Colin Lanceley

COLIN LAN CE LEY

The Privilege of Art

First published by Australian Galleries and Colin Lanceley Estate 2023

Australian Galleries Publications

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This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any other process without written permission.

Photography:

David Stein & Co: p.8

Greg Weight: p.14

Paul Green: pp. 12,13

Peter Morgan: p. 9

Penelope Clay: pp. 11, 15, 18, 19, 21

Design: Stephanie Hall

Printing: Adams Print

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:

Title: Colin Lanceley The Privilege of Art

ISBN: 978-0-6459353-0-1

Subjects: Colin Lanceley

Artists - Australia - Exhibitions

Painting Australian - 21 Century - Exhibitions

759.994

All works reproduced in the catalogue are © Colin Lanceley Estate and are reproduced with their permission

Front cover: The Knights Penance in the Sierra Morena (detail) 1972 screenprint 78.5 x 58.5 cm edition 80

COLIN LANCELEY

The Privilege of Art

Exhibition Dates

Thursday 5 – Sunday 22 O ctober 20 23

Open 7 days 10am – 6pm T 02 9360 5177

sydney@australiangalleries.com.au

australiangalleries.com.au

A USTRALIAN G ALLERIES

Colin c.1986

Photography: Jon Lewis

COLIN LANCELEY: THE PRIVILEGE OF ART

To look at Colin Lanceley’s work today is to be reminded that artists need not be prisoners of the present but can make art for all time. For Lanceley, a period of prime social engagement came at the very beginning of his career in the early 1960s, when he formed the Annandale Imitation Realists in partnership with Mike Brown and Ross Crothall. Upon the dissolution of this relentlessly avant-garde group, Lanceley continued to experiment with assemblage, collage and junk sculpture.

One of his major works of that period is included in this show – Altar (1963), a red-tinged swirl of demonic figures clustered around a battered roulette wheel. The humour is broad, the painting and collage full of bravura. It would not be long, however, until a more mature artist emerged from the Bohemian carapace.

By the time he won the Helena Rubinstein Travelling Scholarship in 1965, Lanceley had become a conscientious craftsman working on the borderline beween painting and sculpture. He took his family off to London where, within one year of arrival, he was given a show by Marlborough Galleries.

It was during a decade spent in Britain that Lanceley cultivated his interests in music and literature. The three sets of prints in this show, The Miraculous Mandarin Suite (1966), Some Adventures of Don Quixote (1972), and The Wasteland (1975), find him responding imaginatively to an opera by Béla Bartók, to Cervantes’s classic novel, and to the modernist poetry of T.S. Eliot.

Lanceley’s graphic style is quirky, picking details from his sources of inspiration, creating surreal mindscapes in which small colourful images dance in infinite space. These prints are cerebral works in which the artist becomes absorbed in his own imaginative reverie, forging a language of signs and symbols.

In Some Adventures of Don Quixote one can detect the spirit of Joan Miró, a visitor to Lanceley’s London studio. In The Miraculous Mandarin Suite, the mechanical devices are reminiscent of the ‘desiring machines’ of Marcel Duchamp. The full play of artistic influences would take a lot of decoding.

During that period Lanceley’s output as an artist was inextricably linked to his wide-ranging cultural curiosity. He was also a compulsive acquirer of artworks and vintage objects that would become reference points for his own paintings, sculptures and drawings.

That deep aesthetic absorption is implicit in the lyrical paintings Lanceley made when he returned to Australia in the early 1980s. It’s as if all his interests had been carefully sifted and refined, leaving a pure essence upon which he could draw. There were no overriding themes in these late works. Like Matisse, Lanceley had decided that beauty could be an end-in-itself, and a more potent force than any artistic ‘statement’.

To see these works again, in a world in which so much contemporary art has become neurotic, selfconscious and proscriptive, is to be reassured that an image can be a celebration of the world, not an obligatory critique. For Lanceley there were so many wondrous things that captured his attention he had no inclination to go looking for negatives. While the world will always throw obstacles in our path, it’s the privilege of art to provide moments of pure joy.

John McDonald, September 2023

Art critic for the Sydney Morning Herald & film critic for the Australian Financial Review

www.johnmcdonald.net.au

Left: Colin in his London studio c.1979

Photography: Graham Marchant

PAINTINGS

Altar 1963 oil, enamel and mixed media collage on wooden construction 163 x 183 cm

A midsummer night’s dream 1985 mixed media and oil on linen 134 x 172 cm

Beyond the hills (cricket and dry grass singing) 2004 oil on carved wood and canvas 121 x 174 cm

Güell 2009-10 oil on carved wood and canvas 143 x 170 cm

Montserrat 2009-10 oil on carved wood and canvas 133 x 169 cm

Up on the downs 2012 oil on carved wood and canvas 131 x 165 cm

Snake charmer 2012-13 oil on carved wood and canvas 129 x 173 cm

DRAWINGS

Campbell’s Hole, Werri 2003 ink, crayon and pencil on paper 67 x 101 cm

Across the river and into the trees 2007 ink, crayon and pencil on paper 57 x 76 cm

A bend of the branch 2007 ink, crayon and pencil on paper 57 x 76 cm

LITHOGRAPHS, SCREENPRINTS & ETCHINGS

The Barber of Seville 1997 lithograph 76 x 56 cm edition 60

SOME ADVENTURES OF DON QUIXOTE SUITE OF SCREENPRINTS

Battle with some Wine Skins 1972 screenprint 78.5 x 58.5 cm edition

The Knights Penance in the Sierra Morena 1972 screenprint 78.5 x 58.5 cm edition

THE MIRACULOUS MANDARIN SUITE OF SCREENPRINTS

THE WASTELAND SUITE OF LITHOGRAPHS

The Burial of the Dead 1975 lithograph 101 x 68 cm edition 50

BIOGRAPHY

1938 Born, Dunedin, Aotearoa, New Zealand

1939 Moved to Gadigal Country, Sydney, Australia

1954 Apprenticed as a colour photo engraver in the printing industry in Sydney

Attended evening classes at North Sydney Technical College, Sydney

1956–60 Art Diploma at East Sydney Technical College (now National Art School), Sydney

1961–62 Formed the Annandale Imitation Realists with Michael Brown and Ross Crothall (also known as Imitation Realists and Subterranean Imitation Realists)

1963 Awarded Young Painters art prize, Contemporary Art Society of NSW, Sydney

1964 Awarded Helena Rubinstein Travelling Art Scholarship, Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), Sydney

1965 Travelled to Italy and England accompanied by Kay Morphett and her children Louise and Simon

1966–81 Lived and worked in London. Lectured at Bath Academy of Art, Gloucestershire College of Art and Design and Chelsea School of Art, London. Travelled extensively in Europe, with long periods working in France and Spain.

1970 Married Kay Morphett. Birth of Tristan Lanceley

1973 Birth of Felix Lanceley

1980

Awarded second prize, Europe Prize for Painting, Ostend, Belgium

1981 Returned to Australia

1980s–2011 Teacher, painting and drawing, East Sydney Technical College

1983–86 Lecturer, City Art Institute (now UNSW Art & Design), Sydney

1984 Awarded John McCaughey Prize, AGNSW, Sydney

1987 Publication of Colin Lanceley by Craftsman House with an introduction by Robert Hughes

1990 Awarded Order of Australia (AO)

1991 Awarded Australian Artists Creative Fellowship, Australia Council for the Arts

Invited to lecture and exhibit at the Arts Club of Chicago, USA

1993 Delivered Lloyd Rees Memorial Lecture, AGNSW, Sydney

1994 Appointed to the Board of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Designed mosaics for the Sydney International Aquatic Centre (now Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre), Sydney

1996 Appointed Chairman of the Advisory Board, National Art School, Sydney

1998 Commissioned to paint the ceiling of the Sydney Lyric Theatre

2001 Invited to lecture at the New York Studio School, New York, USA

2002 Commissioned to create a large glass work for the County Court of Victoria, Melbourne

Awarded inaugural National Art School Fellowship

2015 Died 30 January, Gadigal Country, Sydney

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2023 The Privilege of Art, Australian Galleries, Sydney

2022 Earthly Delights, National Art School, Sydney

2015 Garden, QUT Art Museum, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane

2014 Pop to Popism, Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), Sydney

2003 Colin Lanceley: Recent Paintings, Wollongong City Gallery, New South Wales

2001 Australian Collection Focus: Colin Lanceley, AGNSW, Sydney Exhibits with Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne

1999–2003 Exhibits with Michael Carr Art Dealer, Sydney

1993–95 Exhibits with Sherman Galleries, Sydney, including Patrick Heron and Colin Lanceley: Recent Works on Paper (1995)

1995 Windows on Australia 1, Australian Embassy, Tokyo

1992 200 Years of Australian Painting: Nature, People and Art in the Southern Continent, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo; National Museum of Contemporary Art, Kyoto, Japan

1991 Colin Lanceley: New Constructed Paintings, The Arts Club of Chicago, USA

1989–2000 Exhibits with Solander Gallery, Canberra

1989–94 Exhibits with Frumkin Adams Gallery, New York, USA

1988–90 Exhibits with Rex Irwin Art Dealer, Sydney

1988 The Illawarra and Environs: A Pictorial Survey, Wollongong City Gallery

1987–ongoing Exhibits with Australian Galleries, Melbourne

1987 Colin Lanceley 1961–1987, AGNSW, Sydney

Exhibits with Bonython-Meadmore Gallery, Adelaide

1986 6th Biennale of Sydney: Origins Originality + Beyond, Sydney

1985 The Drawn Image: Colin Lanceley, Alun Leach-Jones, Guy Warren, Penrith Regional Art Gallery, New South Wales; New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale, New South Wales

Irreverent Sculpture, Monash University Gallery, Melbourne

1984–86 Exhibits with Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York

Colin in his London studio c.1979

Photography: Graham Marchant

1984 Work in progress: Kate Briscoe, Col Jordan, Colin Lanceley, Terence O’Donnell, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, City Art Institute, Sydney

1983 Australian Perspecta 1983, AGNSW, Sydney

1982–85 Exhibits with Macquarie Galleries, Sydney

1982 Carnegie International, Pittsburgh, USA

1981 2. Biennale der Europaischen Grafik, Baden-Baden, West Germany

1980 Exhibits with Waddington Galleries, London Europa Prijs 1980, Ostend, Belgium

XV Internationale Malerwochen, Neue Gallery, Graz, Austria

John Moores Painting Prize, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, United Kingdom

1978 Exhibits with Phillip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane

1976 Colin Lanceley Complete Prints, Tate Gallery, London

1975 Colin Lanceley, Whitechapel Gallery, London

1973–78 Exhibits with Realities Gallery, Melbourne

1972 Exhibits with Galeria Pryzmat, Kraków, Poland

1970–73 Exhibits with Bonython Gallery, Sydney

1968 Exhibits with Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, New York

Britische Kunst Heute, Kunstverein, Hamburg, Germany

Exhibits with Galerie Veranneman, Brussels

1967 Exhibits with Galerie d’Art Moderne, Basel, Switzerland

Exhibits with Galerie Alice Pauli, Lausanne, Switzerland

Ventures, Arts Council of Great Britain, Cambridge

1966–73 Exhibits with Marlborough Fine Art, London

1965 Exhibits with Gallery A, Sydney

1964 Selections from the Helena Rubinstein Travelling Art Scholarship, AGNSW, Sydney

Exhibits with South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne

1963 Young Painters’ Exhibition, Farmer’s Blaxland Gallery, Sydney

Exhibits with Hungry Horse Gallery, Sydney

1962–74 Exhibits with Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney, including Subterranean Imitation Realists (1962)

1962 Annandale Imitation Realists, Museum of Modern Art Australia, Melbourne

COLLECTIONS - INTERNATIONAL

Albion College, USA

Arts Council England, England

Baltimore Museum, USA

Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, New Zealand

Contemporary Art Society, England

Government Art Collection, England

Kunstverein, Germany

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, USA

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA

Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

Muzeum Górnośląskie, Poland

Muzeum Narodowe, Poland

National Gallery of Art, USA

Ravinia Festival Association, USA

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, USA

Stedelijk Museum, Netherlands

Tate, England

Victoria and Albert Museum, England

COLLECTIONS - AUSTRALIA

Artbank

Arts Centre, Melbourne

Art Gallery of Ballarat, Victoria

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide

Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth

Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, New South Wales

Kedumba Collection, New South Wales

Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Sydney

Mildura Arts Centre, Victoria

Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney

Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Newcastle Art Gallery, New South Wales

New England Regional Art Museum, New South Wales

Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra

Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane

Rockhampton Museum of Art, Queensland

TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria

Wollongong Art Gallery, New South Wales

p.6 Up on the downs (detail) 2012 oil on carved wood and canvas 131 x 165 cm

p.16 Across the river and into the trees (detail) 2007 ink, crayon and pencil on paper 57 x 76 cm

p.22 Popiel (detail) 1972

screenprint 77.5 x 57.5 cm edition 70

p.36 Don Quixote confined and Enchanted (detail) 1972

screenprint 78.5 x 58.5 cm edition 80

p.46 Embrace (detail) 1966

screenprint 78 x 56.5 cm edition 10

p.56 The fire Sermon (detail) 1975

lithograph 101 x 68 cm edition 50

COLIN LANCELEY

Colin, Kay, Simon, Felix & Tristan 1981 Photography: Spike Newton

A USTRALIAN G ALLERIES

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