Staff Picks - Gallery Administrator Ciara Derkenne

Victor Rubin (b.1950)
Physcoreal Head II
acrylic on canvas on board
19 x 23.5cm
no. 11158

Victor Rubin is represented in all major public collections in Australia including the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Queensland Art Gallery. His work has been collected by some of the most important private and corporate collections of Australian art including the Patrick White collection and the ICI collection.

Arthur Boyd (1920-1999)
Portrait of Alannah Coleman III c.1971
Oil on canvas
76 x 63 cm
no.3168

Arthur Boyd’s paintings of art world personalities such as this portrait of the art dealer Alannah Coleman, are masterfully executed expressions of the sitter. Boyd translates the nuances of his subject in vigorous strokes of yellow, blue and red, which animate the painterly surface.

Ena Joyce (b.1926)
London Child With Perambulator 1949
Oil on wood
36 x 48.5cm
no.7299

Whilst in London after winning the 1946 NSW Travelling Art Scholarship Ena Joyce painted some of her most highly regarded paintings. London Child with Perambulator 1949 is an evocative work executed with great economy and brisk brush work.

"The small girl stands by the Thames with a mud island behind her. This was at Chiswick Reach, painted several times by Victor Passmore." Ena Joyce

Ena Joyce is represented in the National Gallery of Australia, most state galleries, many regional galleries as well as many other public collections throughout Australia including the Parliament House collection. She has won numerous coveted awards including the 1977 Portia Geach Memorila Prize.

Brenda Humble (b.1933)
Bogan Man 1996
Mild steel 1/4
50 x 18 x 9cm
Signed 'Humble 96', editioned and titled on base
no.9190

Humble's body of jewel-like still life's, abstracted in varying degrees are painterly, boldly colourful and beautifully simple. Her continuing motif; the silhouette of vase and flowers against an open window, is distinct and distilled to essential elements and colour blocks. Her palette is high keyed like Mattisse and in some of the still lives, the flatness and bold outline of shapes is somewhat reminiscent of Picasso. Her sculptures share a similar simplification of form; Humble pares back the image to its most elemental lines, creating crisp linea images of quirky teachers, laughing horses, squinting love hearts and little Alice figures.

Jamie Boyd (b.1948)
Sonata
Lithograph 44/275
74 x 102cm
no.0516

Jamie Boyd continues the tradition of the great Boyd family who have collectively made a profound contribution to Australian art though he has established a firm reputation as a painter in his own right. Jamie currently lives in London though he regularly returns to Australia and visits the Boyd property at Shoalhaven where he is reunited with the surrounding landscape and it’s beauty and strength. His works reflects this broad international sensibility and the enduring influence of the Australian landscape. A proficient painter, he has achieved success through many solo and group exhibitions both in Australia and Europe.

James Gleeson (1915-2008)
The Activist 1976
Mixed media on paper
26.7 x 23.9cm
no.2352

James Gleeson was Australia's best known and most important Surrealist. He had been painting and exhibiting consistently from the 1930s until 2008. He played a significant role in the Australian art scene, not only as a painter and poet, but as a critic, writer and curator. Gleeson combined skillful draughtsmanship with a great facility in handling paint. Delving into the subconscious, Gleeson used literary, mythological or religious subject matter to allow the viewer glimpses of extraordinary beauty. Regardless of their scale, the resulting paintings convey a sumptuous monumentality.

Mark Howson (b.1961)
Untitled (Abstract) 1985
Oil on paper
77 x 52.4cm
no.6564

In 1982 Mark Howson was one of the founding members of Roar Studios. Together with about twenty young artists, among whom included David Larwill, Mark Schaller, Wayne Eager and Mike Nicholls, Howson started an artist run gallery in Fitzroy, Melbourne – the purpose of which was to challenge the art establishment. Characterised by strong, expressionistic figurative works, ironically, the Roar artists quickly became noticed by the mainstream art world. Howson’s work is represented in the Australian National Gallery, Canberra; National Gallery of Victoria; New Parliament House, Canberra; Art Bank; numerous Regional and University collections and private collections in Australia, Europe and the USA.

Zai Kuang (b.1962)
Girl 21, 2008
Oil on canvas
30 x 30cm
no.10047

Most of my paintings are about children, toys and their surroundings. The reason I choose children as my subject is that: simplicity, purity and harmony, they are my attentions during the process of making painting. I think children match the thought perfectly.

I paint children in the interior and exterior. In the interior, I want to explore the relationships between children and toys. The space often dominates the works, there is a tranquil atmosphere around the children, the toys and the room. In the exterior, I look for the relationships between children and the environment, usually the space is more open. - Zai Kuang 2009

Sir Sidney Nolan (1917-1992)
Halycon
oil on canvas on board
30 x 37 cm
signed lower right
no.9720

“This enchanting work dating from Nolan's early career in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda makes reference, through its title Halcyon, to an ancient Greek myth associated with the kingfisher, depicted here at rest on its floating nest. According to legend the father of the young Halcyon ordered the winds to stay calm during the brooding period so that the floating nest of the kingfisher would not be disturbed. Hence the term "halcyon days".

For Sidney Nolan his early days in St Kilda might indeed be called halcyon. During the mid 1940s the artist painted an extensive body of works recording life around Luna Park and at the St Kilda sea baths, including reminiscences from his childhood. In addition Nolan also painted numerous images relating to the Greek myth of Icarus, transposed into the environs of St Kilda.
Halcyon‚ was a work of particular personal attachment for Nolan, to the extent that he loaned the painting with the Art Gallery of New South Wales for an extended number of years. Nolan was especially attached to his early work as it provided him with immense stimulus for later projects. As Halcyon‚ is depiction of two of his favourite subjects birds and mythology, it is understandable why this painting was so treasured by the artist.”

Text by curator and art writer: Damian Smith

Stan Rapotec (1913-1997)
Untitled, 1960
Oil on board
75 x 100cm
no.5876

Stanislaus Rapotec was one of the leading exponents of Abstract Expressionism in Australia. He is represented in the Australian National Gallery, all state galleries, many regional galleries as well as many other important public collections both in Australia and overseas including the Australian Embassy, Paris, Vatican Gallery of Modern Religious Art, Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris. Rapotec has been the recipient of many awards including the 1961 Blake Prize.

In Untitled 1960 the bold and energetic brushstrokes swirl and explode across the board, masterfully capturing the artists physical and emotional gestures.