(Grieve) has developed a personal, even idiosyncratic, artistic vision which owes as much to late European modernism as it does to traditional and contemporary Japanese art. (He) has also been an artist who has adopted a strong ethical stance in his work, which nevertheless he had consciously avoided illustrating. His art is devoid of that which is explicitly didactic and successfully seeks to communicate on a spiritual level. Conscious of its beautiful surfaces, with the built up ambiguous veils of colours and marks, the created mysterious shapes have an omnipresent magic which makes them appear as if emerging instinctively and freely, but commanding an enormous sense of presence. At their best the works of Grieve have a quality of authority and inevitability. Sasha Grishin
“I am rather reluctant to write about my paintings as I feel that it really is a dialogue between the painting and the viewer – in other words the painting should speak for itself. Here are some thoughts on my work. I endeavour to create paintings which combine elements of the visual world which excite and move me with a continuing fascination with the mediums I use. I hope that the results stimulate and sometimes disturb the viewers imagination and also achieve an ordered elegance. I would like to think that the viewer can return to the painting and find new things in the work.” Robert Grieve
ROBERT GRIEVE
Born Melbourne 1924 – 2006
STUDIES & TRAVELS
1952-54 London, The Regent Polytechnic;
1962, 1964, 1966, 1970 Japan
1980 China
1983, 1984 USSR
1985 Cuba & Mexico
1986 USSR
1987 Greece, Yugoslavia, Albania
1988 Taiwan & Japan
1990 Papua New Guinea, Madrid, Vienna, London
APPOINTMENTS
1956-58 Teacher of Lithography, Swinburne Technical College
AWARDS
1960 V.A.S. Cato Prize
1964 Bendigo
1965 Geelong
1971 Warrnambool (Print)
1972 Mornington (Drawing)
1976 Gold Coast (Painting)
1983 Diamond Valley Art Award
1984 Toowoomba Purchase Award
1993 Berrima Art Prize
1993 Broken Hill Art Prize
1997 Guest exhibiting artist at the Fukuoka Museum of Art, Japan
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1948 Velasquez Gallery, Melbourne
1952 Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne
1955 Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne
1960 Gallery A, Melbourne
1961 (Brian) Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane
1962 Konohana Gallery, Tokyo
1962 Argus Gallery, Melbourne
1963 Argus Gallery, Melbourne
1964 Konohana Gallery, Tokyo
1965 (Brian) Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane
1965 Argus Gallery, Melbourne (photographs with Mark Strizic)
1965 Bonython Gallery, Adelaide
1965 Leveson Street Gallery, Melbourne
1966 Leveson Street Gallery, Melbourne
1966 Skinner Galleries, Perth
1966 (Bonython) Hungry Horse Gallery, Sydney
1966 Von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle
1967 (Brian) Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane
1968 Leveson Street Gallery, Melbourne
1968 Von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle
1969 Salamanca Place Gallery, Hobart
1971 Von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle
1972 Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney
1973 Leveson Street Gallery, Melbourne
1973 Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney
1974 Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane
1975 Von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle
1975 Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle (jointly with Shigeo Shiga)
1976 Salamanca Place Gallery, Hobart
1976 Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane
1976 Warehouse Gallery, Melbourne
1978 Solander Galleries, Canberra
1979 Von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle
1980 Salamanca Place Gallery, Hobart
1980 Stadia Graphics, Sydney
1980 Standfield Gallery, Melbourne
1981 Gallery Dusseldorf, Perth
1982 Solander Galleries, Canberra
1983 Tynte Gallery, Adelaide
1984 Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery
1984 Victor Mace Art Gallery, Brisbane
1985 Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney
1986 Victor Mace Art Gallery, Brisbane (photographs)
1987 Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney
1987 David Ellis Fine Art, Melbourne
1988 David Ellis Fine Art, Melbourne
1989 David Ellis Fine Art, Melbourne
1990 Victor Mace Art Gallery, Brisbane
1990 David Ellis Fine Art, Melbourne
1992 Victor Mace Art Gallery, Brisbane
1992 Lyall Burton Gallery, Melbourne
1993 Kensington Gallery, Adelaide
2015 Eastgate & Holst, Melbourne
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS OVERSEAS
1962 Tokyo Print Biennial
1963 South-East Asia Travelling Exhibition
1965 Artists 40 and Under, Tokyo
1966 Tokyo International Exhibition
1975 Australia & NZ Printmakers (NZ touring)
1977 Japan Print Association, 45th Exhibition, Japan
1977 3rd Independent Exhibition of Prints, Kanagawa, Japan
1980 Contemporary Australian Printmakers (west coast USA touring)
1986 Legends and Landscapes in Australian Art, University of Houston, USA
1986 Zantman Galleries, El Pasca, USA
REPRESENTED
National Gallery of Australia Canberra
Art Gallery of W.A.
National Gallery Victoria
Queensland Art Gallery
South Australian Art Gallery
Art Gallery of NSW
Queen Victoria Art Galley Launceston
Newcastle Art Gallery
Maitland City Art Gallery
Lismore Art Gallery
Wollongong Art Gallery
Broken Hill Art Gallery
Castlemaine Art Gallery
Bendigo Art Gallery
Ballarat Fine Art Gallery
Geelong Art Gallery
Portland Art Gallery
Mornington Art Gallery
Mildura Art Gallery
Warrnambool Art Gallery
McClelland Regional Gallery
Gold Coast Civic Art Collection
Burnie Art Gallery
LaTrobe University Collection
Monash University Collection
Flinders University Collection
Griffith University Collection
RMIT Collection
Townsville University Collection
Darling Downs University Collection
Dunedin Art Gallery NZ
Waikato Art Gallery NZ
Chartwell Trust Collection NZ
Parliament House Collection Canberra
Brisbane Civic Art Collection
Williamstown City Collection
Artbank
Shire of Diamond Valley Collection
Council of Adult Education Collection
BHP Collection
Telstra Collection
Westpac Collection
National Bank Collection
Art Museum Vilnius Lithuania
Private and institutional collections Australia and overseas
