In 1959 Tom Gleghorn held his inaugural solo exhibition at Newcastle Art Gallery. Sixty-one years later, he is homeward bound.
Newcastle Art Gallery is staging the first major survey of work by Tom Gleghorn OAM, regarded as one of Australia’s finest and influential abstract expressionists.
HOMEWARD BOUND: the art and life of Tom Gleghorn will feature paintings and drawings from Newcastle’s collection, including the new major acquisition Landscape Altar – MacDonnell Ranges 1986, as well as works of art on loan from private and public collections.
Drawn from across the artist’s extraordinary career of more than 70 years, the exhibition will also feature a new documentary created by journalist and author Scott Bevan specially for the exhibition.
“We are deeply honoured to be staging the first major survey of Gleghorn’s work,” Newcastle Art Gallery Director Lauretta Morton said.
“His ability to evoke a strong sense of immersion within his compositions, his connection to the Australian landscape, as well as his mastery of colour and form, is strongly represented within this exhibition.
“As a highly respected senior artist, Gleghorn has influenced the Australian artistic community through not only his own practice, but his commitment to education. This survey is long overdue.”
Now aged in his mid-nineties, Gleghorn has maintained a sense of kinship with Newcastle and Lake Macquarie throughout his life.
Born in England in 1925, he migrated to Australia with his family at the age of two. He was a student of renowned artist William Dobell and grew to be a contemporary of artists such as John Coburn and Robert Dickerson.
Due to current restrictions, the exhibition will launch online on Saturday 9 May at 12 noon via Newcastle Art Gallery’s social media and website.
“Despite the difficult circumstances, the Gallery team has worked hard to continue to stage the exhibition,” Morton said. “We’ve developed several exciting ways in which our audience will be able to engage with the exhibition while our doors are temporarily closed.”
KEY EXHIBITION DATES
Saturday 9 May, 12 noon – Virtual tour launch of HOMEWARD BOUND: the art and life of Tom Gleghorn via Newcastle Art Gallery website and social media
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