Place and Memory: The Graphic Work of William Robinson. Study sheets

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Place and Memory: The Graphic Work of William Robinson Study sheets William Robinson is acknowledged as an outstanding Australian landscape painter.

1 Place and Memory: The Graphic Work of William Robinson Study sheets William Robinson is acknowledged as an outstanding Australian landscape painter. Less well known is his extraordinary ability as a draughtsman, printmaker and watercolourist. Through Place and Memory: The Graphic Work of William Robinson, we are given a unique insight into the creative process and ideas of an artist whose life experiences have given rise to a visionary response to the natural environment. Drawing on his intuitive knowledge and experience of the sub-tropical terrain of south-east Queensland, Robinson s art reinforces the link between place and memory in constructing images of the Australian landscape that are at once extraordinarily sublime and inspiring. The power of nature is not observed from the remoteness of the artist s studio but rather through his direct engagement with the rainforest filtered through memory and reflection. In Robinson s works there is the feeling that the viewer is actually part of the experience, absorbing the air, smell and colour of trees and land. Robinson s awesome landscape visions are a far cry from his earlier farmyard scenes and portraits. Nevertheless the latter were important in furthering his understanding of subject and the mood and spirit of place. Pug self-portrait 1991 Etching Sheet 38 x 28cm In recognition of his achievement and contribution to Australian visual arts, in 1998 William Robinson was awarded an honorary doctorate by his alma mater Queensland University of Technology.

Farmyard series William Robinson made a crucial breakthrough in the late 1970s with the so-called cow portraits, a series of idiosyncratic conté drawings of domestic bovine animals depicted

Unusually direct and witty, the drawings embraced a motif which, for Robinson, had become an integral part of his everyday farm experience.

Largely overlooked until recently, these seminal works, together with the accompanying pastels, etchings and pencil drawings of ducks, chickens and goats, can be seen as the starting point of

2 Farmyard series William Robinson made a crucial breakthrough in the late 1970s with the so-called cow portraits, a series of idiosyncratic conté drawings of domestic bovine animals depicted characteristically goggle-eyed, gazing quirkily at the viewer from their dark, oval enclosures. Unusually direct and witty, the drawings embraced a motif which, for Robinson, had become an integral part of his everyday farm experience. Exhibited for the first time in 1980, these rich, velvety images with their light-hearted, whimsical tone marked a shift in his work towards a pure, singular style. Largely overlooked until recently, these seminal works, together with the accompanying pastels, etchings and pencil drawings of ducks, chickens and goats, can be seen as the starting point of Robinson s visionary journey. My paintings are concerned with the way I live on a small farm on the edge of Moreton Bay. I keep all sorts of poultry; run a small goat stud and a few cows. I teach painting and etching during the week and do my own work each day as well. I am not setting out an illustration of the subject but rather what the subject means to me. Structure and relationships of parts... together with creating a life across the whole picture surface form a constant search for me. Subject is important as is memory where the placing of objects can be observed and enjoyed. 1 1 William Robinson quoted in Lynne Seear (ed.), Darkness & Light: The Art of William Robinson, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 2001, p.32 At left, top to bottom: Five reclining cows 1980 Pencil, 65.5 x 92cm Farmyard I 1990 Lithograph, 56 x 76cm Farmyard, Birkdale 1983 Coloured pastels, 80.5 x 121cm

Beechmont In 1984 Robinson and his family moved from Birkdale to a property on the Beechmont Range in Queensland s Gold Coast hinterland, a verdant rainforest area abundant in wildlife and exotic

What followed was a remarkable body of work that encompassed a range of subject matter: cows and starry skies reflected in puddles of water (his arrival at Beechmont coincided with incessant rain);

3 Beechmont In 1984 Robinson and his family moved from Birkdale to a property on the Beechmont Range in Queensland s Gold Coast hinterland, a verdant rainforest area abundant in wildlife and exotic flora. The move marked a critical turning point in his artistic development. What followed was a remarkable body of work that encompassed a range of subject matter: cows and starry skies reflected in puddles of water (his arrival at Beechmont coincided with incessant rain); William and Shirley in wondrous abandonment in their Garden of Eden; and eventually the landscape itself, largely devoid of animals and human presence. Robinson s impressions of his new surrounds are vividly depicted in the group of watercolours that he produced during the mid 1980s. There is a distinct focus on incorporating movement and multiple viewpoints as primary constituents of the composition in response to the enveloping mountainous terrain that now inspired his imagination. In many works, the mood and rhythm of the landscape are emphasised as part of a total sensory experience. The expressive power of colour is fully exploited in luminous washes applied in a gestural style over broken pencil work. The overall spatial effect corresponds to the vertiginous sensation of multi-perspective experiences as might be felt on a walk through the rainforest. I tried to describe the feeling of being in the landscape and walking around in it... To look up and down almost at the same time; to have a feeling of time; the beginning and movement of the day and night, and be aware of the revolving planet... revealed in the same work. I did not paint these works as a visitor to the landscape, but as one who lived in it and experienced it every day. 2 2 William Robinson quoted in Lou Klepac (ed.), William Robinson: Paintings , The Beagle Press, Sydney, 2001, p.40 Left top: Landscape with noon reflection 1986 Watercolour, 76 x 56.5cm Left bottom: Creation landscape: Man and the spheres II 1991 Colour lithograph, 67 x 81.5cm

Creation landscapes William Robinson s Creation series, begun in 1988 and eventually completed in 1997, is among his most ambitious works.

This period coincided with the artist s greater spiritual awareness of the natural environment and the possibilities it opened up for expressing ideas and emotions concerning his deeply held

The resultant paintings are a bold expression of Robinson s intimate and harmonious relationship with the spectacular terrain encompassing his Beechmont property and also, less overtly, of his

4 Creation landscapes William Robinson s Creation series, begun in 1988 and eventually completed in 1997, is among his most ambitious works. It celebrates the narrative of the Creation, the epic biblical theme outlined in the first few chapters of Genesis. This period coincided with the artist s greater spiritual awareness of the natural environment and the possibilities it opened up for expressing ideas and emotions concerning his deeply held religious beliefs. He was especially drawn to the symbolism associated with the story darkness and light, water and land, earth and sea, man and the spheres, all elements of the six days of Creation. The resultant paintings are a bold expression of Robinson s intimate and harmonious relationship with the spectacular terrain encompassing his Beechmont property and also, less overtly, of his mediations on mortality and humanity generally. While these lithographs may be related to finished paintings, each has a life and immediacy of its own. Lithography is well suited to linear and tonal effects, and will print exactly as it is drawn (although the image has been reversed), thus encouraging a free and gestural quality in the artist. Creation series: Earth and sea I III 1995, one of the first lithographs printed at the Atelier Franck Bordas, demonstrates Robinson s acute response to the seascape. Here, time and space are a continuum. The ancient mountainscape merges with the turbulent ocean, and day becomes night. The transformations are shadowed by a crescendo of movement across the composition from left to right, which increases the authority of the work. With his masterful control of translucent and opaque colour to create a sense of transient atmosphere and light, Robinson alludes to the insignificance of the individual in the face of nature s mysterious and sublime power. At left, top to bottom: Creation landscape Earth and sea I-III 1995 Colour lithograph on paper Three sheets: 40.5 x 58cm; 40.5 x 57cm; 40 x 57.7cm

Mount Warning 1992 Colour lithograph 40 x 50cm Place and Memory: The Graphic Work of William Robinson QUT Cultural Precinct Art Museum 12 September 7 December 2003.

Rainbird. Education resource text by Stephen Rainbird; additional text and design by Robyn Daw Curator (Public Programs).

5 Mount Warning 1992 Colour lithograph 40 x 50cm Place and Memory: The Graphic Work of William Robinson QUT Cultural Precinct Art Museum 12 September 7 December George Street, Brisbane 4000 (next to the City Botanic Gardens) 10:00am 4:00pm Tues Fri 12:00noon 4:00pm Sat/Sun Place and Memory: The Graphic Work of William Robinson was curated by Stephen Rainbird. Education resource text by Stephen Rainbird; additional text and design by Robyn Daw Curator (Public Programs). All images are from works held in the QUT Art Collection, reproduced with the permission of the artist. The exhibition will tour to venues in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria during Gold Coast City Art Gallery: 19 December February 2004 Cairns Regional Gallery: 13 February - 28 March 2004 Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery: 16 April - 23 May 2004 New England Regional Art Museum: 4 June - 25 July Campbelltown City Bicentennial Art Gallery: 7 August - 3 October 2004 Wagga Wagga Regional Gallery: 22 October - 5 December 2004 Stonington Stables Museum of Art, Deakin University, Melbourne: 4 January - 12 February 2005 Place and Memory: The Graphic Work of William Robinson is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, the Gordon Darling Foundation, Kay Bryan, Australian Galleries and Philip Bacon Galleries. QUT Art Museum is proudly sponsored by Kay and Robert Bryan, Diana Gibson, The Lee Foundation

1. THE PROJECT 2. THE ARTWORK. Artwork in a box

1. THE PROJECT 2. THE ARTWORK. Artwork in a box Artwork in a box Education resource for teachers This secondary school resource for teachers accompanies Artwork in a box: William Robinson. It includes information about the artist, his artwork, and suggested