Robert David MacPherson (1937 – 12 November 2021) was an Australian artist. MacPherson was regarded as one of Australia's most respected contemporary artists whose work ranged from texts, drawings, paintings and room-scale installations. His work has been represented in the

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 ...

as well as all state galleries. After his death, the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art described MacPherson as having been one of the "most important artists of his generation."

Life and career

MacPherson was born in 1937. After leaving school at the age of 13, he worked in a variety of jobs which included working in factories, on the docks, on cattle properties, in cane fields, and as an antique dealer. He was known for using his life experience for inspiration. MacPherson was working as a ship painter on Brisbane's wharves when he became active in the Brisbane art scene. After he had his first exhibition in the 1970s, he furthered his artistic education after being awarded several grants from the

Visual Arts Board 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 announc ...

, which took him to Europe and the United States where he worked in the Greene Street studio in New York. In 1994, MacPherson's work was exhibited at the

Art Gallery of New South Wales 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 ...

. The

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 ...

hosted a survey of his work the following year. A major retrospective of MacPherson's work was held at the

Museum of Contemporary Art Australia The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), formerly the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, is located on George Street, Sydney, George Street in The Rocks, Sydney, The Rocks neighbourhood of Sydney. The museum is housed in the Stripped Cl ...

in Sydney and Perth's

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 ...

in 2001, curated by Trevor Smith. In 2015, Ingrid Periz curated a major solo exhibition of MacPherson's entitled ''Robert MacPherson: The Painter's Reach'' at the

QAGOMA The Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, colloquially known as QAGOMA, is an art museum in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It consists of the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG), which is the main building, and a second gallery, the Gall ...

. This included one of MacPherson's most iconic works "1000 Frog Poems: 1000 Boss Drovers ('Yellow Leaf Falling') For HS 1996-2014" which consisted of a series of 2400 ink and pencil portraits that paid tribute to Australian drovers. MacPherson has also been included in several biennales and several major international exhibitions including the

São Paulo Art Biennial The São Paulo Art Biennial ( Portuguese: ''Bienal de São Paulo'') was founded in 1951 and has been held every two years since. It is the second oldest art biennial in the world after the Venice Biennale (in existence since 1895), which serves as ...

in 2002, the 2007 Den Haag Sculptuur in the Netherlands and the

Sharjah Biennial The Sharjah Biennial is a large-scale contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in the city of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The first Sharjah Biennial took place in 1993, and was organized by the Sharjah Department of Cu ...

in the United Arab Emirates in 2009. MacPherson died on 12 November 2021 at the age of 84.

Honours

MacPherson received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

in 1992. In 1997, 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 ...

awarded him the Visual Arts Emeritus Award. In January 2001, ''

Australian Art Collector Art Collector, previously known as Australian Art Collector, is a quarterly Australian art magazine that was first published in July 1997. The magazine primarily covers Australian contemporary and Indigenous Australian art, and also features ar ...

'' listed MacPherson at #2 on a list of Australia's most collectible artists. He was named as a Queensland Great in 2015. 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

2020 Australia Day Honours The 2020 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2020 by the Governor General of Australia, David Hurley. The Australi ...

in recognition of his significant service to the visual arts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacPherson, Robert 1937 births 2021 deaths Australian artists Artists from Queensland Queensland Greats Members of the Order of Australia