I have recently written a brief background to Tim Storrier's 2012 Archibald Prize winning portrait and thought it would be useful to post it here as I often get contacted by people wanting to know more about a particular artist and their work...

The histrionic wayfarer (after Bosch) by Tim Storrier:

The title of this work references a painting by the Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch. Storrier worked on the portrait over 2011-12 completing it just prior to its entry in the 2012 Archibald prize.

The work is part of an important series within the artist's oeuvre, the 'In absentia' paintings.

Rather than being traditional portraits this series explores the recognition or memory of a person through the portrayal of their clothing and accumulated (but often incidental) possessions. The resulting images evoke a simultaneous sense of presence and loss.

Smudge, the artist's faithful companion was a late addition to the portrait. Storrier was initially reluctant to put the dog in as he was concerned it might be seen as some sort of trick. But he became convinced that her presence would add balance to the painting: she is looking in the opposite direction to the main figure and her gaze is directed at a paper sketch of the artist borne in the wind.

Smudge initially belonged to a tutor of Storrier's children and lived at the local school. Sadly she ate 'Scooter' the guinea pig and was sent to the pound. The artist's children were distraught that ''Midgey was sent to the pound because she ate Scooter'' and implored him to rescue her. A phone call was placed to Margaret, the wonderful and kind lady who 'rebirths' dogs at the Bathurst Pound. Not one to miss an opportunity to place one of her renegade charges she was over straight away with Midgey on an 'approval only' basis. The dog stayed.

Posted in: Exhibition Reviews

Tim Storrier is often associated with his 'fire' paintings. However he is also a brilliant painter of the ocean. We have three stunning Storrier sea paintings currently available which can be viewed in the Tim Storrier paintings section in the stockroom. These are ideally seen at a larger file size than we usually display on the website so please contact me and I can arrange to email larger images out individually.

Posted in: Collecting Art

Four stunning Tim Maguire prints have been added to the stockroom section of the website under. To view click on 'Tim Maguire' in the artist's panel or the relevant thumbnail for the artist in the stockroom section. The prints are titled:

Serpentine
Lago di Como I
Lago di Como II
Villa d'Este

Posted in: Collecting Art

Charles Blackman's 'The Orpheus Suite' was published as a set of limited edition, signed, hand-printed collagraphs from around 1998-2000. Several of the prints are now hard to find so I am very pleased to announce that I have a complete set available. The prints are available individually but I would also consider an offer for the complete set. Images of the prints for sale can be viewed in the 'Charles Blackman' section of the stockroom.

Posted in: Collecting Art