William Francis Robinson AO (born 16 April 1936) is an Australian painter and

lithograph Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

er.

Early life

William Robinson was born in Brisbane in 1936, and studied art at

Ballarat High School Ballarat High School is a government secondary school located in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. Buildings and grounds The school was originally opened on 16 April 1907 as a Continuation School located at 208 Sturt Street (directly opposite t ...

from 1950 to 1953. After graduating, he began working as an art instructor. Robinson commenced

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

on 4 January 1955 with the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

serving as an Aircraftsman, service number: A115716. In his teaching career, Robinson eventually became head of the Painting Department at the Brisbane College of Advanced Education in 1982. In 1989 he retired to work full-time on his paintings.

Artistic Career

Robinson held his first solo exhibition at the Design Arts Centre, Brisbane in 1967. He rose to international prominence as a part of the exhibitions Australian Perspecta in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

and The Sixth Bienniale of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

. The

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

has several of his works in their collection, as does 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 ...

and several smaller Australian galleries. He has won the

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...

for

portraiture A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this re ...

twice: first in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

for ''Equestrian self portrait'', then in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

for ''Self-portrait with stunned mullet''. He has also won the

Wynne Prize The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. As one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne. Now held concurrently with the Sir John Sulman Prize ...

for

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

painting in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

(''The rainforest'') and

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

(''Creation landscape – earth and sea''). Robinson released a solo exhibition, Landscapes, which consisted of oil paintings showing fragments of the

Australian bush "The bush" is a term mostly used in the English vernacular of Australia and New Zealand where it is largely synonymous with '' backwoods'' or ''hinterland'', referring to a natural undeveloped area. The fauna and flora contained within this ...

in various perspectives. In 2009 Robinson was the subject of a documentary by filmmaker Catherine Hunter. "William Robinson: A Painter’s Journey" traces the places that have inspired the artist, from his early farmyard paintings to the 'Creation Landscape' series and, most recently, the quiet still life paintings inspired by the intimate surroundings of his Brisbane house and garden. In 2011, The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Art Museum curated a major retrospective exhibition ''William Robinson: The Transfigured Landscape'' which was opened by the Australian Governor General Quentin Bryce. There is an art gallery within

Old Government House Old Government House may refer to: * Old Government House, Parramatta, Australia * Old Government House, Queensland, Australia * Old Government House, South Australia, Australia * Old Government House, Hobart, Australia * Old Government House, ...

on the QUT's Garden Point campus devoted to Robinson's art, featuring many of his artworks, including some of his very first. In 2016 William Robinson was interviewed in a digital story and oral history for the

State Library of Queensland The State Library of Queensland is the main reference and research library provided to the people of the State of Queensland, Australia, by the state government. Its legislative basis is provided by the Queensland Libraries Act 1988. It contai ...

'
James C Sourris AM Collection
In the interview Robinson talks to Vanessa Van Ooyen, Director

QUT Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The unive ...

Art Museum about his art, his success at winning the Archibald Prize and his busy life as both a teacher and an artist.

References

External links

William Robinson digital story, educational interview and oral history
John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, 6 February 2016. 7min, 30min and 2:10 hour version available to view online.
William Robinson
at 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 Gallery ...

''Equestrian self portrait''
winner of the 1987 Archibald Prize
''Self-portrait with stunned mullet''
winner of the 1995 Archibald Prize
''Creation landscape – earth and sea''
winner of the 1996 Wynne Prize
''Professor John Robinson and brother William'' 1992

Grafico Topico's reviews of William Robinson's art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, William 1936 births Living people 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian male artists Archibald Prize winners Officers of the Order of Australia People educated at Brisbane State High School Wynne Prize winners Queensland Greats Australian male painters