LRG x GPAC: John Bellany
Selected Works

Satellite exhibition

Level 1 – Gippsland Performing Arts Centre, Traralgon
9 February – 8 April 2024

This satellite exhibition is a glimpse into the world of the late artist John Bellany CBE RA (born 1942, Cockenzie, UK), one of the most prolific and acclaimed Scottish artists of his generation. A selection of Bellany’s work from Latrobe Regional Gallery’s permanent collection, these drawing works on paper were created in a period that Bellany was an Artist-in-Residence at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne in 1983 and as a group, provide an important record of the activities of this particular time.

Bellany’s works from his travels to Australia are indicative of his works on paper from the 1980’s period, and which were commonly done with broad strokes of charcoal and pastel, often en plein air in locations such as Sydney harbour or plenty gorge in Bundoora. Combining allegory and speculative fictions through this selection of figurative work, Bellany playfully attempts to capture the spirit of his curious swathe of human and avian characters.

From 1978 until 1984, Bellany was Lecturer in Painting at Goldsmith College of Art. In 1986 Bellany was given a solo show at the National Portrait Gallery, Scotland in 1986, and in 1988 he survived a pioneering liver transplant. His surgeon Sir Roy Calne said he was the only patient he had known that had gone back to work the day after surgery.

John Bellany died in 2013. He was found in his studio clutching his paintbrush.

Works by Bellany can be found in The Tate, the National Portrait Gallery, New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and National Galleries of Scotland, to name but a few. Among Bellany’s honours are a Major Arts Council Award (1981), Athena International Art Award (1985), Royal Academy’s Wollaston Award (1987).

Scroll down to view the works in this satellite exhibition, as well as a curated selection of additional works from our permanent collection.

Eve, 1983
Charcoal drawing on paper
76.5 x 56.5 cm
Latrobe Regional Gallery Collection, Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Guy Abrahams, in memory of Christine Abrahams, 2012

Jeff, 1983
Charcoal drawing on paper
76.5 x 56.5 cm
Latrobe Regional Gallery Collection, Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Guy Abrahams, in memory of Christine Abrahams, 2012

Sea Cat, 1983
Oil on canvas,
182 x 152 cm
Latrobe Regional Gallery Collection, Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Guy Abrahams, in memory of Christine Abrahams, in 2012

Untitled, 1983
Charcoal drawing on paper
76.5 x 56.5 cm
Latrobe Regional Gallery Collection, Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Guy Abrahams, in memory of Christine Abrahams, 2012

Mother and Child, 2000
Silkscreen print, Ed 22/34
17 x 26 cm image, 38 x 45 cm sheet
Latrobe Regional Gallery Collection, Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Yvonne Howells, 2006

Untitled, 1983
Charcoal drawing on paper
76.5 x 56.5 cm
Latrobe Regional Gallery Collection, Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Guy Abrahams, in memory of Christine Abrahams, 2012