James Gleeson James Gleeson i(A14212 works by) (a.k.a. James Timothy Gleeson)
Born: Established: 21 Nov 1915 Hornsby, Hornsby area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales, ; Died: Ceased: 20 Oct 2008 Northbridge, Cremorne - Mosman - Northbridge area, Sydney Northeastern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,
Gender: Male
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BiographyHistory

Painter, lecturer, critic, curator and poet James Gleeson is primarily known as Australia's first surrealist. He served as art critic for the Sydney Sun newspaper from 1949 until 1976 and was the Director of the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation in 1971. Gleeson also served on the Commonwealth Art Advisory Board and was the visiting curator of Australian art at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 1976-78. In the 1970s Gleeson interviewed 98 Australian artists whose work had been acquired by the National Gallery of Australia. This oral history project was included in the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register in 2008. Gleeson wrote several works on Australian art and artists, including William Dobell (1964), Masterpieces of Australian Painting (1969) and Colonial Painters 1788-1880 (1971). In 2006 Gleeson and his partner Frank O'Keefe (d. 2007) bequeathed their estate to the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Gleeson continued to paint into his 90s working in his studio from 8am to 1pm each day. An exhibition of new paintings was held in July 2007.

Source; Patricia Maunder, 'Late Start for Surrealism's Disciple' Sydney Morning Herald, 21 Otober, 2008:12

Most Referenced Works

Notes

  • James Gleeson: Peregian Codex, an essay on Gleeson's development as an artist with a transcript of an 1986 interview with Gleeson, by Lou Klepac (q.v.), was published in 2009.

Awards for Works

Phantasia i "PHANTASIA OF THE SEVERAL WANDERING ROOMS", 1942 single work poetry
— Appears in: Comment , April no. 11 1942; (p. 14) Selected Poems 1993; (p. 56-57)
1942 winner Comment Prose and Poetry Competition
Last amended 20 Apr 2009 12:29:25
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