CHARLES BLACKMAN 
(12 August 1928 – 20 August 2018)

CHARLES BLACKMAN is a major figure in Australian art.  Two significant themes in his work have been the Schoolgirl and Alice in Wonderland. Deep shadows and the accentuation of his figure's eyes occur throughout Blackman's works with a pervasive sense of melancholy.  Blackman was largely self-taught.  He was a co-founder of the Melbourne Contemporary Art Society in 1953 and one of seven who were responsible for the Antipodean Manifesto - a reaction against what they saw as the meteoric rise of abstract expressionism and non-figurative art in Australia and its intolerance of figurative painting.  In 1951 Blackman married a poet, Barbara Patterson, who became a lasting presence in his work. Blackman has won many awards including the Rowney prize for drawing (1959), the Helena Rubenstein Scholarship (1960), the Dyeson Endowment Award and the Crouch Prize. Blackman's work was included in the Whitechapel Open Exhibition in 1961 and Tate Gallery exhibitions of Australian Art 1962-63. 

Blackman was awarded an OBE in 1997, for his services to art. His work is held in institutional and private galleries nationally and internationally.

DAVID BOYD 
(23 August 1924 - 10 November 2011)

DAVID BOYD is a major figure in Australian art.  Boyd was a figurative painter, ceramic sculptor and potter.  His art stems from a long family tradition of artistic talent. Acclaimed as a potter in the fifties and sixties, he began his career as a painter in 1957 with a series of symbolic paintings on Australian explorers. Since then, David Boyd has painted several major series of works, including his powerful Trial series, the Tasmanian Aborigines, the Wanderer and Exiles series. Picturing innocence and evil, destruction and creation, his works convey mythical and universal themes. Having won significant international recognition, David Boyd was invited by the Commonwealth Institute of Art, London, to hold a retrospective of paintings at their Art Gallery in 1969. David Boyd is represented in the Australian National Gallery, all State and many regional galleries; the Mertz collection, USA; the Power collection, Sydney; and many major international galleries and private collections in Australia and overseas.

 

JOHN PEART
(10 December 1945 - 30 September 2013)

Peart arrived in Sydney in 1964 from Brisbane. He was recognised as a leading non-figurative artist within Australia and has been included in numerous definitive exhibitions. His work is held in the Australian National Gallery, all State Galleries and numerous other collections. Peart has been a finalist in the Sulman Prize, the Archibald Portrait Prize and in the Wynne Prize seven times. He won the Sulman in 2000, and the Wynne in 1997.   His work has been acquired by national, state and regional institutions, along with both corporate and private collectors. Peart's reputation was reinforced by the numerous art awards and grants he received. Peart's later works reflect his passion for experimentation. 

JAMES WHITINGTON

JAMES WHITINGTON has a Bachelor of Arts in drama and is an autodidact in the visual arts. He began visual expression as a print maker working for Sydney publisher Port Jackson Press in the 1980's. In his time as a master printmaker, he collaborated with Brett Whitely, Arthur and David Boyd, Charles Blackman and many other celebrated Australian Artists. He had his first solo show of his artwork at Blaxland Gallery in 1988 which was reviewed by Chris Allen in The Sydney Morning Herald. He is collected by Orange and Grafton Regional Galleries and Charles Sturt University. His working studio is in the Hunter Valley where he helped create the Wollombi Cultural Centre. James served as public officer for the WVAC  and also President. He has operated a limited edition publishing business – Crown Street Press – since 1987.