Arthur Boyd

From Freepedia

Image:Great Hall, Parliament House, Canberra.jpg

Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd (July 20, 1920 - April 24, 1999) was a prominent Australian artist, both as a painter and sculptor. His family is the most prominent artistic family in Australia, with many relatives being painters, sculptors, architects or other arts professionals. His sister Mary married John Perceval, and then Sidney Nolan. He is represented in all Australian state galleries.

He was born at Murrumbeena, Victoria. He attended night classes at the National Gallery Art School, in Melbourne in 1935.

He produced several series of works, including a collection of 15 biblical paintings based on the teaching of his mother. Later he produced a tempera series about large areas of sky and land, called the Wimmera series.

His most well known work is perhaps his Half caste bride series in the 1950s, which he did based on his experiences of seeing Aborigines in Alice Springs in 1951. He represented Australia with Arthur Streeton at the Venice Biennale in 1958.

In 1959 he moved to London, getting great success at the Whitechapel gallery. He started another well known series of works, Nebuchadnezar is 1966. He returned to Australia in 1971, as one of Australia's most highly regarded artists. He bought properties on at Bundanon on the Shoalhaven River, and many of his later works were landscape paintings done at this location.

In 1975 he presented several thousand works to the National Gallery of Australia. In 1979, he recieved the office of the Order of Australia. He represented Australia at the Venice Biennale again in 1988. In 1993, he made a gift to the nation of his studio and 1000 acres of property at Bundanoon, which was valued at the time at $20 million. He was Australian of the Year in 1995.

Arthur Boyd also was commissioned to do a painting for the New Parliament House in Canberra, which was made into an enormous tapestry for the Great Hall.

In May 2000, his painting Dreaming Bridegroom I (1957) sold for $954,000. Another painting of the Bride series, Mourning Bride I (1958) has sold for $833,000.