Vincent Brown | Paintings & Etchings | Odana | Australia
Vincent Brown, often called the first 'modern' painter in Queensland, was born in Brisbane in 1901 and began painting watercolours at the age of 16. He became the protege of art promoter Adolph Albers under whose auspices he exhibited in Brisbane and Sydney. After thirty years of living in the UK, he finally returned to Australia in 1977 and found what was virtually a treasure trove of early works at the family home in Brisbane. These paintings had lain for all those years in a shed under the house and the etching plates had even been buried under the ground! Vincent Brown died in Brisbane in 2001.
CHRONOLOGY
1901 - Born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
1936 - Left for overseas
1936 to 1939 - Studied at: Slade School of Fine Arts, University of London; Grosvenor School of Modern Art, London; Central School of Arts and Crafts, London; Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London; London Theatre Studio, Michel St. Denis. Head of the Art Department at GARW Grammar School in South Wales, UK.
1937 - Summer School, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon
1939 to 1940 - Ruskin School of Drawing, Oxford University; lectured in Fine Arts at the University of Queensland, Brisbane; Head of the Art Department at GARW Grammar School, South Wales, UK
1940 - Returned to Australia; lectured in Fine Arts at the University of Queensland, Brisbane
1940 to 1945 - Spent the war years working in the 3rd Division Concert Party AIF
1948 - Left for the UK
1977 - Returned to Australia
2001 - Died in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
1922 - AW Albers Collection of Australia Art, French Ministry of Fine Art, Paris
1927 - Josef Albers Gallery, Sydney
1931 - Lennon's Hotel, Brisbane
1938 - Central School of Arts and Crafts, London (lithographs); Moreton Gallery, Brisbane; Courier Mail Newspaper Company, Brisbane (by invitation)
1945 - Canberra Hotel, Brisbane; Canberra Hotel, Toowoomba, Queensland; Vertu Cottage Gallery, Melbourne
1947 - Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1949 - Public Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Moreton Galleries, Brisbane
1977 - Verlie Just Town Gallery, Brisbane
1980 - Bloomfield Galleries, Sydney - launch of Vincent Brown: Life and Work
1981 - The Russell Davis Gallery, Armadale, Victoria
1990 and 1991 - Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane - Vincent Brown: An Early Brisbane Modernist
1998, 1993, 1992, 1990 - Riverhouse Galleries, Brisbane
2001 - Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane - Vincent Brown: A Centenary Tribute
2004 - Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Bundall, Queensland - Staged: The Art of Vincent Brown
REPRESENTED
Armidale City Art Gallery, Armidale, New South Wales
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Ballarat, Victoria
British Museum, London
Civic Art Gallery, Brisbane
French Ministry of Fine Art, Paris
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Queensland University Collection, Brisbane
Teachers' Training College, Brisbane
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Private collections in the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bloomfield, Lin, Vincent Brown: Life and Work, Odana Editions, 1980
1936 - Left for overseas
1936 to 1939 - Studied at: Slade School of Fine Arts, University of London; Grosvenor School of Modern Art, London; Central School of Arts and Crafts, London; Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London; London Theatre Studio, Michel St. Denis. Head of the Art Department at GARW Grammar School in South Wales, UK.
1937 - Summer School, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon
1939 to 1940 - Ruskin School of Drawing, Oxford University; lectured in Fine Arts at the University of Queensland, Brisbane; Head of the Art Department at GARW Grammar School, South Wales, UK
1940 - Returned to Australia; lectured in Fine Arts at the University of Queensland, Brisbane
1940 to 1945 - Spent the war years working in the 3rd Division Concert Party AIF
1948 - Left for the UK
1977 - Returned to Australia
2001 -
1922 - AW Albers Collection of Australia Art, French Ministry of Fine Art, Paris
1927 - Josef Albers Gallery, Sydney
1931 - Lennon's Hotel, Brisbane
1938 - Central School of Arts and Crafts, London (lithographs); Moreton Gallery, Brisbane; Courier Mail Newspaper Company, Brisbane (by invitation)
1945 - Canberra Hotel, Brisbane; Canberra Hotel, Toowoomba, Queensland; Vertu Cottage Gallery, Melbourne
1947 - Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1949 - Public Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Moreton Galleries, Brisbane
1977 - Verlie Just Town Gallery, Brisbane
1980 - Bloomfield Galleries, Sydney - launch of Vincent Brown: Life and Work
1981 - The Russell Davis Gallery, Armadale, Victoria
1990 and 1991 -
1998, 1993, 1992, 1990 - Riverhouse Galleries, Brisbane
2001 - Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane - Vincent Brown: A Centenary Tribute
2004 - Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Bundall, Queensland - Staged: The Art of Vincent Brown
REPRESENTED
Armidale City Art Gallery, Armidale, New South Wales
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Ballarat, Victoria
British Museum, London
Civic Art Gallery, Brisbane
French Ministry of Fine Art, Paris
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Queensland University Collection, Brisbane
Teachers' Training College, Brisbane
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Private collections in the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand