Ralph Balson (1890–1964) was an English born Australian artist. Balson was a leading figure in the modernist movement and is credited with holding the first solo exhibition of abstract work in Australia. Balson, initially a plumber and house painter, migrated to Sydney when he was 23. He took up art in his spare time and, from 1934 to 1937, explored

Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

principles at the Crowely- Fizelle School. Introduced to works of

Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (; rus, Василий Васильевич Кандинский, Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kandinskiy, vɐˈsʲilʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kɐnʲˈdʲinskʲɪj; – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter a ...

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

, and

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being ...

, Balson began teaching abstract painting in 1949 and committed full-time to art in 1955. Influences from his travels in 1960 included

Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was widely noticed for his " drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a hor ...

Alberto Burri Alberto Burri (12 March 191513 February 1995; ) was an Italian visual artist, painter, sculptor, and physician based in Città di Castello. He is associated with the matterism of the European informal art movement and described his style as ...

, and Antoni Tapiès. His works are held by the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

, the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

, and the

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 ...

Early life

Balson was born in

Bothenhampton Bothenhampton is a village and civil parish in southwest Dorset, England, just outside the town of Bridport. It is separated from the town only by the River Asker and the A35 Bridport by-pass. In the 2011 census the civil parish—which includes ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, England. After attending the village school he became an apprentice in 1903 to become a plumber and house painter. At the age of 23, Balson migrated to

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

. In Sydney, 1914, he married Emilie Kathleen Austin at the All Saints Anglican Church,

Woollahra Woollahra is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woollahra is located 5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra. W ...

. During this time, he supported his family by working as a house painter and took up art in his spare time. In March 1915 Balson applied to join the First Australian Imperial Force but was rejected on medical grounds for his eyesight.

Career

In 1932, when

Grace Crowley Grace Adela Williams Crowley (pr: as in "slowly") (28 May 1890 – 21 April 1979) was an Australian artist and modernist painter. Early life and education Grace Crowley was born in May 1890 in Barraba, New South Wales. She was the fourth chi ...

and

Rah Fizelle Reginald Cecil Grahame (Rah) Fizelle (4 September 1891 – 25 October 1964) was an Australian artist and teacher. Biography Rah Fizelle was born in near Goulburn, New South Wales. After training at Teachers' College Sydney, Fizelle jointed the ...

established the Crowely-Fizelle School in

George Street, Sydney George Street is a street in the central business district of Sydney. It was Sydney's original high street, and remains one of the busiest streets in the city centre. It connects a number of the city's most important buildings and precincts. ...

Balson assisted by painting the premises. It was here that Balson painted from 1934 to 1937 and explored geometric Cubist principles of composition. The artists Eleonore Lange and

Frank Hinder Francis Henry Critchley Hinder (26 June 1906 – 31 December 1992) was an Australian painter, sculptor and art teacher who is also known for his camouflage designs in World War II. Education Born on 26 June 1906 at Summer Hill, Sydney, Hinder ...

were responsible for introducing Balson to the work of

and

. In 1955 Balson retired from house painting and devoted himself to his art career. From 1949 to 1959 he taught abstract painting at

East Sydney Technical College The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts p ...

. In 1960 Balson traveled to Europe and the United States, visiting exhibitions of American minimalism and hard-edge abstraction. During this time he developed an appreciation for and was influenced by the work of

and Antoni Tapiès. ''

Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'' critic, Geoffrey de Groen, wrote in 1975 that Balson's Portrait of Grace Crowley "painted in 1939 was very advanced then, and is much more daring than the countless thousands of boring portraits made since".

Gallery collections

Twenty-six of his artworks from the 1930s to 1962 are held by the

. Eighteen of his works are in the collection of the

, including his Girl in pink (1937) and examples of his pointillist style, Abstract (1956) and Painting no 9 (1959). Six paintings are held by the

References

External links

Portrait of Grace Crowley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balson, Ralph 20th-century Australian painters 1890 births 1964 deaths Artists from Dorset Artists from Sydney English emigrants to Australia National Art School Abstract painters