Ann Thomson
About the Artist | View
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“ A work of art is not thought out and settled before hand. While it is being done, it changes as one’s thoughts change. And when it is finished, it still goes on changing, according to the state of mind of whoever is looking at it. “
- Picasso
“ When I work I’m in a state of knowing. I forget everything else. “
- Ann Thomson
“ … one of the most interesting and intuitive artists in Australia today – there is a wonderful sense of exploration about her work. “
- Edmund Capon, The Director, Art Gallery of New South Wales
“ Ann Thomson turns notes into sounds, forms into paintings. There is something glamorously Rembrandtesque in the way her forms loom out of a fathomlessly dark background, like a precipitate of fire and phosphorescence. But great painters are great alchemists. They turn the chaos on a flat surface into light, space, atmosphere, presence and spirit. “
- Terence Maloon, The Curator, Art Gallery of New South Wales
“ Ann Thomson’s large canvasses radiate confidence. Her work would stand out in the company of any European or American Abstract Expressionist painters. Executed in brilliant colours and vigorous lines, she is a force to be reckoned with. “
- Mary Rose Beaumont, London Arts Review
“ Ann Thomson is one of Australia’s foremost visual artists… Her ability to transform the everyday into unique sculptural statements simultaneously imbues her work with both familiarity and the feeling of something newly discovered. In all her art the viewer is moved through and around her masterly spatial configurations in a journey of aesthetic and intellectual excitement. “
- Peter Haynes, The Director, Nolan Gallery, Canberra
Born 1933, Brisbane, Australia
Lives and works in Sydney
Studies/Residencies
1956 Studied under Jon Molvig, Brisbane
1957‒62 Studied at the East Sydney Technical College, Sydney
1978 Artist in Residence, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris
Studied etching with Paul Frank and Henri Goetz
Subsequent residencies, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris:
1980, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006
1985 Residency, Arthur Boyd Studio ‘Parataio’, Tuscany
2007 Residency, Perdreauville, France
2010 Residency, Paris
Solo exhibitions
1965 Watters Gallery
1973 Gallery One Eleven, Brisbane
1974 Gallery A, Sydney
1977 Survey, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
1977 Gallery A, Sydney
1979 Gallery A, Sydney
1980 Survey, Monash University, Melbourne
Stéphane Jacob, Paris
1982 Gallery A, Sydney
Michael Milburn Gallery, Brisbane
1983 Coventry Gallery, Sydney
1984 Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne
1984 Coventry Gallery, Sydney
1984 Stadia Graphics Gallery, Sydney
1985 Michael Milburn Gallery, Brisbane
1986 Coventry Gallery, Sydney
1986 Michael Milburn Gallery, Brisbane
1988 Australian Galleries, Melbourne
1988 Coventry Gallery, Sydney
1989 Australian Galleries, Melbourne
1989 BMG Fine Art, Adelaide
1990 Coventry Gallery, Sydney
1992 Australian Galleries, Sydney
1992 Sculptures, Mary Place, Sydney
1992 Australia Felix, Australian Pavilion, World Expo, Seville
1993 Australia Felix, Art Gallery of New South Wales
1994 Australia Felix, Maritime Museum, Sydney
1993 Australian Galleries in conjunction with Meridian Sculpture Gallery, Melbourne
1994 Australia Felix, Maritime Museum, Sydney
1994 Connection, Australian Galleries, Sydney
1995 Australian Galleries, Sydney
1996 Australian Galleries, Sydney
1997 Peter Gant Gallery, Melbourne
2001 Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne, in conjunction with Ralph Renard
2001 The Studio, Opera House, Sydney (exhibition commissioned by Roger Woodward)
2001 Annandale Gallery, Sydney
2003 Art d’Australie, Stéphane Jacob, Paris
2003 Galerie Walter Bischoff, Berlin
2004 Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
2004 Australian Galleries, Sydney
2005 Other, Australian Galleries, Sydney
2006 Heiser Gallery, Brisbane
2007 Leaving for Paris, Australian Galleries, Sydney
Art d’Australie, Stéphane Jacob, Paris
2008 Heiser Gallery, Brisbane
2008 Oceans Apart, Australian Galleries, Sydney
2009 Chance, Australian Galleries, Sydney
2010 Art d’Australie, Stéphane Jacob, Paris
2012 Inscapes, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
Selected group exhibitions
1962 Clune Galleries, Sydney
1962 Seven Figurative Painters, Barry Stern Gallery, Sydney
1962 Blaxland Gallery, Sydney
1962 Von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle
1962 Bonython Galleries, Adelaide
1974 Gallery A, Sydney
1974 Ten Years, Watters Gallery, Sydney
1975 Ten Australians, Gallery A, Sydney
1975 Opening Exhibition, Warehouse Gallery, Melbourne
1977 Gallery A, Sydney
1978 Landscape & Image, Contemporary Australian Art to Indonesia
1978 Australian Women Artists, Contemporary Arts Society, Sydney
1978 Exposition, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris
1980 Summer Exhibition, Gallery A, Sydney
1981 Canberra Times National Art Award, Canberra
1982 Anzacs 82, Macquarie University, Sydney
1983 Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne
1984 Musée de l’Art Wallon, Liege, Belgium
1984 University of New South Wales Purchase Prize Exhibition, Sydney
1985 Salute to Lloyd Rees, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1985 Contemporary Australian Art, The Warwick Arts Trust, London
1985 Galleria Lillo, Venice, Italy
1985 Australian Perspecta 85, Artspace, Sydney
1986 Colour I, Coventry Gallery, Sydney
1987 Surface for Reflexion, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
1987 Australia on Paper, Queensland Arts Council
1987 The Jack Manton Prize, Queensland Art Gallery, Sydney
1987 Colour II, Coventry Gallery, Sydney
1987 Australian Works on Paper, Dion Fine Art, Dallas, USA
1988 Solo Images, Blaxland Gallery, Sydney
1988 Tenth British International Print Biennale, Bradford, UK
1988 Contemporary Views of New England, New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale, NSW
1988 Drawing in Australia, Australian National Gallery, Canberra
1989 Intimate Drawing, Coventry Gallery, Sydney
1990 A Young Collectors’ Exhibition, Coventry Gallery, Sydney
1990 Campus Collection, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
1990 Portfolio of Women Artists, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1992 Interpretations, Goulburn Regional Art Gallery, NSW
1992 Australia Felix, World Expo, Seville
1993 Chandler Coventry Collection, Campbelltown Art Gallery, NSW
1994 Drawing on Inspiration, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
1995 New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale, NSW
1997 L’art des Aborigѐnes d’Australie (section Clin d’oeil l’art occidental), Galerie Arts d’Australie, Stéphane Jacob/Espace Paul Riquet, Béziers
1998 Wynne Prize Exhibition, Art Gallery of NSW
1998 Primary Colours – Blue, Annandale Galleries, Sydney
1998 Skin Culture, The George Gallery, Melbourne
1998 Art & Music, Axia Modern Art, Melbourne
1998 Australian Contemporary Paintings, Lui Hai-su National Art Museum, Shanghai
1998 Toys by Artists, University of Newcastle, Faculty of Art & Design, NSW
1998 Le Temps du Rêve, Galerie Arts d’Australie, Stéphane Jacob/Bibliothѐque municipale, Le Perreux-sur-Marne
1998 Propositions Australiennes, Galerie Arts d’Australie, Stéphane Jacob/Luc Queyrel, Paris
1999 Silver, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
1999 Prize Pictures, King Street Gallery on Burton, Sydney
1999 Wynne Prize Exhibition, Art Gallery of NSW
1999 Icarus, Goulburn Regional Gallery, NSW
1999 Toys by Artist, New England Regional Art Museum, NSW
1999 Visy Board Art Prize Exhibition, Hill Smith Fine Art, Adelaide
1999 Primary Colours – Red, Annandale Galleries, Sydney
1999 Skin Culture, Tin Sheds, Sydney
2000 Arts d’Australie, Stéphane Jacob, Paris
2000 Archibald Portrait Prize, Art Gallery of NSW & Touring
2000 Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
2000 Fleurieu Art Prize, South Australia
2000 Art on Paper, Art Fair, London
2000 Kunstral, Art Fair, Amsterdam
2000 Accents Australiens, Adamski Designs, Paris
2000 A Studio in Paris: Australian artists at the Cité, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
2001 5 Artistes Australiens, Galerie Odile Boicos, Paris
2001 Salon Art Paris, Carrousel du Louvre, Galeries Arts d’Australie, Stéphane Jacob, Paris
2001 Voyage dans la matiѐre, Galerie Arts d’Australie, Stéphane Jacob/Atelier Claude Cerf, Paris
2001 Australie: Visages d’un continent, Galerie Arts d’Australie, Stéphane Jacob/Galerie Visages de l’art, Marly-le-Roi, France
2002 Salon Art Paris, Carrousel du Louvre, Galerie Arts d’Australie, Stéphane Jacob, Paris
2002 La Loire-Atlantique donne rendez-vous à l’Australie, Art et Culture des Antipodes, Galerie Arts d’Australie, Stephane Jacob/Conseil Général de Loire-Atlantique, Nantes
2004 Salon Art Event, Galerie Arts d’Australie, Stéphane Jacob, Lille
2004 Salon Art Event, Galerie Arts d’Australie, Stéphane Jacob, Paris
2005 Kedumba Drawing Award, Blackheath Gallery, NSW
2005 End of Year Group Exhibition, Australian Galleries Painting and Sculpture, Sydney
2005 10th Annual 6″ x 6″ x 6″ Miniature Sculpture Show, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
2005 Salon Start, Galerie Arts d’Australie, Stéphane Jacob, Strasbourg
2005 Personage: the figure on paper, Australian Galleries Works on Paper, Sydney
2006 50th Anniversary Exhibition, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
2006 Summery, Australian Galleries, Sydney
2006 Dobell Prize for Drawing, Art Gallery of New South Wales
2006 The Big Picture, Delmar Gallery, Sydney
2006 Same Place, Many Views: painting the Australian landscape, Defiance Gallery, Sydney
2006 Who Cares?, Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney
2006 Salon des Refusés, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
2006 Wynne Prize Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2007 Small Pleasures: painting and sculpture, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
2007 Stock Show, Australian Galleries, Melbourne
2008 Group Exhibition, Australian Galleries, Roylston Street, Sydney
2008 Wish You Were Here, Tweed River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah, NSW
2008 Stock Exhibition, Australian Galleries Painting and Sculpture, Sydney
2008 Rubik, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
2009 Windows on Pain, Carriageworks, Sydney
2009 Australia Day Paintings: Water, King on William Gallery, Sydney
2010 On This Island, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre
2010 Three Sydney Artists: let loose in the landscape, Bega Regional Gallery, NSW
2010 Miscellanea, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
2010 A Summer Survey, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
2011 Fleurieu Art Prize, South Australia
Prizes and Awards
1976 David Jones Art Prize, Brisbane
1978 Visual Arts Board Grant to Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris
1980 Visual Arts Board Grant
1981 Canberra Times National Arts Award, Canberra
1984 Purchase Prize, University of New South Wales, Sydney
1985 The Sydney Morning Herald Art Prize
Residency, Arthur Boyd Studio, ‘Parataio’, Tuscany
1986 John McCaughey Award, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1998 Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2002 Geelong Contemporary Art Prize
2005 Kedumba Drawing Award, Blackheath
Collections
Artbank
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Australian National University, Canberra
Alcoa Foundation, USA
Australian Consolidated Press
Coventry Collection, New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale, NSW
Griffith University, Queensland
James Cook University, Townsville
Macquarie Bank, Sydney
Macquarie University, Sydney
Medibank Collection, Canberra
Myer Collection, Melbourne
Newcastle Regional Art Gallery
New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale
National Library of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Parliament House, Canberra
Perc Tucker Regional Art Gallery, Townsville
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Queensland University of Technology Art Collection, Brisbane
Sydney College of Advanced Education
The Darling Harbour Authority, Sydney
Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Spain
University Art Museum, University of Queensland
University of Western Australia, Perth
University of New South Wales, Sydney
Visual Arts Board
Villa Haiss Museum, Zell, Germany
Western Mining Company, Western Australia
Wollongong University College, NSW
Commissions
1977 The Malley Refectory Mural, University of Queensland
1987 Convention Centre, The Darling Harbour Authority, Sydney
1990 The Australian Legal Group Contemporary Print Collection
1990 A Portfolio of Australian Women Artists, NSW Cancer Council
1992 Centrepiece, The Australian Pavilion,
