(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

VIEW EDUCATION, AWARDS AND REPRESENTATION

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

Robert Grieve, Emerging Figure - Blue, mixed media on paper, 69 x 54cm $4000
Robert Grieve, Emerging Figure - Blue, mixed media on paper, 69 x 54cm $4000
Robert Grieve, Red Motif on Blue, c1995, acrylic & oil on canvas, 101 x 136cm $11,000
Robert Grieve, Red Motif on Blue, c1995, acrylic & oil on canvas, 101 x 136cm $11,000
Robert Grieve, Blue on White, c1990, mixed media on paper, 54 x 74cm $4200
Robert Grieve, Blue on White, c1990, mixed media on paper, 54 x 74cm $4200
Robert Grieve, Blue on Blue, c1995, mixed media on paper, 56 x 75cm $4200
Robert Grieve, Blue on Blue, c1995, mixed media on paper, 56 x 75cm $4200
Robert Grieve, Red, mixed media on paper, 90 x 120 cm
Robert Grieve, Red, mixed media on paper, 90 x 120 cm
Robert Grieve,  Magenta Theme, c1995, mixed media on hand-made paper, 70 x 88cm $5000
Robert Grieve, Magenta Theme, c1995, mixed media on hand-made paper, 70 x 88cm $5000
Robert Grieve, Emerging Figure, circa 2000, mixed media on paper 75x54cm $4200
Robert Grieve, Emerging Figure, circa 2000, mixed media on paper 75x54cm $4200
Robert Grieve,  Vermillion Variation, c1990, acrylic & oil on board, 71 x 91cm, $6000
Robert Grieve, Vermillion Variation, c1990, acrylic & oil on board, 71 x 91cm, $6000
Robert Grieve, Composition in Black and Grey, mixed media on paper, $4200
Robert Grieve, Composition in Black and Grey, mixed media on paper, $4200
Robert Grieve, Green, mixed media on paper, $4200
Robert Grieve, Green, mixed media on paper, $4200
Robert Grieve, Landscape, mixed media on linen, 91 x 121 cm $8800
Robert Grieve, Landscape, mixed media on linen, 91 x 121 cm $8800