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James Gleeson (b.1915)
Biography
1915 Born in Sydney, Australia
1934-36 Studied at East Sydney Technical College, Sydney. Drawn to art of Dali, de Chirico and Ernst
1937-38 Studied Sydney Teacher's College. Encountered psychology in the writings of Freud and Jung, especially interested in Jung's archetypes of the collective unconscious
1939 Exhibited with Contemporary Art Society in its inaugral exhibition, Melbourne
1940s Work typified by explorations of the human psyche as influenced by war
1947-49 Study tour to Europe
1958-59 Study tour to Europe and USA
1950s-60s Moved from surrealism to a symbolic perspective, exploring notions of human perfectibility. He pursued a style of 'heroic' painting which drew substantially upon religious imagery and classical mythology
1970s Produced numerous ink and wash collages
1979-82 Returns to notions of the primal subconscious with grotesque distortions of the figure
1983-01 Creates dramatic large scale paintings, landscapes of the mind, with a visceral and organic quality
Appointments and Awards
1943, 49 President, Contemporary Art Society, NSW
1945-46 Lecturer-in-art, Sydney Teacher's College - techniques and art history
1949-72 Art critic for The Sun newspaper
1954 Blake Prize for religious art (2nd prize)
1962-72 Art critic for Sun Herald newspaper
1971 Director, Sir William Dobell Art Foundation
Judge, Soa Paolo International Bienal
1975 Awarded AM - Member of the Order of Australia
1975-78 Visiting Curator of Australia art, Australian National Gallery
1976-82 Member of the first Council of the Australian National Gallery
1987 McCaughey Prize, National Gallery of Victoria
1989 Degree of Doctor of Letters, Honoris Causa, Macquarie University, Sydney
1990 Awarded AO - Officer of the Order of Australia
2001 Degree of Doctor of Letters, Honoris Causa, University of New South Wales
Selected Exhibitions
From 1950 Gleeson has held solo exhibitions Australia-wide.
1938 Sydney Teachers' College
1939-41 Annual exhibitions, Teachers' Federation Arts Society, Sydney
1939-46 Contemporary Art Society exhibitions, Sydney
1948 Joint exhibition with Robert Klippel, The London Gallery, London
1949-50 Annual exhibitions Contemporary Art Society, Sydney
1950 '110 Years of Australian Art', Blaxland Gallery
1956 Exhibition of Contemporary Art in connection with the Olympic games
1961 Recent Australian Painting, Whitechapel Gallery, London
1963 Australian Painting, Tate Gallery, London
1978 Contemporary Austraian Drawing (Perth, Sydney & Brisbane)
1986 '33 Male Artists', Heide Park and Art Gallery
1988-89 'Creating Australia' Travelling exhibition to all Australian States and Territories
1993 'Clemenger Triennial', National Gallery of Victoria
1993 'Surrealism in Australia', Australian National Gallery
1994 Archibald competition, Art Gallery of New South Wales
2005 Major retrospective, 'James Gleeson: Beyond the Screen of Sight', National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, and National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Collections
Represented at the Australian National Gallery, Canberra; all state galleries; the Mertz collection; and in many regional and private collections in Australia and overseas.
Selected Bibliography
Publications by James Gleeson:
William Dobell, Thames and Hudson, London, 1964.
Masterpieces of Australian Painting, Landsdowne, Melbourne, 1969.
Colonial Painters 1788-1880, Landsdowne, Melbourne, 1971.
Impressionist Painters 1881-1980, Landsdowne Melbourne, 1971.
Modern Painters 1931-1970, Landsdowne, Melbourne, 1971.
Robert Klippel, Bay Books, Sydney, 1983.
The Drawings of William Dobell in the Australian National Gallery, Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, Australian National Gallery, 1992
Selected publications on James Gleeson's works:
Bernard Smith, Australian Painting 1788-1960, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1962
Robert Hughes, The Art of Australia, Pelican, Melbourne, 1966
Lou Klepac, James Gleeson: Landscapes out of Nature, The Beagle Press, Sydney, 1987
Renee Free, James Gleeson: Images from the Shadows, Craftsman House, 1993
Nevill Drury and Anna Voigt, Fire and Shadow: Spirituality in Contemporary Australian Art, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1996
Hendrik Kolenberg and Anne Ryan, James Gleeson: Drawings for Paintings, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2003
Lou Klepac, James Gleeson: Beyond the Screen of Sight, The Beagle Press in association with the NGV, 2004
Source:
Lou Klepac, James Gleeson: Beyond the Screen of Sight, The Beagle Press in association with the NGV, 2004
Renee Free, James Gleeson: Images from the Shadows, Craftsman House, 1993
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