Murray WALKER

b. Australia, 1937

Untitled 1988

found timber and epoxy resin

2021.66

Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Anouk Hulme in memory of Etta and Emmanuel Hirsh, 2021

About the artist and their work:

Born in the late 1930s, Murray Walker is a distinguished Australian artist who specialises in printmaking, assemblage, collage and tapestry making. Upon completion of his studies at the Ballarat Miners College, Walker attended the National Gallery School (1958-59) and after being awarded a scholarship to attend the Academia della Belle Arti, Perugia, Italy (1961), Walker studied at the prestigious Slade School of Fine Art, University College, London (1961-62). Returning to Melbourne, Walker exhibited widely and was part of important early exhibitions at the Arwgus Gallery. Walker began his teaching career in the printmaking department at the National Gallery School and was widely known as a master printmaker and technician. Walker exhibited etchings at the Powell Street Gallery, South Yarra in the early 1970s. Works by Sue and Murray Walker were first purchased by Etta and Emmanuel Hirsh for their collection in 1974.

Walker has been the subject of numerous survey style exhibitions including the major exhibition of found objects and assemblages at the National Gallery of Victoria (1978). In 2000 Walker was commissioned to curate and design The Federation Tapestry for Museum’s Victoria. Completed by the Australian Tapestry Workshop this 41-meter-long woven artwork has sections designed by artists Ginger Riley, William Barak, Reg Mombassa, Mirka Mora, Martin Sharp, Celia Rosser and many more. Murray continues to paint and draw, and continues to exhibit regularly with Fox Galleries, Melbourne.