Elwyn Lynn
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Elwyn (Jack) Lynn (6 November 1917 – 22 January 1997) was an Australian artist, author, art critic and curator.


Career

Elwyn Lynn trained as a teacher, and was a schoolmaster in Sydney Secondary schools until 1968 (mainly English and history). Lynn was self-taught as an artist. Lynn was Curator of the Power Gallery of Contemporary Art at
Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
from 1969 to 1983. There he built up an international collection, which is now within the
Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean in ...
. Lynn was an art critic at ''
The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...
'' for many years. He was author of several books, including one about the artist Sir Sidney Nolan. Alongside his career as a painter, which started in the mid-1940s, Lynn was also an outspoken commentator on the visual arts. In the 1950s and 1960s he edited the Broadsheets of the Contemporary Art Society. He worked as a critic for a number of newspapers, including the ''Sunday Mirror'' (1963), '' The Bulletin'' (1966-1973), ''Nation'' (1969), ''The Australian'' (1964-1965) and ''The Weekend Australian''. In 1971 he became Advisory Editor of Art International. For a short time he also edited '' Art and Australia''. Lynn was awarded Membership of the
Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...
in 1975. He won the
Wynne Prize The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. As one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne. Now held concurrently with the Sir John Sulman Prize ...
at the
Art Gallery of NSW The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...
in 1988. In 1989, he received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Sydney. In 1994 he received the Emeritus Award from the
Australia Council Creative Australia, formerly known as the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announ ...
.


The Art

Elwyn Lynn's work was striking, with the use of unconventional painting media and expressive surfaces to construct metaphors for human suffering and endurance. Most of his work was essentially abstract, although a sense of the landscape is often evoked. Emeritus Professor Peter Pinson noted: :''The later work of Lynn maintained his interest in damaged and shredding surfaces, and his frequent and adventurousness use of assemblage elements. These late works were also marked by an expressionist vehemence and a daring informality.''


Prizes

Elywn Lynn won the following prizes: * 1988 Wynne Prize AGNSW * 1987 University Of NSW Purchase Prize * 1983 Trustees' Watercolour Prize AGNSW * 1982 Awarded Atelier at Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris * 1980 Trustees' Watercolour Prize AGNSW * 1957 Won
Blake Prize for Religious Art The Blake Prize, formerly the Blake Prize for Religious Art, is an Australian art prize awarded for art that explores spirituality. Since the inaugural prize in 1951, the prize was awarded annually from 1951 to 2015, and since 2016 has been a ...
,
Mosman Art Prize The Mosman Art Prize is an annual art award made by the corporation of Mosman, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. It has been running since 1947. Past adjudicators also include notable Australian art figures such as Margaret Preston, John Olsen ...
and Bathurst Prize


Exhibitions

Elwyn Lynn participated in over 150 group exhibitions in Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Brazil, Indonesia, Poland and Germany. He had over 50 solo exhibitions in Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Cologne (Germany). He has collections in the following galleries: *
National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...
*
Art Gallery of NSW The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...
*
Queensland Art Gallery The Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) is an art museum located in South Bank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The gallery is part of QAGOMA. It complements the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) building, situated only away. The Queensland Art Galle ...
*
Art Gallery of South Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...
*
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) is a museum located in Hobart, Tasmania. The museum was established in 1846, by the Royal Society of Tasmania, the oldest Royal Society outside England. The TMAG receives 400,000 visitors annually. ...
*
Art Gallery of Western Australia The Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) is a public art gallery that is part of the Perth Cultural Centre, in Perth. It is located near the Western Australian Museum and State Library of Western Australia and is supported and managed by the ...
*
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery The Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery (QVMAG) is a museum located in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. It is the largest museum in Australia not located in a capital city. History The foundation stone for the original building to house the ...
*
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) is the main museum in the Northern Territory. The headquarters of the museum is located in the inner Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin suburb of The Gardens, Northern Territory, The ...
*
Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Contemporary Art (often abbreviated to MCA, MoCA or MOCA) may refer to: Africa * Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier), Morocco, officially le Galerie d'Art Contemporain Mohamed Drissi Asia East Asia * Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai ...
*
Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial (AWM) is a national war memorial, war museum, museum and archive dedicated to all Australians who died as a result of war, including peacekeeping duties. The AWM is located in Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, C ...
in Canberra * Auckland Art Gallery New Zealand *
Federation University Federation University Australia (FedUni) is a public university based in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It is the modern descendant of the School of Mines Ballarat, established in 1870 as the fourth tertiary institution in Australi ...
Art Collection *
Castlemaine Art Museum Castlemaine Art Museum is an art gallery and museum in Castlemaine, Victoria, Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1913, it is housed in a purpose-built Art Deco building, completed in 1931 and heritage-listed by the National Trust. Its ...


Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynn, Elwyn 1917 births 1997 deaths Wynne Prize winners Blake Prize for Religious Art winners 20th-century Australian painters Australian modern painters