Lawrence Daws (b. 1927)
Biography
1927 Born in Adelaide, South Australia
1939 Attended Thebarton Technical High School, Adelaide
1943 Began painting landscapes at this time
1944-47 Studied architecture and engineering, South Australian School of Mines (now University of South Australia). During this period painted at Hahndorf each weekend, met Hans Heysen and undertook several painting trips to the Flinders Ranges
1948-49 Worked in New Guinea for an oil company. Read Goethe and corresponded with Hans Heysen. Returned to Australia late 1949 and enrolled at the Melbourne National Gallery Art School
1950 Commenced four years full-time painting course at National Gallery School, Melbourne. Moved into Coach House studio at rear 43 Riversdale Road, Hawthorn, Melbourne
1953 Moved to a large industrial studio, rear 1A Gordon Grove, Malvern, Melbourne. Completed Gallery School Course. Awarded various prizes, including Hugh Ramsay Portrait Prize
1954 Began part-time work with a firm of mining consultants in Melbourne, and through this work made his first contact with the more remote outback areas
Exhibited as 'Group Four' at Victorian Artists' Society, with Clifton Pugh, Don Laycock and John Howley
1955 Lived in Melbourne. Made contact with Sydney-based painters, Eric Smith, John Olsen, John Passmore and Bill Rose; and in South Australia with Stanislaus Rapotec
1956 Work included in Pacific Loan Exhibition, San Francisco. Taught for six months at St Peter's College, Adelaide
1957 Returned to Melbourne. Daryl Lindsay commissioned large Aboriginal Camp mural for Australian National University, Canberra Golgotha won a prize in the Blake Prize competition. Awarded Italian Government - Flotto Lauro-Dante Alighieri Scholarship to study in Rome. Left for Rome, December, 1957
1958 Lived in Rome and travelled to Florence and Arezzo
1959 'Work from Rome' shown at Macquarie Galleries, Sydney. Visited Venice, Trieste, Split and Dubrovnik. Left Rome for Paris and London in October
1960 Lived and worked in London. Visited Venice, Florence and Rome and left Naples for Australia. Returned to Adelaide for six months - worked in old Will Ashton studio
1961 Returned to London via Frankfurt and Paris in January. Visited Russia by car, via Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, returning via Finland and Denmark
1961 The Rainbow Serpent, Sungazer II and Anima Mundi included in 'Recent Australian Painting' at Whitechapel Gallery, London Represented Australia with Charles Blackman and Brett Whiteley at Paris Biennale des Jeunes
1961 Studio in Ladbroke Grove with Whiteley and Michael Johnson; travelled to Holland with Whiteley and visited the Stedelijk Museum and Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam
1962 Visited New York with Bryan Robertson and met a number of the New York painters; visited Philadelphia and Provincetown, Cape Cod. First one-man exhibition in London at Matthieson Gallery. Went to Venice, Bulgaria and Istanbul by train
1963 Awarded Honorable mention: Sao Paulo Bienal, Brazil
1965 Worked on mining paintings in Adelaide. Travelled to Papeete and Mexico with several weeks in the Yucatan. April-May: visited New York and then returned to London
1966 Living in London. Major retrospective exhibition at Adelaide Festival of Arts
1966 The exhibition held at the Art Gallery of South Australia showed over seventy works dating from 1951 to 1966. Travelled to New York, Chicago, Saskatchewan, Arctic Circle, Buffalo, Ottawa
1970 Left England. Made contact again with Australian landscape and visited Western Australia on survey work. Chance discovery of photograph of mining disaster at Marvel Loch. Moved to Bribie Island, Queensland. Met Ian Fairweather
1971 Returned to England to work for six weeks with the printer, Chris Prater, on Omens suite of screenprints. Living in Adelaide
1972 Festival exhibition at Lidums Gallery, Adelaide, March. Returned to live on Bribie Island. Commencement of Big Pacific Eye imagery. Purchased 'Owl Creek' farm, Glasshouse Mountains, Queensland
1973 Etching on Bribie Island
1974 Living on Bribie Island and Etching and working on 'Owl Creek' farm building
1974 Moved to 'Owl Creek' farm
1975 Spent time in Eungella National Park, Queensland, and commenced Rain Forest pictures
1976 July-August: Exhibition of 'Paintings and Drawings from Bribie Island,
1973-1976', Greenhill Galleries, Adelaide
1977 Awarded Georges Invitation Art Prize. July: 'Paintings at Owl Creek', Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney. August: 'Paintings from Owl Creek', Philip Bacon Gallery, Brisbane
1977 Appointed member of Queensland Art Gallery Board of Trustees
1977 Etching at Griffith University, Queensland Film and Drama Centre workshop
1978 Further etching periods at Griffith University, Queensland. June: ‘The Complete Graphics: 1964-1978’, at Philip Bacon Gallery, Brisbane. Visited London and Chris Prater’s Kelpra Editions, travelled around Morocco
1979 September-October: 'Moroccan Paintings', Philip Bacon Gallery, Brisbane
1980 The Cage screenprint included in Tate Gallery, London exhibition 'Images of Ourselves'. July: exhibition at Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney, 'Paintings from the Glasshouse Mountains'
1981 Executed several portraits. Completed mural for Supreme Court, Brisbane
1981 Visited London and worked with Chris Prater on screenprints
1982 Commenced Cain and the Promised Land paintings. Publication of book Lawrence Daws by Neville Weston (A.H. and A.W.Reed)
1982 November: exhibition 'Cain and the Promised Land' at Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane
1984-85 Painted large mural for Performing Arts Complex, Brisbane, 1985
1985 Visited India, Kashmir and Ladahk
1987 May: exhibition 'The Nude and other Paintings' at Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane
1989 Painted 'Stations of the Cross', St. Stephens Cathedral, Brisbane. Visited UK, Netherlands and Venice. Visited China
1990 August-September: exhibition 'Recent Paintings' at Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane
1992 Received Honorary Doctorate from Griffith University
1993 August-September: exhibition 'Recent Paintings' at Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane
1996 July-August: exhibition 'Interiors/Exteriors Owl Creek' at Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane
1999 August-September: exhibition 'Recent Paintings' at Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane
2000 Received Honorary Doctorate from University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
2000 November: Survey exhibition, 'Lawrence Daws: Asylum in Eden. Thirty years in Queensland', Brisbane City Gallery
2001 August-September: 'Survey Exhibition' at Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne
2002 August-September: exhibition 'Recent Paintings' at Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane
2002 Invited to Shanghai to participate in 'Shanghai in the Eyes of World Artists'
2003 Travelled to Iceland. Solo exhibition with Neville Keating Tollemache, London
2003 Visited art musuems in Spain and Holland
Solo Exhibitions
Has exhibited in several solo shows at galleries including Macquarie, Rudy Komon and Robin Gibson, Sydney, South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne; Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane; Bonython Meadmore, Adelaide
Group Exhibitions
1955 Daws, Pugh, Laycock and Howley at VAS Gallery, Melbourne
1961-62 Australian Art, Whitechapel Gallery
1961-62 Australian Art, Tate Gallery
1961-62 Biennale des Jeunes, Paris
1989 'Images of Religion', National Gallery of Victoria
Awards
1953-54 Prizes in Dunlop Contest
1956 Italian Scholarship
1962 Biennale des Jeunes, International Award
1963 Bienal de Sao Paulo, Brazil, Silver Medal
1977 Georges Art Prize, Melbourne
Collections
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Parliament House, Brisbane
University of Queensland, Brisbane
Australian National University, Canberra
The Supreme Court, Brisbane
Performing Arts Complex, Brisbane
New Parliament House, Canberra
Regional Galleries of Bendigo, Ballarat, Mildura, Broken Hill and Newcastle
Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand
Tate Gallery, London
The Royal Society, London
National Gallery of Scotland
National Gallery of Beijing, China
Shanghai Art Gallery, China
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Musée des Beaux-arts de L’Ontario, Canada
Reference
Artist's own website: http://www.lawrencedaws.com