BIOGRAPHY "I've never accepted the external appearance of things as the whole truth; The world is much more elaborate than the nerves of our eye can tell us... " James Gleeson.
James Timothy Gleeson was born in Hornsby (Sydney) in 1915. He studied art at East Sydney Technical College and teaching at the Sydney Teachers College, where his first surrealist painting City on a tongue 1938 was included in a student exhibition. He has exhibited regularly since 1939, although for a while writing, especially poetry, occupied Gleeson almost as much as painting, and for a time he was undecided as to which path to take as a career.
From 1941-44 Gleeson taught art at Kogarah Girls High School, and lectured in art at Sydney Teachers College 1945-46. Between 1947 and 1949 he travelled extensively in England and Europe which afforded him the opportunity to see the work of the Italian and Northern old masters as well as the work of surrealists including Salvador Dali, Max Ernst and Rene Magritte. He has continued to travel, taking many trips abroad in intervening decades.
Gleeson's major monograph on the work of William Dobell, published by Thames and Hudson in 1964, established him as a serious art historian. His other books include Masterpieces of Australian Painting 1969, Colonial Painters 1788-1800, Impressionist Painters 1881-1930 and Modern Painters 1931-1970, 1971, Robert Klippel 1983. In 1993 Angus and Robertson published his Selected poems.
Gleeson has served in a number of capacities for bodies including the Teachers Federation Art Society (Sydney), Contemporary Art Society, the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, Commonwealth Art Advisory Board, International Art Critics Association and the National Gallery of Australia.
1915 Born in Sydney, Australia 1934-36 Studied at East Sydney Technical College, Sydney. Drawn to art of Dali, de Chirico and Ernst. 1937-38 Studied Sydney Teacher's College. Encountered psychology in the writings of Freud and Jung, especially interested in Jung's archetypes of the collective unconscious 1939 Exhibited with Contemporary Art Society in its inaugral exhibition, Melbourne 1940s Work typified by explorations of the human psyche as influenced by war 1947-49 Study tour to Europe 1958-59 Study tour to Europe and USA 1950s-60s Moved from surrealism to a symbolic perspective, exploring notions of human perfectibility. He pursued a style of 'heroic' painting which drew substantially upon religious imagery and classical mythology 1970s Produced numerous ink and wash collages 1979-82 Returns to notions of the primal subconscious with grotesque distortions of the figure 1983-01 Creates dramatic large scale paintings, landscapes of the mind, with a visceral and organic quality
GLEESON, JAMES TIMOTHY 1915-
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήBIOGRAPHY
"I've never accepted the external appearance of things as the whole truth; The world is much more elaborate than the nerves of our eye can tell us... " James Gleeson.
James Timothy Gleeson was born in Hornsby (Sydney) in 1915. He studied art at East Sydney Technical College and teaching at the Sydney Teachers College, where his first surrealist painting City on a tongue 1938 was included in a student exhibition. He has exhibited regularly since 1939, although for a while writing, especially poetry, occupied Gleeson almost as much as painting, and for a time he was undecided as to which path to take as a career.
From 1941-44 Gleeson taught art at Kogarah Girls High School, and lectured in art at Sydney Teachers College 1945-46. Between 1947 and 1949 he travelled extensively in England and Europe which afforded him the opportunity to see the work of the Italian and Northern old masters as well as the work of surrealists including Salvador Dali, Max Ernst and Rene Magritte. He has continued to travel, taking many trips abroad in intervening decades.
Gleeson's major monograph on the work of William Dobell, published by Thames and Hudson in 1964, established him as a serious art historian. His other books include Masterpieces of Australian Painting 1969, Colonial Painters 1788-1800, Impressionist Painters 1881-1930 and Modern Painters 1931-1970, 1971, Robert Klippel 1983. In 1993 Angus and Robertson published his Selected poems.
Gleeson has served in a number of capacities for bodies including the Teachers Federation Art Society (Sydney), Contemporary Art Society, the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, Commonwealth Art Advisory Board, International Art Critics Association and the National Gallery of Australia.
1915 Born in Sydney, Australia
1934-36 Studied at East Sydney Technical College, Sydney. Drawn to art of Dali, de Chirico and Ernst.
1937-38 Studied Sydney Teacher's College. Encountered psychology in the writings of Freud and Jung, especially interested in Jung's archetypes of the collective unconscious
1939 Exhibited with Contemporary Art Society in its inaugral exhibition, Melbourne
1940s Work typified by explorations of the human psyche as influenced by war
1947-49 Study tour to Europe
1958-59 Study tour to Europe and USA
1950s-60s Moved from surrealism to a symbolic perspective, exploring notions of human perfectibility. He pursued a style of 'heroic' painting which drew substantially upon religious imagery and classical mythology
1970s Produced numerous ink and wash collages
1979-82 Returns to notions of the primal subconscious with grotesque distortions of the figure
1983-01 Creates dramatic large scale paintings, landscapes of the mind, with a visceral and organic quality