John Peart (1945-2013)

JOHN PEART (1945 - 2013)

The Sixties - a selection of works on paper from the Estate

JOHN PEART (1945 - 2013) The Sixties - a selection of works on paper from the Estate

An exhibition from 30 August to 17 September 2016 Opening: 6 - 8 pm Wednesday 31 August 2016

Watters Gallery Front cover: 1. untitled #981 9.1965 acrylic on paper 30 x 40cm Opposite: 2. untitled #1040 17.12.1965 acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 20.5 x 13cm

109 Riley Street, East Sydney NSW 2010 Ph: (02) 9331 2556 www.wattersgallery.com info@wattersgallery.com tues and sat: 10am - 5pm; wed thurs fri 10am - 7pm

JOHN PEART: The early years It was in 1965 that John Peart first exhibited paintings and his life

It led to a performance in Sydney’s Town Hall, with the entire

daring and intuition), whilst Peart’s paintings seemed to flow of

as an artist began. He turned twenty that year. In his remarkable

Sydney Symphony Orchestra. While Butterley conducted music

their own volition from the well-springs of his being.

career the first five years, 1965-1969, were particularly

specially composed, Peart painted a huge canvas (3m high by

remarkable. They threw into high relief his talent, his innovative

9m long) using long-handled house-painting rollers. It is hard

If we look at the paintings in this exhibition and ask ourselves,

brilliance and his acute perceptions. Those five years form a

to express how aurally and visually exciting the interaction of the

backdrop to this exhibition.

music and painting, sound and sight, was. Their film of this event

By 1969 Peart had held three solo exhibitions and been included

was the ABC’s entry in the Italia Prize that year.

in nine group shows, among them:

For “The Field” exhibition in 1968 Peart produced square, white

his sculptures. “Picasso shapes”, “Henry Moore shapes”, “Rolled

“A Survey of Young Painters”, at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Melbourne.

paintings designed to have a concave surface. These paintings

iron and steel bar shapes”, “Marine shapes”, and so on. They

are uncannily, magically, beautiful; they seem to embrace a

cannot be discerned, yet we know Klippel’s Shakespearean-

“Sydney Painters”, at the Auckland City Gallery, New Zealand.

gentle, cool and timeless space that invites one in. Beautiful too

vast vocabulary of shapes and spaces influenced each decision

“The Field”, at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.

were the intelligent perceptions that led to their creation.

towards sculptures rarely surpassed in Australia’s 21stC art.

Much more could be written of his experiences between 1965

Likewise for John Peart. The paintings in this exhibition are part

and 1969, but let this suffice. His paintings, during that period,

of very wide-ranging, relentless investigations that have made

were in general fairly densely calligraphic. They were exquisite,

possible paintings of profound intelligence and enduring

fascinating and much admired.

exhilaration rarely equalled in Australian 20thC art.

And “Australian Art Today”, which toured Indonesia.

Peart’s researches into and involvements within art in the period 1965-69 must be touched on. In 1967 his investigations into shaped canvases and minimal art lead to his “Monochromatic Paintings”, which were one-colour, shaped canvases. The shapes 3. untitled #997 1966 acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 26 x 20.5cm

evolved from a simple formula and were completely unlike any other work to come out of the 1960s. Fifty years on, they hold an interest and individuality all their own. Also in 1967, he and the then young composer Nigel Butterley developed the work “Interaction”.

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To the cognoscenti they

brought the work of Mark Tobey strongly to mind. Mark Tobey believed painting should arise from contemplation more than from action. On the other hand, Peart felt that the immediacy of the painting experience was of more primary pertinence than

could they have contributed anything to the paintings that arose in the following fifty years? It is helpful to turn to Robert Klippel again and recall his unremitting investigation of shapes and spaces. We cannot discern much of that immense undertaking in

The small paintings in this exhibition are all signed. Peart considered he could ‘put his name’ to them. We are grateful to the John Peart Estate for releasing them.

theory. Comparing Peart’s Tobey-like work with Tobey’s work one

Geoffrey Legge

discerns this difference in emphasis. Tobey’s paintings have, in

July 2016

common with Robert Klippel’s metal sculptures, a feeling that each element has been subject to rigorous appraisal (not without

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4. untitled #972 27.12.1965 ballpoint pen on paper 28 x 21.5cm

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5. untitled #969 1.1.1966 ink, ballpoint pen on paper 26 x 20.5cm

6. untitled #977 1966 ballpoint pen on paper 28 x 21.5cm

7. untitled #968 7.1.1966 ink, ballpoint pen on paper 28 x 21.5cm

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8. untitled #982

8

9.1965 acrylic, felt tip on paper 30 x 40cm

9. untitled #986 9.1965 acrylic, pencil on paper 30 x 40cm

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11. untitled #1008 17.12.1965 acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 20.5 x 13cm

12. untitled #1042 17.12.1965 acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 20.5 x 13cm

10. untitled # 988A 9.10.1965 acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 30 x 40cm

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13. untitled #1022 17.12.1965 acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 20.5 x 13cm

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14. untitled #1025 17.12.1965 acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 20.5 x 13cm

15. untitled #1043 17.12.1965 acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 20.5 x 13cm

16. untitled #1048 17.12.1965 acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 21 x 34cm

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17. untitled #1060 17.12.1965 acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 21.5 x 33.5cm

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18. untitled #1064 17.12.1965 acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 21 x 33.5cm

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19. untitled #1063 17.12.1965 acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 21 x 33.5cm

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20. untitled #1096 12.1965 acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 20.5 x 26cm

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21. untitled #998 12.1965 acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 21 x 28cm

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22. untitled #1001 12.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 20.5 x 28cm

23. untitled #1003 12.1965 acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 21.5 x 28cm

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24. untitled #1004 12.1965 acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 20.5 x 26cm

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25. untitled #1101 12.1965 acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 20.5 x 26cm

26. untitled #1093 20.12.1965 acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 20.5 x 26cm

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27. untitled #1095 20.12.1965 acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 20.5 x 26cm

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28. untitled #1097 20.12.1965 acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper 20.5 x 26cm

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JOHN PEART

The Sixties - a selection of works on paper from the Estate

30 August to 17 September 2016

29. untitled #1092 3.1966 acrylic on paper 26 x 20.5cm

30. untitled #1113 18.4.1966 acrylic, pencil on paper 24 x 16cm

1.

untitled # 981

9.1965

acrylic on paper

30 x 40cm

2.

untitled # 1040

17.12.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

20.5 x 13cm

3.

untitled # 997

1966

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

26 x 20.5cm

4.

untitled # 972

27.12.1965

ballpoint pen on paper

28 x 21.5cm

5.

untitled # 969

1.1.1966

ink, ballpoint pen on paper

26 x 20.5cm

6.

untitled # 977 1966 ballpoint pen on paper 28 x 21.5cm

7.

untitled # 968

7.1.1966

ink, ballpoint pen on paper

28 x 21.5cm

8.

untitled # 982

9.1965

acrylic, felt tip on paper

30 x 40cm

9.

untitled # 986 9.1965 acrylic on paper 30 x 40cm

10.

untitled # 988A

9.10.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

30 x 40cm

11.

untitled # 1008

17.12.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

20.5 x 13cm

12.

untitled # 1042

17.12.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

20.5 x 13cm

13.

untitled # 1022

17.12.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

20.5 x 13cm

14.

untitled # 1025

17.12.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

20.5 x 13cm

15.

untitled # 1043

17.12.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

20.5 x 13cm

16.

untitled #1048

17.12.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

21 x 34cm

17.

untitled # 1060

17.12.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

21.5 x 33.5cm

18.

untitled # 1064

17.12.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

21 x 33.5cm

19.

untitled # 1063

17.12.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

21 x 33.5cm

20.

untitled # 1096

12.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

20.5 x 26cm

21.

untitled # 998

12.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

21 x 28cm

22.

untitled # 1001

12.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

20.5 x 28cm

23.

untitled # 1003

12.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

21.5 x 28cm

24.

untitled # 1004

12.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

20.5 x 26cm

25.

untitled # 1101

12.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

20.5 x 26cm

26.

untitled # 1093

20.12.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

20.5 x 26cm

27.

untitled # 1095

20.12.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

20.5 x 26cm

28.

untitled # 1097

20.12.1965

acrylic, ballpoint pen on paper

20.5 x 26cm

29.

untitled # 1092

3.1966

acrylic on paper

26 x 20.5cm

30.

untitled # 1113

18.4.1966

acrylic, pencil on paper

24 x 16cm

JOHN PEART (1945 - 2013) Teaching 1978-1986 Painting, East Sydney Technical College (final year students) 1993-1994 Painting, East Sydney Technical College (final year students)

Selected Individual Exhibitions 2015/1967 36 solo exhibitions at Watters Gallery, Sydney 2016 John Peart - Homage, Newcastle Art Gallery, NSW 2011 John Peart Collages, Heiser Gallery, Brisbane 2008 Tetrads, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne 2004 John Peart - Paintings 1964 - 2004, Campbelltown Arts Centre Travelling

Exhibition touring NSW,

Tasmania, Canberra, Western Australia, Victoria and Queensland 1989 Monotypes, Milburn + Arte, Brisbane 1988 Monotypes, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney 1986 Galerie Dusseldorf, Perth 1985 John Peart, Selected Painting 1964 76, Charles Nodrum Gallery,

Melbourne (and 6 solo shows) 1982 Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne (and 1985, 1988, 1990)

Seven Paintings by John Peart, 123 Charlotte St. Brisbane 1980 Solander Gallery, Canberra 1979 Victor Mace Fine Art Gallery, Brisbane (and 1986) 1977 Realities Gallery, Melbourne 1974 Abraxas Gallery, Canberra (Inaugural Exhibition) (and 1976) 1972 Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne

Selected Group Exhibitions 2016 2015 2014 2013

2011

The Gorge, Campbelltown Arts Centre Joe Frost and John Peart: small works on paper, Watters Gallery, Sydney Watters Gallery – 5 Decades, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney Six Artists / Seven Days, Mary Place Gallery, Sydney Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Carriageworks, Sydney Abstraction, Drill Hall Gallery, ANU, Canberra Salon des Refuses, S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney

2009 2007 2006 2005 1999

1998

1997 1996

1994

1990

1989

1988

1987

1986/87 1986 1984 1983

1982

Wynne Prize selection, Art Gallery of New South Wales 2007: The Year in Art, S H Ervin Gallery, Observatory Hill, Sydney The Year in Art, S.H Ervin Gallery, Observatory Hill, Sydney The Year in Art, S.H Ervin Gallery, Observatory Hill, Sydney The Year in Art, S.H.Ervin Gallery, Sydney Field Work: Australian Art 1968- 2002, National Gallery of Victoria Australia Day Ambassadors for 1998Exhibition, Government House, Sydney Wynne Prize Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Archibald Prize Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Wynne Prize Exhibition (winner), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Wynne Prize Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Triennial Exhibition of Contemporary Australian Art, National Gallery of Victoria Wynne Prize Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Sulman Prize Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney The Wynne Prize Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney The Wynne Prize Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales Portrait of a Gallery, Watters Gallery 25th anniversary exhibition, 8 regional centres until 1991 Drawing in Australia from 1770’s to 1980’s, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Field to Figuration, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Painters & Sculptors, Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, Japan Surface for Reflexion, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 20 Years of Abstraction, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney The Field Now, Heide Park and Art Gallery, Melbourne Project 41: The Mosaic/The Grid, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Australian Perspecta 1983, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Twelve Australian Painters, Art Gallery of Western Australia Tribute to Mervyn Horton, Art Gallery of New South Wales Australian Paintings and Sculpture, 1956 1981: A Survey from the Collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney The Seventies: Australian Paintings and Tapestries from the Collection of the National Australia Bank, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

1977 1976 1974

1973

1969 1968

1967 1966 1965

Australian Colorists ‘77, Western Australian Institute of Technology, Perth Outlines of Australian Printmaking, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Ballarat, Victoria Philip Morris Arts Grant (first annual exhibition) Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Ballarat, Victoria Ten Years, Watters Gallery, Sydney Contemporary Australian Painting and Sculpture (toured New Zealand) Recent Australian Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Australian Art Today, (toured Indonesia) The Field, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne and Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Four Sydney Painters, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne Sydney Painters, Auckland Festival of Art, Auckland, New Zealand Survey of Young Australian Painters, Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne

Awards and Prizes 2002 2000 1997 1997 1996 1976 1976 1974 1969 1968 1968 1968 1968

Universities and Schools Club Invitation Art Award Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales Wynne Prize Kedumba Drawing Prize Festival Of Fisher Ghost Art Prize Visual Arts and Crafts Board Grant Dalby Art Prize Philip Morris Arts Grant Myer Foundation Grant Transfield Prize Pacesetter Prize; Mirror – Waratah Prize Newcastle Prize NBN 3 Prize

Selected Collections National Gallery of Australia Art Gallery of New South Wales Queensland Art Gallery Art Gallery of Western Australia Art Gallery of South Australia National Gallery of Victoria Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney Macquarie University Wollongong City Art Gallery, New South Wales Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery New Parliament House, Canberra Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Victoria Albury Regional Gallery New England Regional Art Museum, New South Wales Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston Newcastle Art Gallery Warrnambool Art Gallery, Victoria University of Sydney University of Western Australia Shepparton Art Gallery, Victoria

Exhibition catalogue Watters Gallery, Sydney 30 August - 17 September 2016 © Artist, John Peart This catalogue is copyright.

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

Artbank Dawson Waldron Allens Arthur Robinson Baker & McKenzie B.H.P. Billiton Queensland Art Gallery and Museum Monash University University of New South Wales City Art Institute, Sydney Philip Cox and Partners Pty. Ltd Kedumba Drawing Prize Collection Robert Holmes a Court Collection, Perth Tasmanian College of Advanced Education Orange City Art Gallery, New South Wales Australian National University Dalby Art Gallery, Queensland Philip Morris Art Purchase Grant Brisbane Civic Art Gallery and Museum Kerry Stokes Collection, Western Australia

Watters Gallery 109 Riley Street, East Sydney NSW 2010 Ph: (02) 9331 2556 www.wattersgallery.com info@wattersgallery.com tues and sat: 10am - 5pm; wed thurs fri 10am - 7pm