Gil Jamieson (31 January 1934 – 14 June 1992) was an Australian

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

. Jamieson was born in the central

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

town of

Monto Monto was the nickname for the one-time red light district in the northeast of Dublin, Ireland. The Monto was roughly the area bounded by Talbot Street, Amiens Street, Gardiner Street and Seán McDermott Street (formerly Gloucester Street) in ...

in 1934 and died there in 1992.

Career

Jamieson liked to be thought of as a Romantic. He objected to the labels of art commentators. He painted

figurative art Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork (particularly paintings and sculptures) that is clearly derived from real object sources and so is, by definition, representational. The term is often in contrast to abstract a ...

works,

landscape art Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coh ...

works, and

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

s striking for their passionate intensity of both subject and colour. He wrestled with the tough reality of survival in the bush and lived the landscape that he painted. He lived and worked on the land with his family raising cattle on a bush block near Monto. He embarked on extensive expeditions throughout Australia capturing the subtle beauty and magnificence of the country in

gouache Gouache (; ), body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouach ...

s he called his 'sonnets'. His 72-foot 360 degree mural ''Jay Creek'' (depicting Jay Creek, Northern Territory), an

oil on canvas Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or copper for several centuries. ...

, painted on location in

Central Australia Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and ...

, his largest and a most engrossing work was painted in four days in searing heat. Jamieson regarded himself as a self-taught artist, however he attended

Brisbane Central Technical College Brisbane Central Technical College is a heritage-listed technical college at 2 George Street, Brisbane, George Street, Brisbane City, Queensland, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1911 to 1956. It became ...

(with

Melville Haysom Melville Haysom (1900-1968) was an Australian artist, sculptor, instructor and musician. He specialised in portrait, coastal and animal paintings,with evident impressionist or abstract styles. His work was held in galleries of Canberra, Sydney and ...

), 1956–57. While in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

he aspired to

political cartooning An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or current ...

, worked as a quick sketch artist outside a nightclub and held his first exhibition at a Brisbane

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

Jamieson and his wife Maureen moved from Monto to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and his career flourished. His work was taken up by John Reed of

Heide Museum of Modern Art The Heide Museum of Modern Art, also known as Heide, is an art museum in Bulleen, Victoria, Bulleen, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Established in 1981, the museum exhibits modern art, modern and contemporary a ...

where he exhibited. He developed strong friendships with fellow artists: George Johnson, Fred Williams,

John Perceval John de Burgh Perceval AO (1 February 1923 – 15 October 2000) was a well-known Australian artist. Perceval was the last surviving member of a group known as the Angry Penguins who redefined Australian art in the 1940s. Other members includ ...

, Edwin Tanner to name a few. These friendships sustained and affirmed his contribution to Australian art as later in his career, fellow artists such as Cliff Pugh and

Arthur Boyd Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd (24 July 1920 – 24 April 1999) was a leading Australian painter of the middle to late 20th century. Boyd's work ranges from impressionist renderings of Australian landscape to starkly expressionist figuration, ...

supported his work. He chose to return to the bush and relative obscurity returning regularly to exhibit in

. Throughout his career Jamieson had many supporters of his work including

Kym Bonython Hugh Reskymer "Kym" Bonython, (15 September 1920 – 19 March 2011) was an Australian politician, World War Two veteran, musician, gallery owner, and racing driver. He was a prominent and active member of society in Adelaide, Australia. He had ...

and

Rudy Komon Rudolph John Komon MBE (21 June 190827 October 1982) was a Viennese–born Czech–Australian art dealer, gallery director, benefactor and wine connoisseur. He had a great influence on the burgeoning artistic life of Australia in the 1950s and 1 ...

. He had a long association with

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

exhibiting there and in Brisbane regularly throughout his career. Rockhampton Art Gallery toured a retrospective for two years throughout regional Australia and overseas 1997–9.Drury, Nevill: "New Art Four: Profiles in Contemporary Australian Art.", page 120, 228. Craftsman House, 1990.Bonython, Kym: "Modern Australian Painting 1975/1980.", page 84. Rigby Ltd, 1980.

Exhibitions

*Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne 1960 *Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney 1961 *South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne 1962 *Bonython Gallery, Adelaide 1963 *South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne 1964 *Australian Galleries, Melbourne 1966 *Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney 1967 *Bonython Gallery, Sydney 1971 *Bonython Gallery, Adelaide 1971 *John Gild Gallery, Perth 1972 *Talamo Gallery, Melbourne 1972 *Talamo Gallery, Melbourne 1973 (''Jay Creek'' exhibition, 72 ft landscape from Central Australia) *Reid Gallery, Brisbane 1974 *Gallery Up Top, Rockhampton 1974 *Gallery Up Top, Rockhampton 1975 *Gallery Up Top, Rockhampton 1976 *Gallery Up Top, Rockhampton 1977 *Gallery Up Top, Rockhampton 1978 *Philip Bacon Gallery, Brisbane 1978 *CIEA Rockhamption 1978 ('Jay Creek' exhibit, opening library by HRH Princess Alexandra) *Adelaide Festival Centre 1978 ('Jay Creek' complementary exhibit in theatre foyer) *Bakehouse Gallery, Mackay 1978 *Gallery Up Top, Rockhampton 1979 *Gallery Up Top, Rockhampton 1980 * Realities Gallery, Melbourne 1981 *City Hall, Brisbane 1982 *Gallery Up Top, Rockhampton 1982 *Nerang Gallery, Gold Coast 1983 *Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney 1983 *Realities Gallery, Melbourne 1983 *Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences, Darwin 1984 *The Schubert Gallery, Broadbeach 1985 *William Mora Gallery, Melbourne 1988. *Monto Art Gallery, Monto QLD Newton Street, 2023

Collections

His work was represented in many major public collections, including: *

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 ...

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

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 ...

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...

Art Museum *

Parliament House, Canberra Parliament House is the meeting place of the Parliament of Australia, the Legislature, legislative body of Politics of Australia, Australia's federal system of government. The building also houses the core of the Executive (government), execut ...

* Parliament House, Queensland * Monto Library, Queensland

Awards

*1965: McCaughey Prize, NGV Melbourne *1977: Maryborough Watercolour Prize *1978: Bundaberg Painting Prize *1978: Bundaberg Watercolour Prize *1978: Rockhampton Art Prize

References

External links

Australian Dictionary of Biography (2016) "Jamieson, Hugh Gilmour (Gil) (1934–1992)"
small>Accessed 8November 2019
Brown, Phil (2005) "Memoir: Our Man up There" Griffith REVIEW Edition 9 – Up North: Myths, Threats & Enchantment
Accessed 6 May 2010
MacLaughlan, Susan (2019) Gil Jamieson Film made for 25 October Gil Jamieson Resurrection Exhibition at the Rex in Monto Queensland
small> Accessed 27 October 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Jamieson, Gil 1934 births 1992 deaths Artists from Queensland 20th-century Australian painters Australian modern painters