographs; Drawings, Mornington
Peninsula Arts Centre, Victoria (no catalogue) |
| 1978 |
Rudy Komon Art Gallery, Sydney, 24 June –
20 July, 27 paintings, 18 loan paintings, 13 ceramic
paintings, 19 watercolours, 9 lithographs; Paintings
and Drawings 1944 – 1978, Institute of Modern
Art, Brisbane, 18 September – 18 October,
3 paintings, 9 loan paintings, 10 drawings |
| 1979 |
Fremantle Art Gallery, Perth (Arts Festival of
Perth), 7 February – 11 March, 17 Paintings,
10 lithographs, 15 watercolours; Lister Gallery,
Perth, 5 – 18 June, 15 drypoints and etchings,
16 paintings, 1 watercolour; Australian Galleries,
Melbourne, 6 – 18 August, 26 paintings, 17
watercolours, 2 etchings; Tapestries, National Gallery
of Victoria, Melbourne in conjunction with Australian
Galleries, 7 August – 3 September, 16 tapestries;
Von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle, 5 – 21
October, 18 paintings, 7 watercolours, 24 etchings;
The Lady and the Unicorn, National Gallery of Victoria,
Melbourne, 26 October – 9 December, 24 etchings |
| 1980 |
Bonython Art Gallery, Adelaide (Adelaide Festival
of Arts), 8 – 26 March 1980, 23 paintings;
Recent Paintings, Fischer Fine Art Ltd, London,
13 March – 11 April, 39 paintings; Philip
Bacon Galleries, Brisbane, opened 8 August (no catalogue),
31 paintings; The Art Centre, Kent, UK, 29 November
1980 – 18 January 1981 |
| 1981 |
Tynte Gallery, Adelaide, opened 18 January etchings
and lithographs; Australian Galleries, Melbourne,
21 September – 3 October, 35 paintings; Rudy
Komon Art Gallery, Sydney, opened 21 November, 29
paintings |
| 1982 |
Landscapes and Portraits 1934 – 1949, Bronze
Castings of Four Ceramic Sculptures 1935 –
54, paintings, 1982, Australian Galleries, Melbourne,
11 – 23 October, 47 paintings, 4 bronzes |
| 1983 |
Hong Kong Art Centre,
8 – 21 March (organised by Wagner Art Gallery,
Sydney), 31 paintings; Broken Hill City Art Gallery,
Broken Hill, 6 – 23 May, 9 paintings (loan
works), 7 lithographs, 13 etchings and aquatints;
Fischer Fine Art Ltd, London, 26 October –
25 November, 29 paintings, 24 etchings |
| 1984 |
Drawings, Paintings, Prints and Ceramics (1940
– 1970) from the Collection, Art Gallery of
South Australia, Adelaide, 17 May – 8 July,
79 works; Exhibition of Recent Paintings, Tokyo
Central Museum, Tokyo, 6 – 14 September and
Yamaso Art Gallery, Kyoto (organised by Wagner Art
Gallery, Sydney), 15 paintings, 25 etchings; Solander
Gallery, Canberra, 19 October – 4 November,
10 paintings, 3 lithographs; The Bundanon Series
– Shoalhaven Scenes, Wagner Art Gallery, Sydney,
27 October – 18 November, 23 paintings; Arthur
Boyd, Bonython-Meadmore Gallery, Adelaide, opened
30 November, paintings, etchings |
| 1985 |
Narcissus, Westpac Gallery, Victorian Art Centre,
Melbourne, 7 –17 March, 24 etchings; Holdsworth
Galleries, Sydney, 4 – 22 May, 17 paintings,
24 etchings: Arthur Boyd: 7 Persistent Images, Australian
National Gallery, Canberra, 29 June – 29 September
and touring to Woolongong Art Gallery, 17 January
– 16 February 1986, Sale Regional Arts Centre,
28 February – 28 March, Geelong Art Gallery,
4 April – 9 May, City of Ballarat Fine Art
Gallery, 16 May – 22 June, Riddoch Art Gallery,
Mount Gamber, 9 July – 3 August, City of Mildura
Arts Centre, 9 August – 14 September, City
of Hamilton Art Gallery, 26 September – 26
October, Bendigo Art Gallery, 5 November –
3 December, Benalla Art Gallery, 19 December –
16 January 1987, Albury Regional Art Centre, 30
January – 1 March, 53 paintings, 6 ceramic
paintings, 2 mural fragments, 88 drawings, 1 watercolour,
Australian Galleries, Melbourne, 15 – 30 July,
20 paintings; The Shoalhaven River, Australian High
Commission, Republic of Singapore, 14 – 23
August (organised by Wagner Art Gallery, Sydney),
24 paintings; Narcissus, Solander Gallery, Canberra,
13 September – 6 October, etchings |
| 1986 |
Fischer Fine Art Ltd, London, 10 April –
9 May, 21 paintings; Embassy of Australia, Washington,
DC, 30 May – 21 June (organised by Wagner
Art Gallery, Sydney), 27 paintings; The Bundanon
Paintings, Von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle, 19
September – 12 October, 15 paintings, 24 etchings
and aquatints; The Bride, Heide Park and Art Gallery,
Bulleen, Victoria, 8 November – 14 December,
19 paintings; 1 ceramic painting, 24 drawings (all
loan works) |
| 1987 |
Rex Irwin Gallery, Sydney, 30 June – 18
July, 12 paintings; The Shoalhaven River, The Australian
Consulate General, Los Angeles, California, opened
9 July (organised by Wagner Art Gallery, Sydney),
25 paintings; Wagner Art Gallery, Sydney, 22 September
– 11 October, 36 paintings |
| 1988 |
Origin of Mars, BMG Fine Art, Adelaide, 27 May
– 21 June (Adelaide Festival of the Arts),
Paintings, 24 drawings; Mars Drawings, BMG Fine
Art, Sydney, 27 May – 21 June, 24 drawings:
Paintings 1973 – 1988, XLIII Biennale of Venice
1988, Australian Pavilion, Giardini di Castello,
26 June – 28 September, 8 paintings; Tokyo
Central Museum, 18 – 30 October (organised
by Wagner Art Gallery, Sydney), 9 paintings |
| 1989 |
Paintings 1973 – 1988 shown in XLIII Biennale
of Venice 1988, Art Gallery of New South Wales,
Sydney, 3 – 26 February, 8 paintings; Myths
and Legends, Mornington Peninsula Arts Centre, Victoria,
12 February – 2 April and touring to Bendigo
Art Gallery, 14 April – 21 May, Ararat Art
Gallery, 26 May – 2 July, Mildura Arts Centre,
11 July – 13 August, Benalla Art Gallery,
20 September – 29 October, 30 etchings, 20
drawings, 2 paintings; Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane,
opened 24 February, 59 drawings, 7 paintings; Symbols
of Transformation 1940 – 1960, BMG Fine Art
Show, Sydney, 4 – 27 May, 20 painting; Perth
Galleries, 30 July – 10 August, 5 paintings,
59 drawings; Mars, Von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle,
29 September – 15 October, 55 drawings, 20
paintings |
| 1990 |
Symbols of Transformation 1940 – 1960, BMG
Fine Art, Adelaide (Adelaide Festival of Arts),
2 – 28 March, 20 paintings; Wagner Art Gallery,
Sydney, 20 March – 14 April, 7 paintings;
Fischer Fine Art Ltd, London, 4 July – 3 August,
26 paintings, 3 lithographs; Australian Galleries,
Melbourne, 24 July – 14 August, 24 paintings,
5 drawings, 14 etchings, 7 lithographs |
| 1991 |
Selected Prints, Australian Galleries, Sydney,
6 – 25 May, 6 collographs, 30 etchings, 4
lithographs; Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane, 14
May – 7 June, 18 paintings, 1 ceramic painting,
1 drawing; The Magic Flute Series and Other Paintings,
Pyramid Art Gallery, New York, 14 May – 9
June (organised by Wagner Art Gallery, Sydney),
22 paintings, 49 drawings, 1 etching set, 1 lithograph
set, 1 collograph set; Australian Galleries, Melbourne,
3 – 22 June, 13 collographs, 31 etchings,
4 lithographs; BMG Fine Art, Adelaide, 28 June –
27 July; Mars Drawings, Recent Collographs and Oil
Paintings, Wagner Art Gallery, Sydney, 3 –
28 September, 50 drawings, 10 paintings, 16 collographs,
1 lithograph: The Magic Flute Series, Opera House,
Sydney, 3 – 28 September (organised by Wagner
Art Gallery, Sydney) and touring to Wagga Wagga
City Gallery, 6 February – 8 March 1992, Dubbo
Regional Art Gallery, 1 May – 7 June, Grafton
Regional Art Gallery, 1 July – 30 August,
Brisbane City Hall Art Gallery and Museum, 12 September
– 11 October, 13 paintings; 5 Decades, Savill
Galleries, Sydney, 19 September – 23 October,
34 paintings, 2 ceramic paintings, 1 drawing; Decades,
Gould Galleries, Melbourne, 26 October – 11
November, 34 paintings, 1 drawing |
| 1992 |
Verlie Just Town Gallery and Japan Room, Brisbane,
2 September – 2 October, 4 paintings, 6 drawings,
6 coloured etchings, 7 collographs, 2 lithographs,
2 lithograph sets |
| 1993 |
Shoalhaven River Paintings, Recent Collographs,
Wagner Art Gallery, Sydney, 16 January – 27
February, 18 paintings, 11 collographs, 1 lithograph
set, 6 lithographs; Von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle,
19 March – 12 April, 22 paintings, four collographs,
3 etchings; Retrospective, Art Gallery of New South
Wales, Sydney, 14 December – 6 March 1994,
then touring |
| Selected mixed and group exhibitions |
| 1937 |
(Exhibition of Paintings), Penleigh Boyd Studio,
Warrandyte, Victoria, 11 December 1937 – 4
January 1938 (no catalogue) |
| 1939 |
Westminster Gallery, Little Collins St, Melbourne
(no catalogue) |
| 1940 |
Arthur Boyd and Keith Nicohl, Athenauem Gallery,
Melbourne, 26 November – 8 December 1940,
76 paintings |
| 1941 |
(Paintings by Arthur Boyd, Josl Bergner and Noel
Counihan), Rowden White Library, University of Melbourne,
September, (no catalogue) |
| 1942 |
Contemporary Art Society Exhibition Fourth Annual
Exhibition, Athenauem Gallery, Melbourne, 4 –
15 August, 2 paintings; Contemporary Art Society
Fourth Annual Interstate Exhibition, David Jones’
Art Gallery, Sydney, opened 8 September, 2 paintings |
| 1943 |
Contemporary Art Society
Exhibition, Velasquez Gallery, Melbourne, 24 August
– 4 September, 4 paintings |
| 1944 |
Contemporary Art Society Sixth Annual Interstate
Exhibition, Education Building, Sydney, 26 June
– 14 July, 6 paintings |
| 1945 |
Contemporary Art Society Seventh Annual Exhibition,
Myer Gallery, Melbourne, 21 – 31 August, 4
paintings; Contemporary Art Society Seventh Annual
Interstate Exhibition, Education Building, Sydney,
9 – 29 November, 3 paintings |
| 1946 |
Contemporary Art: Arthur Boyd, Sidney Nolan, Albert
Tucker), Rowden White Library, University of Melbourne,
opened 23 July (no catalogue); (Paintings by John
Yule and Arthur Boyd), Rowden White Library, University
of Melbourne, September (no catalogue); Contemporary
Art Society Eighth Annual Interstate Exhibition,
Education Building, Sydney, 12 – 28 November,
2 paintings |
| 1950 |
Dunlop Australian Art Contest, Stanley Coe Gallery,
Melbourne, opened 5 June, 2 paintings |
| 1951 |
Jubilee Exhibition of Australian Art, toured Australian
State Galleries, 12 March – 10 December, 1
painting; Blake Prize, Mark Foy’s Ballroom,
Sydney 13 – 20 March, 3 paintings; Dunlop
Australian Art Collection, Tye’s Art Gallery,
Melbourne, 14 – 28 May; The Sydney Group,
David Jones’ Art Gallery, Sydney, 2 –
14 July, 3 paintings; David Jones’ Art Gallery,
Sydney, 10 – 20 October, 1 painting |
| 1952 |
Exhibition of paintings by artists living in Melbourne,
Stanley Coe Gallery, Melbourne, 5 – 14 February,
2 paintings; Dunlop Third Australian Art Contest,
Tye’s Art Gallery, Melbourne, opened 12 May,
1 painting; Society of Artists Spring Exhibition,
Education Department’s Art Gallery, Sydney,
29 August – 15 September, 1 painting |
| 1953 |
Dunlop Fourth Australian Art Contest, David Jones’s
Art Gallery, Sydney, opened 19 March; Tye’s
Art Gallery, Melbourne, May 1 painting; Twelve Australian
Artists, New Burlington Galleries, London and touring
venues, 12 July – 20 February 1954, 6 paintings;
Eight Melbourne Painters, Macquarie Painters, Macquarie
Galleries, Sydney, 29 July – 10 August, 4
paintings; Society of Artists Annual Exhibition,
Education Department’s Art Gallery, Sydney,
20 August – 14 September, 1 painting; The
Sydney Group, David Jones’ Art Gallery, 1
– 15 October, 2 paintings; The Herald Outdoor
Art Show, Treasury Gardens, Melbourne, 8 –
15 December, 3 ceramic paintings |
| 1954 |
The Fellowship of Australian
Artists Royal Tour Exhibition, Lower Town Hall,
Melbourne, 25 February – 6 March, 1 painting
(loan); Royal Tour Contemporary Art Exhibition,
Mirka Studio, Melbourne, 25 February – 6
March, 1 painting; Contemporary Art Society Commemorative
Exhibition, Tye’s Gallery, Melbourne, 6
– 23 April, 4 ceramic paintings; The Perth
Prize for Contemporary Art, Art Gallery of Western
Australia, Perth, August, 1 painting |
| 1955 |
The Herald Outdoor Art
Show (II), Treasury Gardens, Melbourne, 11 –
19 March, 3 sculptures; Australian Contemporary
Paintings, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne,
16 March – 27 April, Art Gallery of New
South Wales, Sydney, 11 – 29 May; Contemporary
Art Society Annual Exhibition, Preston Motors,
Melbourne, 10 – 21 May; Adelaide, July,
3 ceramic paintings; Contemporary Art Society
Seventeenth Annual Exhibition, Education Department’s
Art Gallery, Sydney, 20 October – 4 November,
1 ceramic painting |
| 1956 |
Contemporary Australian Painting, Pacific Loan
Exhibition, Orient Line S.S. Orcades, 2 October
– 2 December, 2 paintings; The Arts Festival
of the Melbourne Olympic Games, National Gallery
of Victoria, Melbourne, 18 November – 15 December,
1 painting |
| 1957 |
John Perceval, Arthur Boyd, Australian Galleries,
Melbourne, opened 7 April, 14 paintings; Contemporary
Australian Painters, an exhibition arranged by the
National Galleries of Australia for circulation
in Canada, July – May 1958, 3 paintings; The
Crouch Exhibition, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, opened
20 March, 1 painting |
| 1958 |
Paintings by Important Australian Artists, Australian
Galleries for Presbyterian Ladies’ College,
Melbourne, 22 – 26 March, 3 paintings (1 loan);
Australia, Paintings by Arthur Streeton, Arthur
Boyd, The XXIX Biennale Venice, August – September
1958, 8 paintings; The Helena Rubinstein Travelling
Art Scholarship, Art Gallery of New South Wales,
Sydney, 5 – 17 August, 5 paintings; Waratah
Spring Festival Art for Peter Stark’s poem
‘Colour Blind’ from Tomorrow’s
Ghosts 1971 etching cat. no. 180
Exhibition, Commonwealth bank, Sydney, 4 –
11 October, 1 painting |
| 1959 |
Survey III, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne,
January – February; A Melbourne Collection,
Museum of Modern Art of Australia, David Jones’
Art Gallery, Sydney, 15 February – 7 March,
5 paintings, 2 ceramic paintings, 6 drawings; Maude
Vizard-Wholohan Art Prizes, 1959, Royal South Australian
Society of Arts, Adelaide, 6 – 18 July, 1
painting; Art in Everyday Life, toured to Sydney,
Brisbane, Melbourne, 4 – 15 August, 6 paintings
(1 loan); The Helena Rubinstein Travelling Art Scholarship,
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 15 September
– 11 October, 5 paintings |
| 1960 |
Four Australian Painters, Streeton, Dobell, Gruner,
Boyd, Western Australian Art Gallery, Perth, 5 –
29 February, 7 paintings |
| 1961 |
Recent Australian Painting, Whitechapel Art Gallery,
London, June – July, 2 paintings; The Formative
Years, 1940 – 1945, Museum of Modern Art of
Australia, Melbourne, 17 October – 14 November,
9 paintings (1 loan), 2 drawings |
| 1962 |
Recent Australian Painting, Arts Council of Great
Britain touring exhibition, 20 January – 26
May, 2 paintings; Australian Paintings – Colonial,
Impressionist, Contemporary, Art Gallery of South
Australia, Adelaide, 17 – 31 March, 4 paintings
(loan); Rebels and Precursors, Aspects of Painting
in Melbourne, 1937 – 1947, National Gallery
of Victoria, Melbourne, August – September;
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 26 September
– 21 October 1962, 28 paintings; Commonwealth
Art Today, Commonwealth Institute, London, 7 November
– 13 January 1963, 1 painting |
| 1963 |
Australian Painting – Colonial, Impressionist,
Contemporary, Tate Gallery, London, 23 January –
8 March, 4 paintings (loan); Australian Painting
and Sculpture in Europe Today, New Metropole Art
Centre, Folkestone, April (later sent to Germany
and Holland, June – July) 1 painting: British
painting in the Sixties, Tate Gallery, London, 1
– 30 June, 3 paintings (loan); Australian
Painting Today, Commonwealth Art Advisory Board
travelling exhibition, Australian State Galleries
and Europe, 19 September – 1964, 2 paintings |
| 1964 |
Three Australian Painters: (Charles Blackman,
Arthur Boyd, Allen David), Towner Gallery, Eastbourne,
UK, 2 – 31 January; Western Theatre Ballet,
Designers and Painters, Western Theatre, London,
6 – 7 April; Five Australian painters, Queen
Square Gallery, Leeds, UK, 15 April – 9 May,
1 painting, 9 etchings; Australian Print Survey,
toured Australian State and Regional Galleries,
October – December 1964, 25 etchings and aquatints,
1 drypoint; ‘You Beaut Country’, Australian
Landscape Painting 1837 – 1964, National Gallery
of Victoria, Melbourne, 29 October – 19 December,
2 paintings (loan); Paintings by the Australian
Painters David and Arthur Boyd, Mowbray Fine Art
Gallery, Sunderland, UK, 10 November – 5 December;
The Art of Drawing, National Gallery of Victoria,
Melbourne, December and toured to Australian State
Galleries, 1 drawing; The Shakespeare Exhibition,
Stratford, Edinburgh, London, ceramic painting polyptych |
| 1965 |
Boyd, Blackman, Daws, Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane,
31 August – 15 September, 17 pastels; 4 painters,
1 Sculptor, University of Glasgow (later shown at
Edinburgh ), 20 September – 20 October |
| 1966 |
Three Australian Painters, Tower Gallery, Eastbourne,
UK, January; Boyd, Hockney and Whiteley, Clune Gallery,
Sydney, 27 February – 25 March, 9 drawings |
| 1967 |
Australian Painters, 1964 – 66, Corcoran
Gallery of Art, New York, 10 March – 16 April,
6 works (loan) |
| 1969 |
Arthur Boyd, Sidney Nolan, Joseph Brown Galleries,
Melbourne, 20 February – 13 March, 9 paintings,
2 watercolours, 2 pastels |
| 1970 |
The Boyd Family 1884 – 1970, Mornington
Civic Centre, Victoria, opened 18 January; Four
Australian Artists: Boyd, Hessing, Nolan, Owen,
Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh, 9 July –
1 August, 8 bronzes, 27 etchings; Ten Printmakers
1970, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne and
toured to Regional Galleries, September –
June 1971, 3 etchings |
| 1971 |
‘ Art and Genetics’, An exhibition
of the work of the Boyd Family, Postgraduate Medical
Centre, St Helier Hospital, Carshalton, UK, opened
24 March |
| 1972 |
The Australian Landscape, toured to Australian
State Galleries, 3 March – 1 April 1973, 1
painting (loan); Australian Prints, Victoria and
Albert Museum, London, July – November, 6
etchings and aquatints |
| 1974 |
The Australian Aborigine Portrayed in Art, Art
Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 9 –
30 March, 1 painting; The Boxer Collection, University
Art Gallery, University of Melbourne, 1 –
30 August, 8 paintings, 1 watercolour, 3 pastels,
2 drawings, 1 lithograph |
| 1975 |
The Australian Landscape 1802 – 1975, toured
to Perking and Nanking, 2 September – 30 November,
3 paintings |
| 1976 |
Some Recent Acquisitions of Australian Art (Australian
National Gallery), Canberra Theatre Centre Gallery,
5 January – 1 February, 6 paintings, 1 bronze;
Arthur Boyd – Tom Sanders Tapestries, Perth
Concert Hall, 14 February – 13 March, 20 tapestries;
Genesis of a Gallery (Australian National Gallery),
toured to Australian Galleries, March – August
1978 |
| 1977 |
Some Recent Acquisitions of Australian Art (Australian
National Gallery), Canberra
Theatre Centre Gallery, Canberra, 4 – 31 January,
1 sculpture; The Heroic Years of Australian Paintings,
1940 – 55, Lower Town Hall, Melbourne, 2 –
20 April and Victorian Regional Galleries, 3 paintings |
| 1978 |
Contemporary Australian Drawing Western Australian
Art Gallery, Perth, 2 February – 5 March;
also toured to Brisbane and Sydney, 2 drawings |
| 1979 |
Henri Worland Memorial Art Prize, Warrnambool
Art Gallery, Warrnambool, Victoria, 1 December 1979
– 13 January 1980; Twenty-four Essex and Suffolk
Artists 1900 – 1978, Art at the Minories,
Colchester, UK, 31 March – 29 April |
| 1980 |
Australian Drawings of the Thirties and Forties,
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 21 February
– 1 April, 17 drawings |
| 1981 |
Spotlight, Four Centuries of Ballet Costume, A
Tribute to the Royal Ballet, Victoria and Albert
Museum, London, 8 April – 26 July, 1 drawing;
The Boxer Collection: Modernism, Murrumbeena and
Angry Penguins, Nolan Gallery, ACT, November, and
touring venues, 9 paintings, 1 ceramic painting,
1 watercolour, 3 pastels |
| 1982 |
The Painter as Potter: Decorated Ceramics of the
Murrumbeena Circle, National Gallery of Victoria,
Melbourne, 9 December 1982 – 6 March 1983,
23 ceramics; Shoalhaven Spring Festival, Bundanon,
Nowra, 5 September; Glimpses of the Forties –
Melbourne, Heide Park and Art Gallery, Melbourne,
17 September – 7 November, 4 paintings, 1
drawing, 2 ceramics |
| 1983 |
The Boyd Family: A Survey of the Bundanon Collection,
Arts Council Gallery, Canberra, 10 – 27 March
and touring venues, 18 paintings, 1 watercolour,
2 pastels, 1 lithograph, 1 etching; RAP: Recent
Australian Painting: A Survey 1970 – 80, Art
Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, December,
2 paintings |
| 1984 |
Dreams, Fears and Desires, Aspects of Australian
Figurative Painting 1942 – 62, S.H. Ervin
Gallery, Sydney, 11 April – 17 June, 8 paintings;
Art and Social Commitment: An End to the City of
Dreams 1931 – 48, Art Gallery of New South
Wale, Sydney, 27 September – 28 October and
touring venues, 4 paintings, 4 drawings: Representation
Abroad, Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington
DC, 5 June – 2 September, 8 painting |
| 1985 |
Twentieth Century Australian Masterworks (from
the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Fred
Williams Pilbara Series from the Collection of CRA
Limited), Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, 4
October – 6 November, 2 paintings |
1986 |
Friends and Relations, Heide Park and Art Gallery,
Melbourne, 13 January – 22 February, 2 paintings,
2 ceramic paintings |
| 1987 |
The Jack Manton Prize, Queensland Art Gallery,
Brisbane, 13 February – 29 March; Australian
Impressions , One Hundred Years of Landscape Painting,
Heidelberger Schlop, Germany, 30 August –
31 October, 3 paintings; Arthur Boyd, Jamie Boyd,
David Gwinnutt, New South Wales House, London, 27
November – 8 January 1988, aquatints |
| 1988 |
Angry Penguins and Realist Painting in Melbourne
in the 1940’s, Hayward Gallery, London, 19
May – 14 August, 18 paintings, 10 drawings;
Stories of Australian Art, Commonwealth Institute,
London 31 March – 29 May; Usher Art Gallery,
Lincoln, 25 June – 31 July, 4 paintings; Creating
Australia: 200 Years of Art 1788 – 1988, toured
Australian State Galleries, 17 May – 16 July
1989, 3 paintings; The Antipodeans: Another Chapter,
Nolan Gallery, Lanyon, 12 November – January
1989; S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, 21 January –
26 February 1989, 6 paintings; Images of Religion
in Australian Art, National Gallery of Victoria,
Melbourne, 1 December – 30 January 1989 |
| 1989 |
Arthur Boyd and Charles Blackman, Important Works,
Savill Galleries, Sydney, 2 – 27 August, 17
paintings |
| 1991 |
Arthur Boyd and Jamie Boyd: Suffolk paintings,
Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich, Suffolk, UK, February
– 10 March |
| 1992 |
Two Hundred Years of Australian Painting, National,
Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 28 April – 28
June; National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, 14 July
– September, 2 paintings; Australian Modernism:
The Complexity and the Diversity, Lauraine Diggins
Fine Art, Melbourne, 10 July – 28 August,
3 paintings, 3 drawings; Major Exhibition of Paintings
by Father and Son Arthur and Jamie Boyd, Holdsworth
Galleries, Sydney, 25 July – 12 August |
|
|
refresh