Lawrence Daws (born 1927) is an Australian painter and printmaker, who works in the media of

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

, drawing,

screenprint Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open mesh ...

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

s and

monotype Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface, or matrix, was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to acrylic glass. The ...

s. In the 1980s he started making computer prints, and was possibly the first established Australian painter to use this medium. His subjects are often landscapes, including

deserts A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

, of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

n forests and the

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equa ...

s of

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 , establishe ...

. Daws grew up on the

Fleurieu Peninsula The Fleurieu Peninsula () is a peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia located south of the state capital of Adelaide. History Before British colonisation of South Australia, the western side of the peninsula was occupied by the ...

in South Australia, and from 1970 until 2010, lived by the Glasshouse Mountains at Beerwah on the edge of a Queensland rainforest, where many of his best-known works were created. In the 1960s he lived and exhibited in London in solo shows and with other Australians, including

Brett Whiteley Brett Whiteley AO (7 April 1939 – 15 June 1992) was an Australian artist. He is represented in the collections of all the large Australian galleries, and was twice winner of the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes. He held many exhibitio ...

. From 1977 he was a Trustee of the

Queensland Art Gallery The Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) is an art museum located in South Bank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The gallery is part of QAGOMA. It complements the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) building, situated only away. The Queensland Art Galler ...

and was responsible for acquiring some major paintings for the gallery, including a major painting by

Victor Pasmore Edwin John Victor Pasmore, CH, CBE (3 December 190823 January 1998) was a British artist. He pioneered the development of abstract art in Britain in the 1940s and 1950s. Early life Pasmore was born in Chelsham, Surrey, on 3 December 1908. He ...

. A biography of Daws was published in 1982, written by Neville Weston.

Griffith University Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Formally founded in 1971, Griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asian ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, and

University of the Sunshine Coast The University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) is a public university based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. After opening with 524 students in 1996 as the Sunshine Coast University College, it was later renamed the University of the ...

have awarded honorary doctorates to Daws. In 2016 Lawrence Daws was interviewed in a digital story and oral history for the State Library of Queensland'
James C Sourris AM Collection
In the interview Daws talks to Bettina MacAulay, a Brisbane Art Valuer about his life, his paintings and computer generated prints, and how his interest in philosophy, literature and psychology has influenced his work.

Exhibitions

Adelaide Festival, Feb-March 2008 – Major retrospectiv
Drawings, Prints, 1947–2007

Collections

* Art Gallery of NSWbr>
*

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...

br>
*

The Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

, Londo

*Ipswich Art Galler
Exhibition and artist ephemera held by the State Library of Queensland

References

External links

Daws's home page

Lawrence Daws artist interview: The James C. Sourris AM Collection
John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, 26 February 2016. 6min, 33min and 1:22min version available to view online.
Portrait of an artist: Lawrence Daws
Portrait of an Artist is an in conversation event series by the State Library of Queensland.

(Transcript of one-hour interview), Artworks, Radio National, ABC Radio National, Sunday 18 May 2008. "One of the grand masters of the Australian art scene" – Julie Copeland.
Grafico Topico review of Lawrence Daws 1999 exhibition

Lawrence Daws digital story
State Library of Queensland. Part of th
Johnstone Gallery digital stories and oral histories collection

Portrait of an Artist: Lawrence Daws - James C. Sourris AM Collection of Artist Interviews
State Library of Queensland Australian painters Australian printmakers 1927 births Living people Artists from South Australia People from Beerwah, Queensland Australian mid-20th century modern painters {{printmaker-stub