Famous Australian Artists
Sidney Nolan
Sidney Nolan was born in Carlton, an inner Working-Class suburb
of Melbourne, on 22 April 1917. He was the eldest of
four children.
His parents, Sidney (a Tram driver) and Dora, were both fifth generation
Australians of Irish descent. Nolan later moved with his family to the baysid
suburb of St Kilda. He attended the Brighton Road State
School and then Brighton Technical School and left school aged 14. He enrolled
at the Prahran Technical College (now part of Swinburne University), Department of
Design and Crafts, in a course which he had already begun part-time by
correspondence. From 1933, at the age of 16, he began almost six years of
work for Fayrefield Hats, Abbotsford, producing advertising and display
stands with spray paints and dyes. From 1934 he attended night classes
sporadically at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School.
Sidney Nolan was born in Carlton, an inner Working-Class suburb
of Melbourne, on 22 April 1917. He was the eldest of
four children.
His parents, Sidney (a Tram driver) and Dora, were both fifth generation
Australians of Irish descent. Nolan later moved with his family to the baysid
suburb of St Kilda. He attended the Brighton Road State
School and then Brighton Technical School and left school aged 14. He enrolled
at the Prahran Technical College (now part of Swinburne University), Department of
Design and Crafts, in a course which he had already begun part-time by
correspondence. From 1933, at the age of 16, he began almost six years of
work for Fayrefield Hats, Abbotsford, producing advertising and display
stands with spray paints and dyes. From 1934 he attended night classes
sporadically at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School.
David Boyd
The Boyd artistic dynasty began with the marriage of Emma Minnie à Beckett
(known as Minnie) and Arthur Merric Boyd in 1886. Both were already established
as painters at the time of their marriage. Their second-born son William
Merric Boyd married Doris Gough and had five artistic children,
Lucy de Guzman Boyd, Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd, Guy Martin à Beckett Boyd, David Fielding Gough
Boyd, and Mary Elizabeth Boyd.
In 1948 David Boyd married Hermia Lloyd-Jones, the daughter of graphic artist
Herman and Erica Lloyd-Jones. Following the tradition of their family, their
three daughters Amanda, Lucinda, and Cassandra are artists. Boyd entered the Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music in Melbourne at
seventeen, but was conscripted to the army after one year. Upon his return, he
studied art at the National Gallery School on an ex-serviceman's grant.
In 1946, he worked with his brother Guy at the Martin Boyd Pottery in Sydney.
He also established a pottery studio in London in the early 1950s and continued working
mainly in pottery through to the mid-1960s. In 1956, Boyd and his wife became
widely known as leading Australian potters. They introduced new glazing
techniques and potter's wheel use in shaping sculptural
figures.Boyd's painting career began in 1957 with a series of symbolic paintings on
Australian explorers that aroused much controversy at the time, focusing as they
did on the tragic history of the Aboriginal
Tasmanians. In 1958 he exhibited a series of paintings based on
the histological episodes in the explorations of Burke and Wills and Bass and Flinders. He
joined the Antipodeans Group in the 1950s. Boyd discovered a
technique in 1966 that he named Sfumato, after da Vinci's usage of the word to
describe graduations of smoky tones in painting. Boyd's method achieved this
effect through a new technique involving candle flame.
Boyd and his family moved to Rome in 1961, and later moved to London. They
also spent several years creating art in Spain and the south of France before returning permanently to Australia
in 1975.David Boyd was artist-in-residence at the School of Law, Macquarie
University, Sydney from 1993-1996.
In a September 2004 art review, Alex McDonald of State of the Arts
magazine stated that David Boyd's work was 'ahead of his time in addressing the
mistreatment of Indigenous people in Australia, but commented that an
'explanation for his frosty reception from Australian critics and dealers may
have something to do with his choice of subject matter'. McDonald explained that
the controversy may have stemmed from the fact that the 'legal system, race
relations and religion' are 'not exactly popular issues' and were not 'up for
debate in the late 1950s'.
The Boyd artistic dynasty began with the marriage of Emma Minnie à Beckett
(known as Minnie) and Arthur Merric Boyd in 1886. Both were already established
as painters at the time of their marriage. Their second-born son William
Merric Boyd married Doris Gough and had five artistic children,
Lucy de Guzman Boyd, Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd, Guy Martin à Beckett Boyd, David Fielding Gough
Boyd, and Mary Elizabeth Boyd.
In 1948 David Boyd married Hermia Lloyd-Jones, the daughter of graphic artist
Herman and Erica Lloyd-Jones. Following the tradition of their family, their
three daughters Amanda, Lucinda, and Cassandra are artists. Boyd entered the Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music in Melbourne at
seventeen, but was conscripted to the army after one year. Upon his return, he
studied art at the National Gallery School on an ex-serviceman's grant.
In 1946, he worked with his brother Guy at the Martin Boyd Pottery in Sydney.
He also established a pottery studio in London in the early 1950s and continued working
mainly in pottery through to the mid-1960s. In 1956, Boyd and his wife became
widely known as leading Australian potters. They introduced new glazing
techniques and potter's wheel use in shaping sculptural
figures.Boyd's painting career began in 1957 with a series of symbolic paintings on
Australian explorers that aroused much controversy at the time, focusing as they
did on the tragic history of the Aboriginal
Tasmanians. In 1958 he exhibited a series of paintings based on
the histological episodes in the explorations of Burke and Wills and Bass and Flinders. He
joined the Antipodeans Group in the 1950s. Boyd discovered a
technique in 1966 that he named Sfumato, after da Vinci's usage of the word to
describe graduations of smoky tones in painting. Boyd's method achieved this
effect through a new technique involving candle flame.
Boyd and his family moved to Rome in 1961, and later moved to London. They
also spent several years creating art in Spain and the south of France before returning permanently to Australia
in 1975.David Boyd was artist-in-residence at the School of Law, Macquarie
University, Sydney from 1993-1996.
In a September 2004 art review, Alex McDonald of State of the Arts
magazine stated that David Boyd's work was 'ahead of his time in addressing the
mistreatment of Indigenous people in Australia, but commented that an
'explanation for his frosty reception from Australian critics and dealers may
have something to do with his choice of subject matter'. McDonald explained that
the controversy may have stemmed from the fact that the 'legal system, race
relations and religion' are 'not exactly popular issues' and were not 'up for
debate in the late 1950s'.
Fred Williams
Frederick Ronald (Fred) Williams OBE (23 January 1927 – 22 April 1982) was an Australian
painter
and printmaker. He was one of Australia’s most
important artists, and one of the twentieth century’s major painters of the landscape.
He had more than seventy solo exhibitions during his career in Australian
galleries, as well as the exhibition Fred Williams - Landscapes of a
Continent at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1977.Fred Williams was born in 1927 in Richmond, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, the
son of an electrical engineer and a Richmond housewife.
Williams left school at 14 and was apprenticed to a firm of Melbourne
shopfitters and box makers.From
1943 to 1947 he studied at the National
Gallery School, Melbourne, at first part-time and then full-time
from 1945 at the age of 16. The Gallery School was traditional and academic,
with a long and prestigious history. He also began lessons under George
Bell the following year, who had his own art school in Melbourne.
This continued until 1950. Bell was a conservative modern artist but a very
influential teacher.Between 1951 and 1956, Williams studied part-time at the Chelsea School of
Art, London (now Chelsea College of Art and Design) and in 1954 he
did an etching course at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. He lived in a
South Kensington bedsit and subsidised his art
practice by working part-time at Savage’s picture framers.
Williams returned to Melbourne in 1956, when his family was able to send him a
cheap ticket aboard a ship bringing visitors to the Melbourne
Olympics.He had work included in the 'Recent Australian Painting'
exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, and 'Australian
Painting: Colonial, Impressionism, Modern' at the Tate Gallery.
Frederick Ronald (Fred) Williams OBE (23 January 1927 – 22 April 1982) was an Australian
painter
and printmaker. He was one of Australia’s most
important artists, and one of the twentieth century’s major painters of the landscape.
He had more than seventy solo exhibitions during his career in Australian
galleries, as well as the exhibition Fred Williams - Landscapes of a
Continent at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1977.Fred Williams was born in 1927 in Richmond, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, the
son of an electrical engineer and a Richmond housewife.
Williams left school at 14 and was apprenticed to a firm of Melbourne
shopfitters and box makers.From
1943 to 1947 he studied at the National
Gallery School, Melbourne, at first part-time and then full-time
from 1945 at the age of 16. The Gallery School was traditional and academic,
with a long and prestigious history. He also began lessons under George
Bell the following year, who had his own art school in Melbourne.
This continued until 1950. Bell was a conservative modern artist but a very
influential teacher.Between 1951 and 1956, Williams studied part-time at the Chelsea School of
Art, London (now Chelsea College of Art and Design) and in 1954 he
did an etching course at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. He lived in a
South Kensington bedsit and subsidised his art
practice by working part-time at Savage’s picture framers.
Williams returned to Melbourne in 1956, when his family was able to send him a
cheap ticket aboard a ship bringing visitors to the Melbourne
Olympics.He had work included in the 'Recent Australian Painting'
exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, and 'Australian
Painting: Colonial, Impressionism, Modern' at the Tate Gallery.