Ray Austin Crooke (12 July 19225 December 2015) was an Australian artist known for his landscapes. He won the

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...

in 1969 with a portrait of George Johnston.

Early life

Ray Crooke was born in

Auburn, Victoria Auburn is an unbounded neighbourhood of the suburb of Hawthorn, Victoria, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia, in the States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The area is renowned for its commercial Victorian arch ...

in 1922. He spent time in

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

, Cape York and other parts of northern Australia joining the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, service number VX88344 between August 1941-July 1946.

Career

After the war, he enrolled in Art School at

Swinburne University of Technology The Swinburne University of Technology (or simply Swinburne) is a public university, public research university in Melbourne, Australia. It is the modern descendant of the Eastern Suburbs Technical College established in 1908, renamed Swinburne ...

and later travelled to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

and

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

. In 1949 he travelled to the

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes ( Kalaw Lagaw Ya#Phonology 2, �zen̪ad̪ kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, ...

, returning to Melbourne in 1951 to marry June Bethell.Ray Crooke Diary 1949 [catalogue record
State Library of Queensland">atalogue record">Ray Crooke Diary 1949 [catalogue record
State Library of Queensland/ref> A diary of his time in the Torres Strait is held by the State Library of Queensland. His portrait of the novelist George Johnston won the

in 1969, and the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

owns three of Ray Crooke's portrait paintings: ''Portrait of Xavier Herbert'' (1977), ''Portrait of Professor Emeritus Sir Zelman Cowen, (1919–2011), Vice-Chancellor 1970–1977'' (1977) and ''Portrait of Sadie Herbert'' (1980). However, he is not known usually for portrait painting. He is known for serene views of Islander people and ocean landscapes, many of which are based on the art of

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer, whose work has been primarily associated with the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements. He was also an influ ...

. He was responsible for the dust-jacket for '' Poor Fellow My Country'' by

Xavier Herbert Xavier Herbert (born Alfred Jackson; 15 May 190110 November 1984) was an Australian writer best known for his Miles Franklin Award-winning novel '' Poor Fellow My Country'' (1975). He was considered one of the elder statesmen of Australian lite ...

. During the sixties, the Crooks lived in Sydney and Melbourne, making regular trips to

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately ...

, Cape York and

. He frequently exhibited his work at the Johnstone gallery in Brisbane and the

Macquarie Galleries Macquarie Galleries was a Sydney art museum, private art gallery established in 1925 by John Henry Young and Basil Burdett. It was located at "Strathkyle", 19 Bligh Street Sydney then moved to 40 King Street in 1945. From 1991 to 1993 it was lo ...

, Sydney. For Crooke, the Johnstone Gallery was pivotal to his success, beginning with his first solo exhibition there in 1960, and continuing, largely unabated, ever since. His ''Island Journal'' is dedicated "to the memory of Brian and Marjorie Johnstone", an indication of their influence on his life as an artist. His painting ''The Offering'' (1971) is in the

Vatican Museum The Vatican Museums (; ) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of the best-known Roman sculptures and ...

collection. Many of his works are in Australian galleries. "North of Capricorn" was an Australian touring retrospective exhibition in 1997 organised by the

Perc Tucker Regional Gallery Perc ''(pronounced purse)'' Tucker Regional Gallery is a heritage-listed public art gallery in the Townsville City, Queensland, Townsville CBD, City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. Located on the corner of Flinders and Denham streets, the ...

(Townsville), initiated and curated by Grafico Topico's writer and curator Sue Smith. He was made a

Member 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 the 1993

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...

Honours, "in recognition of service to the arts, particularly as a landscape artist". Crooke died on 5 December 2015 at the age of 93.

References

External links

Ray Crooke , Johnstone Gallery Archive, State Library of Queensland

Ray Hughes digital story, educational interview and oral history. Johnstone Gallery Archive, State Library of Queensland

Ray Crooke on Artabase. Islanders 1955
1922 births 2015 deaths Archibald Prize winners Artists from Melbourne Members of the Order of Australia Swinburne University of Technology alumni 20th-century Australian painters Australian modern painters Australian Army personnel of World War II {{Australia-painter-stub