Brushmen of the Bush was a painting group of five artists who collaborated in

Broken Hill, New South Wales Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

in 1973. It was active until 1989. The five members of the group were

Pro Hart Kevin Charles "Pro" Hart, MBE (30 May 192828 March 2006), was an Australian artist, born in Broken Hill, New South Wales, who was considered the father of the Australian Outback painting movement and his works are widely admired for capturi ...

, Eric Minchin,

Jack Absalom John Henry Absalom (11 November 1927 – 22 March 2019) was an Australian artist, author and adventurer. Life and death John Henry Absalom, colloquially to everyone as 'Jack', was born in Port Augusta, South Australia. He grew up along the ...

, John Pickup and Hugh Schulz.
Broken Hill Brushmen Exhibition
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Australian Broadcasting Corporation
29 May 2006 Following their inaugural

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

in 1973, the name Brushmen of the Bush was coined by Lorraine Hickman for a two-page article in ''

The Australian Women's Weekly ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known as simply ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Mercury Capital in Sydney. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before being outsold by ...

''. More than 50 subsequent exhibitions raised over one million, six hundred and forty thousand

Australian dollar The Australian dollar (sign: $; code: AUD) is the currency of Australia, including its external territories: Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island. It is officially used as currency by three independent Pacific Island s ...

s for various

charities A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a cha ...

, notably the

Royal Flying Doctor Service The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an air medical service in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation that provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote an ...

. During the 1970s, Brushmen of the Bush exhibited in London (twice), Rome, New York City and Los Angeles. The

Broken Hill City Council The City of Broken Hill is a local government area in the Far West region of New South Wales, Australia. The area contains an isolated mining city, Broken Hill, located in the outback of New South Wales and is surrounded by the Unincorporated F ...

declared 2006 "The Year of the Brushmen of the Bush" to honour the Group's contribution to the city through art. The Broken Hill Regional Gallery also mounted a "Brushmen of the Bush" Retrospective Exhibition, curated by Bettina MacAulay, (who also authored the very detailed history of the Group). The Brushmen of the Bush Retrospective Exhibition toured eleven regional galleries in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

from 2006 to 2009. Forty-four Brushmen exhibitions were staged for charity and further exhibitions organised by dealer and civic galleries have taken the total number of exhibitions to well over fifty. The Group exhibitions were always staged in aid of charitable organisations (particularly for children) and donations of paintings for auction and raffles swelled the commissions on sales to over $1,640,000 when CPI calculations adjust the 1973 to 1989 dollar figures to today's values. Eric Minchin died on 15 June 1994, Hugh Schulz on 23 September 2005 and Pro Hart was afforded a State Funeral following his death on 28 March 2006. Jack Absalom died on 22 March 2019 in Broken Hill, and the final Brushman, John Pickup, passed away 31 January 2023 at his home in

Murwillumbah Murwillumbah ( ) is a town in far north-eastern New South Wales, Australia, in the Tweed Shire, on the Tweed River. Sitting on the south eastern foothills of the McPherson Range in the Tweed Volcano valley, Murwillumbah is 848 km north-eas ...

, they were both 91. Broken Hill's current thriving arts scene traces its roots back to the Brushmen of the Bush.

References

Australian art movements Broken Hill, New South Wales {{NewSouthWales-stub