Royston Harpur

Paintings

Exhibition: 17 June – 4 July 2009

Perhaps the two purist calligraphic painters in Australian art are Peter Upward (1932-1983) and Royston Harpur (born 1938). Upward came to his calligraphic manner through an interest in Zen and in the improvisatory spirit of jazz. Royston Harpur consolidated his calligraphic manner of painting while living in Kyoto in the early 1970s. This experience was reinforced by Harpur’s study of the theories of the Chinese literati, with their interest in the “awkward” and their notion that the brushwork reveals the personality of the artist.

Royston Harpur developed an abstract and gestural way of working that is both western (in its relationship to abstract expressionism) and eastern (with its interest in the fleeting, in flux, and in the exhilaration of swift, unpremeditated execution).

This exhibition is accompanied by a small exhibition of ceramics by Peter Rushforth AM and Bernard Leach OBE CH, whose work also conjoins western and eastern traditions.

Biography
1938 Born Sydney, Australia.
1956-59 Studied painting and fine arts under Maximilian Feuerring.
1960 Art critic, Observer, Sydney.
1961 Worked and studied restoration at The Art Gallery of New South Wales.
1964 Lived in London and on the island of Malta.
1965 Appointed gallery manager for the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London. Performed in several experimental dance recitals with various members of the Merce Cunningham and Martha Graham Companies. Performed in two happenings under the direction of Mark Boyle at the Institute of Contemporary Arts and The Theatre Royal, Stratford. Travelled in the Far East.
1966 Director, Central Street Gallery, Sydney.
1966-67 Elected to the committee of the Contemporary Art Society (N.S.W.).
Appointed to the Exhibitions Department National Gallery of Victoria.
Appointed representative of the Contemporary Art Society of Australia to the Australian U.N.E.S.C.0 Committee for Visual Arts in Australia.
Appointed Curator of European and American Painting After 1800 at the National Gallery of Victoria.
1969 Appointed to the International Association of Art Critics.
1971 Elected President of the Contemporary Art Society (N.S.W.).
Art critic, The Australian newspaper
1972 Lived and worked in Kyoto, Japan. Studied papers and ink making with Shotei Ibata.
1973 Began teaching at the National Art School, Sydney.
1975 Awarded Australia Council Visual Arts Board Grant.
1992 Retired from the National Art School.
1995 Extensive travel in Asia, the Middle East and South America.
2001 Moved to Mudgee in the Central West of New South Wales, where he still lives.

Solo Exhibitions
1961 Pequeno Gallery, Adelaide.
1962 Barry Stern Gallery, Sydney.
1966 Central Street Gallery, with Rollin Schlicht and Tony McGillick.
1968 Gallery A, Sydney. Gallery A, Melbourne.
1971 Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney. Narek Craft Gallery, Canberra.
1972 Ryushido Gallery, Kyoto, Japan. Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney.
1974 The Craft Centre, Melbourne. Atelier 72 Gallery, Adelaide.
National Art Students Union Gallery, Newcastle.
1975 Hogarth Gallery, Sydney.
1976 Maitland City Art Gallery (Survey Exhibition.).
The Art Gallery of New South Wales, with Peter Upward and Brett Whiteley.
1977 Rex Irwin Gallery, Sydney.
1980 Institute of Contemporary Art, Sydney.
1982 Hargrave Gallery, Sydney. Liverpool Polytechnic, England.
1985 Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne.
1987 Irving Sculpture Gallery, Sydney.
1988 Corporate Gift Gallery, Brisbane.
1990 10 Taylor Street Gallery, Sydney.
1991 David Jones Gallery, Sydney.
2002 East and West Gallery, Melbourne, with Junichi Tatsubuchi.
2003 Five Corners Wine, Mudgee.
2009 Peter Pinson Gallery, Sydney.