John Coburn (23 September 1925 – 7 November 2006) was an Australian abstract painter,

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

tapestry Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads ma ...

designer and printmaker. Born in

Ingham, Queensland Ingham is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Hinchinbrook, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Ingham had a population of 4,426 people. It is named after William Bairstow Ingham and is the administrative centre for the Shire o ...

, John Coburn moved from town to town with his mother and two younger sisters when his bank manager father went from branch to branch. His father died when the boy was 10. While enlisted in the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Coburn travelled around the Pacific and Indian oceans as a

radio operator A radio operator (also, formerly, wireless operator in British and Commonwealth English) is a person who is responsible for the operations of a radio system. The profession of radio operator has become largely obsolete with the automation of ra ...

. He drew images from these places whilst aboard HMAS ''Nepal'', including Sri Lanka,

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

and others. Coburn studied art at East Sydney Technical College in 1947. He finished his four-year training dissatisfied: By 1955–1956 Coburn was starting to find his own style. In 1969 he told ''The Canberra Times '': In 1956 he joined the ABC when television came in. He specialised in

set design Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in recent years, are mostly trained ...

and artwork. Coburn taught art at East Sydney Technical College from 1959–1966 and he later became Head of the

National Art School 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 ...

at the College for two years. He won the

Blake Prize for Religious Art The Blake Prize, formerly the Blake Prize for Religious Art, is an Australian art prize awarded for art that explores spirituality. Since the inaugural prize in 1951, the prize was awarded annually from 1951 to 2015, and since 2016 has been a ...

twice, in 1960 and again in 1977 (shared with Rodney Milgate). In 1996 he won the Mandorla Art Award. Major galleries in Australia have collected and displayed Coburn's works, many of which can now be found in major private and corporate collections, such as the Cbus Collection of Australian Art. For several years, two of his tapestries were hung in the Sydney Opera House, as curtains in the Drama Theatre and the (recently renamed) Joan Sutherland Theatre. Seven hang in the

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

, Washington D.C. His works are also displayed in the Vatican Museum, Rome.

Notes and references

External links

Coburn Art

Mandorla Art Award
1925 births 2006 deaths National Art School alumni 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian male artists Blake Prize for Religious Art winners Royal Australian Navy personnel of World War II Royal Australian Navy sailors Australian male painters {{Australia-painter-stub