Creation landscape - The Ancient Trees 1997, Private collection © William Robinson
William Robinson
“The landscapes are done with breathless awe I think. Breathless awe. You know he just looks at the landscape and he is just astonished by its magnitude and humbled by it,” - Betty Churcher AO, Former Director, National Gallery of Australia.
Catherine Hunter has been filming William Robinson for the past three decades and observed the evolution of his art over that time. Having completed a number of short films about Robinson and amassing a significant archive, she has now embarked on making a full-length documentary.
William Robinson © Mark Callanan
“Once you’re a painter it’s not a hobby, it becomes part of your very being. Every single thing you do with your living relates to your painting. You’re a sort of prisoner to your art.” William Robinson
In 2009, the William Robinson Gallery opened in Brisbane’s Old Government House at the Queensland University of Technology. It was the first time in Australia that an artist had been honoured in such a way.
A painter since the 1960s, William Robinson came to national attention when he won the Archibald prize for portraiture in 1987 and again in 1995. He also won the Wynne Prize for landscape painting in 1990 and 1996. In 2001, the Queensland Art Gallery mounted a major survey exhibition which later toured to the National Gallery of Australia. In 2007, William Robinson was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for his outstanding achievement and service to the arts.
William Robinson, Tallenbanna with Cloud Front, 1998 © William Robinson
Born in Brisbane in 1936, Robinson graduated in 1962 from Brisbane’s Central Technical College and had long career teaching art. He left teaching in 1989 to focus full-time on his painting. His art has always reflected his life whether it be a farmyard full of unruly animals, the rainforest of south-east Queensland, or the intimate domestic scenes of family life. Integral to his art practice was a series of self-portraits and while he never took himself too seriously, they were always an academic take on the genre.
A recent exhibition at the William Robinson Gallery entitled Love in Life & Art affords the most personal insight into the artist’s work. It will also provide the framework for the documentary film. Robinson married Shirley Robinson (nee Rees, 1936-2022) after meeting at art school. She became both muse and subject. It was Shirley Robinson who initiated their move to Beechmont in the Gold Coast Hinterland which inspired some of the most ambitious paintings of Robinson’s career.
William Robinson, Springbrook, 1998 © William Robinson
“Love in Life & Art explores how the domestic and aesthetic are intrinsically linked, and how the figure of Shirley encapsulates essential aspects of Robinson’s vision—tender, private and familial images, everyday life, the importance of shared spiritual connection, and a sense of place or being in the world. These artworks are not only visual meditations on the environment in which William Robinson lives; rather, they pay homage to the broader rhythms of life, nature and love—but, most importantly, to Shirley.” Vanessa Van Ooyen, Director, Galleries & Museums, QUT Advancement
The documentary on William Robinson will be completed in 2024
© Catherine Hunter Productions 2024