Biography

1924 David Boyd was born in Murrumbeena, Melbourne. Third and youngest son of artists Merric and Doris Boyd. Studied pottery and painting within the family circle and also the piano. Entered the Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music at 17 1942 Joined Contempory Art Society of Australia. Conscripted into Australian Army 1944-46 Studied at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and the National Gallery School on an ex-serviceman's grant. First exhibition of paintings with John Yule at the Rowden White Library, University of Melbourne. In partnership with brother Guy Boyd founded Martin Boyd pottery in Sydney 1947 Painting expedition in New Caledonia with author Hugh Atkinson 1948-49 Married Hermia Lloyd-Jones, younger daughter of graphic artist Herman (Jonah) and Erica Lloyd-Jones. Began pottery career with Hermia. First exhibition of pottery in Sydney 1950-55 Established pottery studios in London and in the South of France joined for a time by ceramist and painter Stanislaw Halpern. Travelled widely throughout Spain. Returned to Australia 1956 David and Hermia Boyd became widely known as leading Australian potters. Introduced new techniques in glazing and the use of the potters wheel in shaping sculptural figures. Greatly influenced local potters in particular Tom Sanders and John Perceval. Major exhibition of ceramic tiles and sculptures at the Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne 1957-58 Commenced painting 'The Explorer' series, exhibited at the Australian Galleries, Melbourne, and Clune Galleries, Sydney 1959 Started a series of paintings based upon the extinction of the full blood Tasmanian Aboriginal in the nineteenth century. Took part in issuing the Antipodean manifesto with Blackman, Arthur Boyd, Brack, Dickerson, Perceval, Pugh and B. Smith defending the figurative image in contemporary painting in a joint exhibition in Melbourne. Exhibited 'The Explorers and The Tasmanians' in Adelaide 1960 Commenced a series of paintings on the theme of 'Law and Justice, The Trial series'. Elected President of the Contemporary Art Society (Victorian branch), Councillor of the Museum of Modern Art of Australia 1961 First prize Italian Art Scholarship for Australia. Chairman of the Federal Council of the Contemporary Art Society of Australia 1962 Lived in Rome, continuing 'The Trial' series, before returning to England. Settled in London 1963 First one-man exhibitions in London and Paris of 'The Trial' paintings 1964 Revisited Spain and painted 'Church and State' series based upon this visit 1965 One-man exhibitions in London and in Australia of 'Church and State' 1966 Discovered method of using candle flame to create images and named the technique Sfumato, a word used by Leonardo da Vinci to describe graduations of a misty tone in painting (although there is no evidence that Leonardo used a candle flame to achieve this effect) 1967-69 Exhibited Sfumato paintings in London and in Australia, including Newcastle, New South Wales. Revisited Australia. Exhibited late Sfumato and 'Limbo' paintings in Adelaide, South Australia. 'War Games' in Sydney, NSW. Visited Boyd Town at Twofold Bay, south coast of New South Wales. Commenced a series of paintings, 'The Wanderer', inspired by the life of Benjamin Boyd, an Australian adventurer of the 1840s. Retrospective exhibition of loaned works from various collections in Australia and Britain at Commonwealth Institute Art Gallery, London, Edinburgh and Sheffield 1970 Settled in south of France. First exhibition of Wanderer series at Adelaide Festival of Arts, South Australia. Next at von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle 1971 Exhibited 'The Wanderer' series in separate sections in three concurrent London exhibitions. Started a series based on mythological 'Orchard of Heaven', first exhibitied in Brisbane, Queensland. Visited Australia 1972 Developed theme of 'The Orchard' and exhibited series entitled 'The Garden in the Wilderness' in Newcastle, New South Wales. Commenced the 'Exiles' series which formed the latest inclusion in the exhibition. Returned to France. Developed the theme, 'The Exiles' 1973 Exhibited 'The Exiles' series in London and in Melbourne, Victoria 1974 Retrospective exhibition at Skinner Galleries, Perth, Festival of Arts 1975 Returned to Australia. Retrospective exhibition at von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle, NSW 1976 Retrospective exhibition at Bonython Gallery, Sydney 1977 Commenced series 'The Private View' 1978 Developed theme of 'The Private View' 1979-82 Major retrospective exhibition, Albert Hall, Canberra. Painted a series of works entitled 'The Day of the Picnic' 1983 'Retrospecitive Exhibition 1957-82', a series of seven exhibitions, Wagner Art Gallery, Sydney 1985 Exhibition 'Four Seasons', Wagner Art Gallery, Sydney 1986 Exhibited 'A Judge in the Landscape' series, Hong Kong; Wagner Art Gallery, Sydney; von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle 1987 Exhibition 'Requiem for the Birth of a Nation', Wagner Art Gallery, Sydney 1988 Exhibition 'Antipodean Second Chapter', Lauraine Diggins Fine Arts, Melbourne; Lanyon Gallery, Canberra 1989 S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, 'Antipodean Second Chapter' 1990 Dedicated to Merric and Doris Boyd, Wagner Art Gallery, Sydney 1991-92 'The Clown in the Tree' series 1992 Survey retrospective exhibitions Wagner Gallery, Sydney; Caulfield Art Complex, Melbourne; Macquarie University, Sydney; Beaver Galleries, Sydney, Canberra 1993-94 'Metaphors of Trial' series, von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle 1995 'The Legend of Europa and the Cockatoos', Eva Breuer Art Dealer, Sydney 1996 'Europa in Australia', von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle 1996-97 'Driftwood' and the 'Hierarchy' series, von Bertouch Galleries; Wagner Gallery, Sydney 1998 Music and the Angels, Galeria Aniela, Kangaroo Valley 1999 Survey retrospective, von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle 2001 Reconciliation, Eva Breuer Art Dealer, Sydney, NSW Appointments and Awards 1960 President of the Contemporary Art Society (Victorian branch) 1960 Elected Councillor of the Museum of Modern Art of Australia 1961 First Prize Italian Art Scholarship for Australian Chairman of the Federal Council of the Contemporary Art Society of Australia. 1993-96 Artist in residence School of Law, Macquarie University, NSW 1998 MEMBRO ALBO DORO DEL SENATO ACCADEMICO - International Academy of Modern Art, Rome, Italy Selected Bibliography Bonython, K. Modern Australian painting and Sculpture, Griffin Press, Adelaide, 1960 Bonython, K. Modern Australian Painting 1960-1970, with introduction by Ross K. Luck, Rigby Limited, Adelaide, 1970 Boyd, Martin, Day of my Delight, Lansdowne Press Pty Ltd, Melbourne, 1965 Burr, James & Williams, Sheldon, Sfumato Paintings and Drawings of David Boyd (monograph). Ritchie Dickson Limited, London, 1967 Finlay, D. J. Modern Australian Painting, Beaverbrook Newspapers Limited, London, 1963 Hood, K., Pottery, Longmans, Melbourne, 1961 Luck, Ross K, The Australian Painters, 1964-66 The Mertz Collection, Griffin Press, Adelaide, 1966 Luck, Ross K., Modern Australian Painting, Sun Books, Melbourne, 1969 Parr, Lenton, Sculpture, Longmons, Melbourne, 1961 Pringle, J. D., Australian Painting Today, Thames & Hudson, London, 1963 Smith, Bernard, Australian Painting 1788-1960, and revised edition 1788-1970, Oxford University Press, 1962 Smith, Bernard, Australian Painting Today, University of Queensland Press, 1962 Osborne, Harold (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Art, Oxford University Press, 1970 Benko, Nancy, The Art of David Boyd (monograph), Hyde Park Press, Adelaide, 1973 (with foreward by Judith Wright) Craig, Edward D., Australian Art Auction Records 1973-75, Ure Smith, Sydney, 1975 Vader, John, The Pottery and Ceramics of David and Hermia Boyd, Mathews/Hutchinson, Sydney, 1977 Benezit, E., Dictionaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Librairie Grand Paris, 1976 Smith, Bernard, Catalogue, David Boyd Retrospective Exhibition, Commonwealth Institute, London, 1969 Marginson, Ray, Catalogue of the Melbourne University Art Collection, 1971 The Antipodean Manifesto, catalogue of Antipodean Exhibition, Melbourne, 1959 Recent Australian Painting, Whitechapel Gallery, 1961 Commonwealth Art Today, Commonwealth Institute, London, 1962 Craig, Edward D., Australian Art Auction Records 1976-1978, Rigby, 1979 Scarlett, Ken, Australian Sculptors, Nelson, 1980 Germaine, Max, Artists and Galleries of Australia and New Zealand, Landsdown, 1979 & 1984 Craig, Edward D., Australian Art Auction Records, Currawong Press, New South Wales, 1982 Craig, Edward D., Australian Art Auction Records - Australian Art Sales, 1987-1989 Fry, Gavin & Gray, Anne, Masterpieces of the Australian War Memorial, Rigby, 1982 Dolan, David, Charles Bannon: Australian Printmaker: An Aspect of Australian art 1968-1982, Angus and Robertson Smith, Bernard, The Critic as Advocate, Oxford, 1989 Dbrez, Patricia & Herbst, Peter, The Art of the Boyds, Bay Books, New South Wales, 1991 Craig, Edward D., 'Australian Art Auctions Records 1989-1991' Vol 7 Australian Art Sales, NSW, 1991 Merric Boyd Studio Potter 1888-1959 Victoria, Hammond, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1990 von Bertouch, Anne, What Was It..., Hunnifords Lane Press, Newcastle, 1989-90 Arnold, John & Morris, Dierdre (eds.), Monash Biographical Dictionary of 20th Century Australia, Reed Reference Publishing, 1994 Furby, Paula & Snowden, Betty, The University of Adelaide Art Collections, University of Adelaide, S.A., 1995 Art and Law, vol. 20, no. 2, April 1995, Monash University, Victoria From Vision to Sesquicentenary, The University of Sydney, 1999 Amadio, Nadine, Introduction to catalogue, Reconciliation, Eva Breuer Art Dealer, Sydney, 2001 Collections Paintings: Australian War Memorial, Canberra Queensland University, Brisbane Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide Ballarat Art Gallery, Ballarat, Victoria Sydney University (Law Faculty), Sydney Harold Mertz Collection of Australian Paintings, USA Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane Lincolnshire and South Humberside Arts, Usher Gallery, Lincoln, England Fine Arts Department, University of Melbourne National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Adelaide Art Teachers College, Adelaide, SA Monash University, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne Newcastle Regional Art Gallery University of New South Wales, Sydney Sydney University Power Collection Bendigo Art Gallery Graylands College, Perth, Western Australia National Gallery of Victoria The University of Adelaide, South Australia Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales Bundanon Trust, Nowra, New South Wales Macquarie University, New South Wales Drawings: Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Ceramic Scultpure: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Art Gallery Of Western Australia, Perth Pottery: Department of External Affairs, Canberra Museum of Applied Arts and Science, Sydney The Power House; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth Staffordshire Museum, Stoke-on-Trent Museum of Modern Art of Australia, Melbourne Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney University of Western Australia, Perth University of Queensland, Brisbane

Region

NSW