Rex Wood (6 April 1906 – 1970) was a South Australian artist who lived for many years in Portugal.

History

He was born Thomas Percy Reginald Wood in Laura, South Australia, the eldest of four boys born to Rev. Tom Percy Wood and Fannie née Newbury. He was brother to Jack Newbury Wood Dean Charlton Wood and Noel Herbert Wood who was also an artist. Their grandfather Thomas Percy Wood, also an Anglican minister in South Australia, was an accomplished watercolorist. Wood studied painting at the

South Australian School of Art The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...

under

Mary Packer Harris Mary Packer Harris D.A. (Edin.) (30 July 1891 – 26 August 1978) was a Scottish artist and art teacher with a considerable career in South Australia. History Mary was born in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire the only daughter of musician and beekeepe ...

(1891–1978), and was soon recognised as a realist in a variety of mediums. He was represented in a number of exhibitions alongside fellow artists including Ivor Hele and

Hans Heysen Sir Hans Heysen (8 October 18772 July 1968) was a German-born Australian artist. He became a household name for his watercolours of monumental Australian gum trees. He is one of Australia's best known landscape painters. Heysen also produced ...

. Wood began acting as art critic for '' The News'' in 1934, and his one-man exhibition in 1935 was well received. He had another exhibition in 1937, at the eve of his departure for England and the Continent. He studied at the

Anglo-French Art Centre The Anglo-French Art Centre (or Anglo-French Art School, previously the St John's Wood Art School, was an art school at 29 Elm Tree Road in St John's Wood, north London, England. The centre was founded in 1946 by Alfred Rozelaar Green, who studie ...

at St John's Wood and the Southampton Row School of Art. He spent much of the war years in Portugal, maintaining some contact with Australia, sending the occasional column to ''The News'', and purchasing some works for the

Art Gallery of South Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...

. He visited Australia in the mid-1950s, and then returned to Portugal, where he died in Lisbon in 1970.

Works

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 ...

*The

Hamilton Gallery Hamilton Gallery is a public art gallery in the regional town of Hamilton, Victoria, Australia. Hamilton Gallery's collection features gouache and watercolour pictures by English landscape painter Paul Sandby Paul Sandby (1731 – 7 No ...

of Hamilton, Victoria has a portrait ''Vera Van Ry'' by Rex Wood *The

State Library of South Australia The State Library of South Australia, or SLSA, formerly known as the Public Library of South Australia, located on North Terrace, Adelaide, is the official library of the Australian state of South Australia. It is the largest public research l ...

has a photograph and oil painting (1964) of Josephine Piazza "Madame Josephine", both by Rex Wood. * National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Rex Australian artists 1906 births 1970 deaths Artists from South Australia