Vic O Connor chronology

Transcription

1 Vic O Connor chronology Vic O Connor Victor George O Connor was born 21 December, Carlisle Street, Preston, to Ada Alice (nee Clear) and Bertie Edward O Connor. Vic was the fourth child of five children. His childhood spanned the deprivations of post-ww1 and the Great Depression, embedding in him a natural sense of social justice, which was to prevail in his art throughout his life Vic attended school Raglan Street, South Preston, then Penders Grove School, Victoria St Northcote. The family moved from Carlisle Street to Gower Street, Northcote. As a boy, from about 9 to 13 years, Vic helped his mother sell slippers at the Victoria Market after school and aton weekends. She had set up a small slipper factory behind the house when Vic s father was unable to work, due to poor health. The slipper enterprise went broke in the Depression when Vic was about Aged about 12 to 13 years, Vic went to stay with his Uncle Alf in Mildura and attended Koorlung School. In 1931 aged 13 he then moved back to live with his mother and younger brother Norm at Mount Evelyn, where he started to paint and read widely. He attended Lilydale School. In about 1936 the family moved to Hutton Street, Thornbury. Vic then attended Melbourne High School, completing Leaving Certificate. After leaving school Vic worked for his brother Alf, a solicitor, for a year in his office on Sydney Road, Brunswick. Vic s father also worked as a clerk for Alf. Vic, aged about 17 or 18, started a law degree at Melbourne University and worked as an articled clerk to Alf. He spent time in the city studying and working and making new friends. Artist David Strachan was impressed with Vic s art and suggested he exhibit in the newly formed Contemporary Art Society. He also had suggested

2 Vic attend George Bell s Saturday afternoon classes. In 1939 Vic met Ailsa Donaldson at George Bell s art classes. Portrait of Ailsa Donaldson c (June 6-25) The Contemporary Art Society, Inaugural Exhibition, National Gallery, Melbourne Vic won a joint first prize of 50 pounds with Donald Friend at the 1941 Contemporary Art Prize exhibition held at the Hotel Australia. In 1941, aged 23, Vic was admitted to practice law. He then went into the army from 1942 to 1944, stationed first at Tocumwal, then Brunswick. He was initially in a machine gun company. Vic had joined the Communist Party of Australia after meeting Noel Counihan in In January 1942 Vic married sculptor Ailsa Donaldson. Their two children Sean and Megan were born in 1944 and In 1944 Vic wrote the articles Art and Fascism and A criticism of Adelaide s Angry Penguins. He also corresponded with noted art historian Bernard Smith regarding the Angry Penguins movement. Bernard Smith acknowledged the importance of Vic s work in his book Place, Art and Tradition as a major Social Realist artist. After the war, in 1946 Vic, Yosl Bergner and Noel Counihan held their first major exhibition, as Three Realist Artists, which attracted considerable notice and approval. Also in 1946, Vic established the small Dolphin Press with his friend Judah Waten to publish local writing. His artist friend Yosl Bergner travelled to Israel to be part of the new nation. His other close friends, artists James Wigley and Noel Counihan, ventured to Europe in the last few years of the 1940s, witnessing the effect of the war on cities and populations.

3 Vic O Connor The Pumpkin Seller Linocut (Oct 14-31) Contemporary Art Society, Hotel Australia 1942 (Aug 4-15) Contemporary Art Society, Athenaeum Gallery 1942 (Dec 8-10) Contemporary Art Society, Anti-Fascist Exhibition, Athenaeum Gallery 1943 (Aug 24-Sep 9) Contemporary Art Society, Velasquez Gallery 1944 Contemporary Art Society 1945 (April 3-13) CEMA Autumn Arts Festival, Velasquez Gallery, Tye Buiding 1946 (July 16-25) Three Realist Artists, Myer Art Gallery ( 194?) Eureka Art Group, first Eureka Art Exhibition

4 1950 In 1951 Vic, Ailsa and children moved from Kensington to Hutton Street, Thornbury. Vic worked as a solicitor in Sydney Road, Coburg. He continued painting and exhibiting both in one-man shows and in group shows with other realist artists though the 1950s. Significantly, in 1953 he exhibited at Tye s furniture store with James Wigley and Noel Counihan with over 2,000 people viewing the exhibition in 10 days (opened by Flora Eldershaw). In 1955 Noel wrote critically of Vic s work in The Guardian, marking a change in their friendship. Vic O Connor Court scene Oil on Board c.1950 Vic O Connor Evening the river Pencil (Oct 2-13) Paintings by V G O Connor, Ballarat Art Gallery 1953 (Sep 28- Oct 11) Spring Exhibition of Victorian Artists Society 1953 (Oct 6-16) Exhibition Noel Counihan, Vic O Connor, James Wigley, Tye s Gallery 1954 (Sept 14-25) Artists for Peace, Tye s Gallery 1954 (Sep 20 - Oct 3) Spring Exhibition Victorian Artists Society

5 1954 (Nov 16-26) Exhibition of Paintings, Tye s Gallery 1955 (Mar 11-19) The Herald Outdoor Art Show 1955 (May 16-27) V G O Connor Paintings, Victorian Artists Society Galleries [note reviews] 1955 (Nov 22-Dec 1) Fine Arts Week Exhibition, Tasmanian Government Tourist Bureau, Melbourne 1956 (Mar 8-17) The Herald Outdoor Art Show 1957 Exhibition by V G O Connor, Australian Galleries, Collingwood [review] 1958 (June 13-18) Sixth Annual May Day Art Exhibition, Lower Melbourne Town Hall 1959 (Nov 7-18) Festival Art Competition, Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture. In Association with Australian and New Zealand Congress for International Co-operation and Disarmament 1960 In 1960 Vic moved from Hutton Street, Thornbury to Miller Grove, Kew. His legal office was now in Faraday Street, Carlton. In the early 1960s Vera Stanley and their young daughter Sue moved to Sydney where Vic joined them, living in a terrace house in Neutral Bay, then a working class area. Ailsa and Vic divorced in 1965 and in 1968 Vic and Vera married. Vic O Connor Sydney Harbour from Lavender Bay Pencil Australian painters including Noel Counihan, Moscow 1963 (June 2-15) Victorian Artists Society Galleries [reviews] 1963 (Sept 19) Victor O Connor exhibition, Douglas Galleries, Brisbane 1964 (April 19) Queensland Art Gallery 1964 (May 11-20) Centro Italiano d Arte 4th Exhibition on SS Marconi, Sydney

6 1964 (June 13-14) Fredericks Showroom Gallery, St Kilda 1964 (July7-Aug) 0 Friends of National Gallery in Victoria, Loan Collection, Georges Gallery 1964 (Aug 9-22) The Realist Group, Victorian Artists Society 1968 (Oct 8-18) VG O Connor, Australian Galleries, Collingwood [reviews] 1968 (Oct 10-Nov3) The NBN Channel 3 Art Prize, Newcastle City Art Gallery 1969 (Feb 28) Moomba Festival Exhibition, Toorak Art Gallery 1969 (June 23-July 4) Recent Acquisitions, Joseph Brown Gallery 1970 Vic and Vera remained in Sydney and then, in 1973 to 1974, travelled to the UK and Europe. Vic, Vera and Sue arrived at Southampton on 4 Feb They lived in Polperro, Cornwall and in Scotland. In September 1974 they travelled to Holland, then France in October and then on to Greece. They returned to Australia via Israel where they visited Yosl Bergner. Vic O Connor The Old Shopper, Paris Linocut 1970 (March 2-23) Autumn Exhibition, Joseph Brown Gallery [reviews] 1970 (April 7-22) VG O Connor (including from series Exodus), Australian Galleries, Collingwood 1970 (May 4-18) 150 Years of Australian Drawings, Joseph Brown Gallery

7 1970 Aug 11- Sept 2) Australian Irresistibles , Bonython Gallery, Paddington 1971 (May 9-21) Art Exhibition CICD Anti-War Centre, Melbourne 1971 (Oct 13-Nov 5) Spring Exhibition, Joseph Brown Gallery 1971 (Nov 9-20) Vic O Connor, The Cremorne Gallery, Sydney 1972 (March) Vic O Connor retrospective of drawings and watercolours, Powell St Gallery. [reviews] 1972 (Nov 8-30)) Spring Exhibition, Joseph Brown Gallery 1972 (Dec 10-23) December Exhibition, Toorak Art Gallery 1974 (March 26- April 10) Vic O Connor, Australian Galleries [reviews] 1974 (May 4- June 9) Usher Gallery, Lincoln 1974 (July 10-Aug 4) Australian Artists in England, Commonwealth Institute London 1975 (from July 8) The Social Realists Exhibition, Latrobe Valley Arts Centre, Morwell 1975 (Sep 16-27) Sir William Angliss Art Prize Exhibition 1975 (from Oct 27 on ) Vic O Connor, The Masters Galleries, Melbourne 1976 (April 3-15) V G O Connor Exhibition, Victorian Artists Society [reviews] 1977 (August 27 Sept 9) Vic O Connor Exhibition Victorian Artists Society [reviews] 1977 (Nov 27) Exhibition of important works by Vic O Connor spanning 30 years, Jewish Folk Centre, Sydney 1977 Neutral Bay Art Gallery Sydney 1979 (Oct) Masters Gallery, Melbourne 1980 In the early 1980s, Vic and Vera moved from Sydney to Dromana and bought the house Woodside in 1983 where hevic lived until mid 2010, some 27 years. Vic was aged 64 when they moved into Woodside where he set up his studio and continued painting prolifically as well as doing major development of the garden. In the late 1980s he also rented a studio in Greeves Street, Fitzroy which he visited from Dromana and again painted Melbourne s inner suburbs. In 1988 his work was exhibited in London s v Gallery as part of the exhibition Angry Penguins and Realist Painting in Melbourne in the 1940s. This exhibition then toured a number of Australian galleries.

8 In 1987 Vic had his first of many exhibitions at Bridget McDonnell s Gallery. Bridget subsequently became his main dealer. Vic O Connor Long Island, Frankston Oil on Canvas (Dec 3-24) Vic O Connor, The Bloomfield Galleries, Paddington 1981 (Oct) Vic O Connor s Early Works on Paper , Niagara Lane Galleries [review] 1981 (Oct 26-Nov 7) The George Bell School, Georges Gallery, Melbourne 1981 (Nov 8-29) Social Responses, Golden Age Art Gallery, Ballarat 1981 (Dec 3-Jan 17) Acquisitions Exhibition Newcastle Region Art Gallery 1982 (June 20 July 7) Mixed Exhibition Niagara Lane Galleries 1983 (March 6-31) Australian Painters, Golden Age Fine Art Gallery, Ballarat 1983 (May 17 June 12) The DR Sheumack Collection of Australian Paintings, National Trust NSW 1983 (August 1-19) Selected Paintings by Vic O Connor ,3 Gryphon Gallery, Melbourne College of Advanced Education, Carlton [review] 1984 (Feb 12 Apr 17) The Local Scene, McClelland Gallery, Langwarrin 1985 (March 1-12) Exhibition of Art Vic O Connor and David Armfield, Caulfield Arts Centre 1985 (July 27- Aug 9) Vic O Connor, Recent Paintings, Victorian Artists Society 1985 (Nov) Exhibition of prominent artists, World of Art, St Kilda

9 ? 1986 (Nov 25-Dec 24) Out of this World a summer exhibition, Dempster Gallery, Canterbury 1987 (July 21-Aug 9) Modern Australian Paintings, Bridget McDonnell Gallery 1987 (Aug 8-13) David Armfield and Vic O Connor, Victorian Artists Society 1988 (May 19- August 14) Angry Penguins and the realist painting in Melbourne in the 1940s, Hayward Gallery, London. Also (Oct 5 Nov 27) Tate Gallery Liverpool, UK and in 1989 in Australia including Campberfield NSW, Launceston, Townsville 1988 (Nov 29 Dec 22) Modern Australian Paintings, Bridget McDonnell Gallery 1989 (June 14-30) Drawings, linocuts and etchings, Australian Impressions Gallery 1989 (June 16-July) Modern Australian Paintings, Bridget McDonnell Gallery 1989 (Nov 12- Dec 3) Acland St Art Gallery 1989 (Nov24-Dec 23) Summer Exhibition Dempsters Fine Art, Canterbury 198?? (July 9-20) Vic O Connor Paintings and Linocuts, Eltham Gallery 1990 Vic continued to paint actively, now in his 70s. Whilst living in Dromana, Vic travelled to Mauritius 27 September to 23 October In June 1992 Vic had a heart operation. In 1994, from 26 June to 17 July, he visited Vanuatu and created artworks. In 1999 he subdivided Woodside, selling off three blocks on the McArthur Street frontage, retaining the house and changing the entrance and address to 3 Stawell Street, Dromana (May 25-June 15) Modern Australian Paintings, Bridget McDonnell Gallery 1990 (July August)Social and Political Drawings and Cartoons, MCA 1990 (Oct 30-Nov 18) Bridget McDonnell Gallery, Carlton [review] 1990 (July 21- Aug) Bridget McDonnell Gallery, Carlton, with Mary Hammond [review] 1990 (Dec 16- Jan4) Australian Graphics , Livingston Print Room, Hawthorn 1991 (July 21- Aug) with Mary Hammond, Bridget McDonnell Gallery [review 1991 (Oct 24-Nov10) Modern Australian Paintings, Bridget McDonnell Gallery 1992 (July 4-19) Artists and Rebels on the Waterfront, Tom Nelson Hall, Sydney

10 1992 (Oct 26-Nov15) Modern Australian Paintings, Bridget McDonnell Gallery 1992 (Dec) Christmas Exhibition, World of Art, Blessington St, St Kilda 1992 (Dec) Christmas Exhibition, Bridget McDonnell Gallery 1993 (April 29-May 9) Vic O Connor, a survey, Doncaster Gallery [reviews] 1993 (June 29-July18) Vic O Connor, works on paper, Bridget McDonnell Gallery [review] 1993 (Aug 17- Sept 5) Modern Australian Paintings, Bridget McDonnell Gallery 1994 (Feb 2-23) Modern Australian Paintings, Bridget McDonnell Gallery 1994 (Oct ) Vic O Connor, recent works on paper, Bridget McDonnell Gallery 1994 (Dec) Christmas Exhibition, Bridget McDonnell Gallery 1995 (Dec) Christmas Exhibition, Bridget McDonnell Gallery 1996 (May 2-15) Vic O Connor, recent paintings, Victorian Artists Society 1997 (May 24-Oct 12) A face in the crowd, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra 1997 (Sep 9-20) Modern Australian Painting, Deutscher Fine Art, Malvern 1998 (Nov) Vic O Connor, Bridget McDonnell Gallery, Carlton [review] 1998 (Dec 18-March 14) Acquisitions exhibition, Newcastle Region Art Gallery Vic O Connor at Dromana 2005

11 2000 In October 2004 Vera O Connor died. On 7 July 2010 Vic O Connor moved to Sumner House, Fitzroy, where he died on 8 September (Oct 2-16) Vic O Connor, watercolours, drawings and prints, Bridget McDonnell Gallery COLLECTIONS Art Gallery of Western Australia Australian National Gallery Benalla Art Gallery Bendigo Art Gallery Cbus Collection Geelong Art Gallery McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park Melbourne University Collection Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery National Gallery of Victoria Queensland Art Gallery Queensland University Collection Riddoch Art Gallery, Mt Gambier Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery REFERENCES Australian Art Auction Records 10/7/2015 Bridget McDonnell Gallery website; Carter, David (1997) A career in writing: Judah Waten and the cultural politics of a literary career. Association for the Study of Australian Literature, Toowoomba. Available at Dougherty, Peter Vic O Connor: the people s artist in Art Streams v6 n5 Summer Edition , p3-5,23, Haese, Richard, 1981, Rebels and Precursors: the Revolutionary Years of Australian Art, Allen Lane, Melbourne. Langsam, David, 1998, The urge to paint David Langsam talks to Vic O Connor in Art Monthly n 113, September 1989 p15-19 O Connor, Vic Art and Fascism, Australian New Writing, Sydney 1946

12 O'Connor, VG (1944) Art and Fascism. Phipps, Jennifer (2005) A human, democratic art: three realist artists Art Bulletin of the National Gallery of Victoria 45. Available at Richmond, Keith (1994) A painter of ordinary life. Oz Arts magazine 9: St John Moore, Felicity 1989, Angry Penguins and realist painting in Melbourne in the 1940s. An Australian National Gallery Exhibition. South Bank Centre 1988 Angry Penguins and realist painting in Melbourne in the 1940s, Hayward Gallery London. Smith, Bernard (1945) 1979, Place, Taste and Tradition: a study of Australian Art since 1788, Oxford University Press, Melbourne (p255, 261) Research by Sean O Connor, Janet Taylor and Joe Pascoe 2015.