Works on Paper
(pencil, pen, ink, watercolour and pastel on paper, 
signed & dated l.r. and titled l.l.)

To the Mangroves, 1997, 56 x 76 cm

Across the Lagoon and Into the Trees, 2000,56 x 76 cm

In Golden Gully, Hill End, 2000,56 x 76 cm

Wetlands I, 2001,56 x 76 cm

Introduction

Colin Lanceley is well known as one of Australia's leading artists with a career spanning forty years. His studies were followed by an intense period in the 60s as a member of the Annandale Imitation Realists with Mike Brown and Ross Crothall. In 1966 the Rubenstein Scholarship took him to Europe and for the next sixteen years he lived and worked in London evolving the characteristic artistic vocabulary we now know him for. In 1981 he returned to Sydney where he has been based since. He is widely represented in all State Galleries, most Regional and University collections, as well as numerous overseas collections - MOMA and the Guggenheim in New York, the Tate and the V & A in London, the Stedelijk in Amsterdam, the LA County in Los Angeles, Hamburg, Jerusalem, Baltimore, Houston, Chicago .... His extensive cv is available from the gallery.

This exhibition of recent works is his first in Melbourne for 12 years and his first with this gallery (though we have handled a number of major early works over the years in our group exhibitions). We are showing 5 major works from the last two years, together with some works on paper; all are classics of their genre and exemplify his long-standing fascination with collage which has been the basis of his work from virtually the outset. By the age of 25 he was becoming clear as to its place: [it was] "a way of viewing the world, a sort of philosophy ... I felt that life could be seen as a collage, all human activity as a collage.' Unlike many of his generation he was actively concerned about the literary connections to be made with his work - most notably with T.S. Eliot, whose influence was pervasive: he saw the poet's diction as the pictorial equivalent of collage; more significantly it seemed to him to be keyed into the discontinuity of modernist experience itself, and to suit it as closely as the heroic couplet had served the world view of the 18th century. Collage was the form, 'a philosophy', he thought - or rather, a kind of philosopher's stone for turning the everyday into the poetic and theatrical: "I thought more about the arena in front of the picture plane as a kind of theatre".

Now if the literary critics are right in presenting Eliot as the one who opened the post modernist era, citing his use of collage and quotation, then presumably all three Annandale Imitation Realists can be similarly classified (or perhaps we might better call them proto-post-modernists, first because we do not normally see them as belonging to the post modernist generation, and secondly because the word itself is a collage) Certainly Lanceley is one who still maintains a buoyant sense of humour ­ and of the absurd. Robert Hughes: "When Lanceley quotes ­ which he does from a considerable range of sources, some well-known like Matisse and Gaudi, others local and obscure, like the high-horizon-line paintings of David Davies ­ you can see him disporting in the fact that there is so much art-language to know and to draw upon. You never get the dead-end feeling, common to so much post-modernist art, of having strayed into a theatre of soured erudition where everything is experienced in its simulacrum,."

And John McDonald sums up his recent work (Australian Painters of the 20th Century) -

"In his work of the past decade he has grown ever more resistant to the grand themes, responding to moments that are, in his own words, 'often quite banal', but with the spark of some poetic idea that suggest the rudiments of a picture. To take that idea through the successive stages of metamorphosis that will produce a finished work is a painfully slow process. Lanceley is not a prolific artist, and the older he gets the more he lingers over every new work, reluctant to let anything go until it has achieved an elusive equilibrium, with each new move suggesting a host of other options. His large paintings are like civilised conversations between objects, that occasionally threaten to break down into a hubbub. His aesthetic decisions are made with utmost gravity, his themes are tested and worried over for months. To make works which sidestep those blind alleys of politics and theory, in which so many contemporary artists get lost, is in itself a valuable goal; to make works that are so consistently exuberant, that turn every painterly anxiety into a source of strength, is an act of sublime determination."

1938
1939
1954
. 
1956-60 
1961-62
. 
. 
1964-65 
1966
1966-81
. 
. 
. 
. 
. 
. 
1980 
. 
1981
. 
1983-86 
1986
1987
. 
1988
. 
1990
1991
. 
1993
1994

1998

1999

2000


2001

Born Dunedin, New Zealand.
Moved to Sydney, Australia.
Apprenticed as a colour photo engraver in the printing industry in Sydney. Attended 
evening classes at North Sydney Technical College.
Art Diploma at East Sydney Technical College. Graduated 1960.
Formed Imitation Realist group with Mike Brown and Ross Crothall. 
Exhibitions held in Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne and 
Rudy KomonGallery, Sydney.
Awarded Helena Rubenstein Travelling Scholarship - to Italy, UK.
Joined Marlborough Fine Art, London. First London Exhibition, February.  
Continued to live and work in London, exhibiting withMarlborough Galleries in 
London,New York and Europe and with Waddington Galleries in London. Continued 
exhibiting in Australia. Travelled extensively in Europe, visiting France, Spain, Italy, 
Germany, Poland, Hungary, Austria, Holland, Belgium and Crete. Spent long periods 
working in France and Spain. Lectured part-time at the Bath Academy of Art, 
Gloucestershire College of Art and Design and at Chelsea School of Art, London. 
Married Kay Morphett
Prize winner, the Europe Prize for Painting in Belgium.  Returned to work
in Burgundy rather than London. Decided to return to Australia. 
Returned to Australia after a ceremonial planting of a Blue Gum outside the studio 
in Burgundy.
Lecturer, City Art Institute, Sydney
Travelled to New York, London, Paris.
Publication By Craftsman House of Colin Lanceley with an introduction 
by Robert Hughes.
Production of film by ABC, Colin Lanceley - Poetry of Place. 
Directed by Andrew Saw. Duration 30 minutes.
Awarded Order of Australia (AO). Travelled to New York.
Awarded a Creative Arts Fellowship from the Australian Government. 
Invited to lecture and exhibit at the Arts Club of Chicago.
Delivered the Lloyd Rees Memorial Lecture, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
Appointed to the Council of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.  Designed 
mosaics for the Australian International Aquatic Centre, Homebush, Sydney.
Commissioned to paint the ceiling of the Lyric Theatre, Sydney. 
Appointed Chairman of the Advisory Board of the National Art School.
Artist in residence programme at Haefligers Cottage, Hill End, on the 
New South Wales goldfields. 
Invited to lecture at Bathurst Regional Gallery with some background to the Hill End 
works.  Beyond The Frame project for the Department of  Education in the 
Illawarra region
Subject of an installation mounted by the Art Gallery of New South Wales:- 
Australian Collection Focus series. Invited to lecture at the New York Studio school

2001
. 
2000
. 
. 
1999
. 
. 
1997
. 
1995
. 
. 
. 
. 
1994
1993
. 
1992
. 
. 
. 
1991
. 
1990 
. 
1989
. 
. 
. 
1988
. 
. 
. 
1987
. 
. 
. 
1986
. 
. 
1985
. 
. 
. 
. 
. 
1984
. 
1983
1982
. 
1981
1980
. 
. 
. 
1978
. 
1976
. 
1975
1974
1973
. 
. 
1972
1971
1970
1968
. 
. 
1967
. 
1966
1965
1964
1963
1962
.

Colin Lanceley, Charles Nodrum Gallery
Australian Collection - Focus on Colin Lanceley, Art Gallery of N S W, Sydney.  
Two Modern Masters, Michael Carr Art Dealer, Sydney. 
Summer Exhibition, Michael Carr Art Dealer, Sydney.
Solander Gallery, Canberra.
Important International and Australian Paintings, Sculpture
and Works on Paper, Michael Carr Art Dealer, Sydney.
Old and New, Michael Carr Art Dealer, Sydney.
Za Mola Foundation, Japan.
The AMCOR Works on Paper Awards, Melbourne.
Windows on Australia 1, Australian Embassy, Tokyo, Japan.
Sherman Galleries ­ Goodhope & Hargrave, Sydney.
Patrick Heron and Colin Lanceley: Recent Works on Paper, 
Sherman Galleries Goodhope, Sydney.
39 Paintings, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
New Constructed Paintings and Drawings, Frumkin Adams Gallery, New York.
Summer Exhibition, Frumkin Adams Gallery, New York.
Selected Recent Works, Sherman Galleries Goodhope, Sydney.
Australian Masters, Solander Gallery, Canberra.
200 Years of Australian Painting, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo.
National Museum of Contemporary Art, Kyoto.
1952-1992, Frumkin Adams Gallery, New York.
Frumkin Adams Gallery, New York.
The Arts Club of Chicago.
2nd Australian Contemporary Arts Fair, Melbourne.
Rex Irwin Art Dealer, Sydney.
Solander Gallery, Canberra.
Australian Galleries, Melbourne.
Rex Irwin Art Dealer, Sydney.
Frumkin Adams Gallery, new York.
Australian Tapestries, National Gallery of Victoria.
The Illawarra and Environs, Wollongong City Gallery.
The Great Australian Art Exhibition, Rex Irwin Art Dealer.
Modern Australian Paintings, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
Colin Lanceley - A Survey Exhibition 1961-1987, curated by 
William Wright, Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Works on Paper (with Daws and Leach-Jones), Bonython-Meadmore Gallery, Adelaide.
Australian Galleries, Melbourne.
The Sixth Biennale of Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Modern Australian Paintings, Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
Colin Lanceley - Recent Paintings, Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York.
A Salute to Lloyd Rees, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney.
Recent Paintings, Drawings, Prints, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney.
The Drawn Image, Penrith Regional Art gallery, New England Regional
Art Museum, Armidale.
The Sixth Biennale of Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Irreverent Sculpture, Monash University Gallery, Melbourne.
The Studio, Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York.
Work in Progress, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney.
Australian Perspecta, Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Macquarie Galleries, Sydney.
The Carnegie International, Pittsburgh, USA
2 Biennale der Europaischen Grafik, Baden Baden, West Germany.
Waddington Galleries, London.
Europa Prijs 1980, Ostend, Musee de Verviers, Belgium.
XV International Malervochen, Neue Gallery, Graz.
John Moors Liverpool Exhibition 12
Realities Gallery, Melbourne.
Phillip Bacon Gallery, Brisbane.
Survey of Fifteen Years Work, Realities Gallery, Melbourne.
Colin Lanceley Complete Prints, Tate Gallery, London.
Whitechapel Art Gallery, London.
Rudy Komon Art Gallery, Sydney.
Marlborough Gallery, London.
Bonython Gallery, Sydney.
Realities Gallery, Melbourne.
Galerie Pryzmat, Krakow.
Seven Marlborough Artists, Marlborough Graphics, London.
Bonython Gallery, Sydney.
Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, New York.
British Kunst Heute, Kunstverein, Hamburg.
British Artists, Galerie Veranneman, Brussels.
Galerie Marie-Suzanne Feigel, Basie Galerie, Alice Pauli, Lausanne.
Ventures, Arts Council of Great Britain.
Marlborough gallery, London.
Gallery A, Sydney.
South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne.
Hungry Horse Gallery, Sydney.
Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney.
Imitation Realists, MOMA, Melbourne.

Collections:
International
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Baltimore Museum, Baltimore
Kunstverein, Hamburg
Museum Narodowe, Krakow
Museum Narodowe, Warsaw
Bezalel National Museum, Jerusalem
The British Government Art Collection
The Arts Council of Great Britain
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York
Albion College, Michigan, USA
Tate Gallery, London
Museum Goronslaskie, Bytom, Poland
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Centre National d'Art Contemporain, Paris
Contemporary Art Society, London
The National Gallery, Washington
The Los Angeles County Museum, LA
The Ravinia Festival Association, Chicago
Chartwell Collection, Waikato Museum, New Zealand

Australia
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin and Alice Springs
New England Regional Art Gallery
Wollongong City Gallery
Manly Art Gallery, Sydney
Ballarat Art Gallery, Victoria
The Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne
Newcastle Regional Art Gallery, Newcastle, NSW
Rockhampton City Art Gallery
Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra
Mildura Art Gallery, Victoria
Artbank
Kedumba Collection
Bathurst Regional Art Gallery