Laurence Hope (artist)
Encyclopedia
Laurence Hope is an Australian artist from Sydney who is best known for his Lover, Dreamers and Isolates paintings.
He had a stable early family life with his parents and older brother Norman, living first in Dewhy and then moving to Seaforth during the depression years. His local primary school in Seaforth brought him into contact with a young Charles Blackman
, with whom he was to form a close friendship many years later. Hope later attended East Sydney Technical College and quickly developed a mature style from an early age leading to success in a number of art awards, most notably the national Sun Youth Art Prize in 1940 for the painting Sydney Orchestra.
Intellectually Hope aligned himself with the Barjai Group, a collection of writers and poets led by Barriet Ried, and with members including Barbara Patterson and Charles Osborne
. Later, in 1945 along with Pamela Seeman and Laurence Collison, he formed the Miya Studios with the aim of providing exhibition space for young artists with common goals. Laurence Hope exhibited at their annual exhibition from 1945-49. During this time he became re-acquainted with Charles Blackman
, the two travelled, painted and lived together over a number of years. Blackman credited Hope with helping him adjust to life as an artist during this time.
On a hitchhiking trip with Barreit Ried in 1947 he was introduced to John
and Sunday Reed
who were to become lifelong supporters of his art. Though them Hope became acquainted with many of the influential avant-garde in the Melbourne art scene such as Joy Hester
, Sydney Nolan, Arthur Boyd
and John Perceval
.
In the late 40s and early 50s Hope travelled widely around Queensland working in a range of odd jobs and painting vivid jungle, urban and figurative images. During this time he had a number of successful solo exhibitions in Brisbane at the Moreton Gallery and Johnson Gallery.
In 1953, he moved to Melbourne where he met George Mora and Mirka Mora
and was adopted into their family eventually becoming godfather to their second son William Mora. He appeared in a number of exhibitions at Mirka's studio, including a solo show in 1954. He also helped re-establish the Contemporary Arts Society. During his time in Melbourne he met with a significant network of artists who matched his own ideas of true originality born of imagination, including Danila Vassilieff, John Percival
, Arthur Boyd
, Jean Langley and Robert Dickerson
. By this time he had moved to painting mainly with oil on board, rather than his earlier work which tended to be water colour and gauche on paper. This coincided with him increasingly focusing his energies on exploring the isolation and loneliness of the human condition, a subject he had explored since his teenage years and has continued to return to throughout his life. His ‘collective paintings of Lovers, Dreamers and Isolates depict the mood and temperament of individuals concealing more significant emotions’.
, Barbara Blackman, John Perceval
, Arthur Boyd
and Barry Humphries
. During this time he even turned to acting, appearing in the Philippe Mora
film Trouble in Melopolis alongside Germaine Greer
. For the next five years Hope continued to travel widely across Europe, Asia and the Americas. These trips influenced his painting which became more ‘dramatic, vivid and colourful’, he began to paint on a larger scale ‘incorporating monuments, temples and even mythological creatures’ from Cambodia and Mayan civilisations.
During this time he continued to have a number of major exhibitions including a retrospective at the Holdsworth Galleries in Sydney and the Commonwealth Art Gallery in London. In 1977 his exhibition Opal the Rainbow Gem at the ICA in London featured photos of the gemstone taken through a microscope.
In 1972 he had a son, Danton, by his partner Marna Shapiro. This led to him painting a extensive collection of baby fantasy paintings reflecting this new period in his life. In 1989 he married Wendy Shaw and his painting became more personalised and intimate.
In 2002 Hope had a major retrospective exhibition at the Heide Museum of Modern Art
in Melbourne touring to the Sir Hermann Black Gallery at the University of Sydney and the Customs House Galley, University of Queensland.
Laurence Hope is represented in a large number of public and private collections, including the National Gallery of Australia
, National Gallery of Victoria
, Art Gallery of South Australia
, Queensland Art Gallery
, Heide Museum of Modern Art and University Art Museum - University of Queensland.
Early years
Laurence Hope was raised in an artistic environment, his parents, Norman and Gertrude Hope, were practicing artists who met at Brisbane Technical College in the 1920s. His father ran a successful illustration and printing business and from early age Hope would undertake commercial artistic assignments for the family business.He had a stable early family life with his parents and older brother Norman, living first in Dewhy and then moving to Seaforth during the depression years. His local primary school in Seaforth brought him into contact with a young Charles Blackman
Charles Blackman
Charles Blackman is one of the best known Australian artists still living today, especially for the famous Schoolgirl and Alice in Wonderland series of the 1950s...
, with whom he was to form a close friendship many years later. Hope later attended East Sydney Technical College and quickly developed a mature style from an early age leading to success in a number of art awards, most notably the national Sun Youth Art Prize in 1940 for the painting Sydney Orchestra.
Australian years
In 1944 at the age of 17 Hope left home and travelled to Brisbane. Penniless, he spent a number of nights sleeping rough before meeting the poet Barrett Ried who took him to stay at his parents, this was the start of a lifelong friendship. A string of temporary jobs followed to help facilitate his art which remained largely concerned with depicting the dispossessed and vulnerable in society.Intellectually Hope aligned himself with the Barjai Group, a collection of writers and poets led by Barriet Ried, and with members including Barbara Patterson and Charles Osborne
Charles Osborne
Charles Osborne hiccupped continuously for 68 years .Osborne was from Anthon, Iowa, U.S., and he was entered in Guinness World Records as the man with the Longest Attack of Hiccups. The hiccups started in 1923 and persisted for a total of 68 years...
. Later, in 1945 along with Pamela Seeman and Laurence Collison, he formed the Miya Studios with the aim of providing exhibition space for young artists with common goals. Laurence Hope exhibited at their annual exhibition from 1945-49. During this time he became re-acquainted with Charles Blackman
Charles Blackman
Charles Blackman is one of the best known Australian artists still living today, especially for the famous Schoolgirl and Alice in Wonderland series of the 1950s...
, the two travelled, painted and lived together over a number of years. Blackman credited Hope with helping him adjust to life as an artist during this time.
On a hitchhiking trip with Barreit Ried in 1947 he was introduced to John
John Reed (art patron)
John Reed was an Australian art editor and patron, notable for supporting and collecting of Australian art and culture with his wife Sunday Reed....
and Sunday Reed
Sunday Reed
Sunday Reed was notable for supporting and collecting Australian art with her husband John Reed.-Personal history:...
who were to become lifelong supporters of his art. Though them Hope became acquainted with many of the influential avant-garde in the Melbourne art scene such as Joy Hester
Joy Hester
Joy St Clair Hester was an Australian artist who played an important, though sometimes underrated, role in the development of Australian modernism, though her works could also be considered Abstract Expressionism....
, Sydney Nolan, Arthur Boyd
Arthur Boyd
Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd, AC, OBE was one of the leading Australian painters of the late 20th Century. A member of the prominent Boyd artistic dynasty in Australia, his relatives included painters, sculptors, architects or other arts professionals. His sister Mary Boyd married John Perceval,...
and John Perceval
John Perceval
John de Burgh Perceval AO was a well-known Australian artist. Perceval was the last surviving member of a group known as the Angry Penguins who redefined Australian art in the 1940s...
.
In the late 40s and early 50s Hope travelled widely around Queensland working in a range of odd jobs and painting vivid jungle, urban and figurative images. During this time he had a number of successful solo exhibitions in Brisbane at the Moreton Gallery and Johnson Gallery.
In 1953, he moved to Melbourne where he met George Mora and Mirka Mora
Mirka Mora
Mirka Mora is a prominent French-born Australian Visual artist who has contributed significantly to the development of Contemporary Art in Australia. Her mediums include painting, sculpture and mosaics.- Early life :...
and was adopted into their family eventually becoming godfather to their second son William Mora. He appeared in a number of exhibitions at Mirka's studio, including a solo show in 1954. He also helped re-establish the Contemporary Arts Society. During his time in Melbourne he met with a significant network of artists who matched his own ideas of true originality born of imagination, including Danila Vassilieff, John Percival
John Percival
John Percival known as Mad Jack Percival was a legendary officer in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France, the War of 1812, the campaign against West Indies pirates, and the Mexican-American War.-Biography:Born in West Barnstable, Massachusetts, Percival left home at thirteen to...
, Arthur Boyd
Arthur Boyd
Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd, AC, OBE was one of the leading Australian painters of the late 20th Century. A member of the prominent Boyd artistic dynasty in Australia, his relatives included painters, sculptors, architects or other arts professionals. His sister Mary Boyd married John Perceval,...
, Jean Langley and Robert Dickerson
Robert Dickerson
Robert Dickerson is an Australian figurative painter and former member of the Antipodeans group of artists. Dickerson is one of Australia's most recognised figurative artists and one of a generation of influential artists who include Ray Crooke, Charles Blackman, Laurence Hope, Margaret Olley and...
. By this time he had moved to painting mainly with oil on board, rather than his earlier work which tended to be water colour and gauche on paper. This coincided with him increasingly focusing his energies on exploring the isolation and loneliness of the human condition, a subject he had explored since his teenage years and has continued to return to throughout his life. His ‘collective paintings of Lovers, Dreamers and Isolates depict the mood and temperament of individuals concealing more significant emotions’.
Later years
Hope moved to England in 1963,t after travelling widely across Europe. There he met up with expatriate friends - Charles BlackmanCharles Blackman
Charles Blackman is one of the best known Australian artists still living today, especially for the famous Schoolgirl and Alice in Wonderland series of the 1950s...
, Barbara Blackman, John Perceval
John Perceval
John de Burgh Perceval AO was a well-known Australian artist. Perceval was the last surviving member of a group known as the Angry Penguins who redefined Australian art in the 1940s...
, Arthur Boyd
Arthur Boyd
Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd, AC, OBE was one of the leading Australian painters of the late 20th Century. A member of the prominent Boyd artistic dynasty in Australia, his relatives included painters, sculptors, architects or other arts professionals. His sister Mary Boyd married John Perceval,...
and Barry Humphries
Barry Humphries
John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE is an Australian comedian, satirist, dadaist, artist, author and character actor, best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife and "gigastar", and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to the...
. During this time he even turned to acting, appearing in the Philippe Mora
Philippe Mora
Philippe Mora is a French-born Australian film director. Born in 1949 to a German Jewish father and a French Jewish mother, he began making films while still a child.- Career :...
film Trouble in Melopolis alongside Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer is an Australian writer, academic, journalist and scholar of early modern English literature, widely regarded as one of the most significant feminist voices of the later 20th century....
. For the next five years Hope continued to travel widely across Europe, Asia and the Americas. These trips influenced his painting which became more ‘dramatic, vivid and colourful’, he began to paint on a larger scale ‘incorporating monuments, temples and even mythological creatures’ from Cambodia and Mayan civilisations.
During this time he continued to have a number of major exhibitions including a retrospective at the Holdsworth Galleries in Sydney and the Commonwealth Art Gallery in London. In 1977 his exhibition Opal the Rainbow Gem at the ICA in London featured photos of the gemstone taken through a microscope.
In 1972 he had a son, Danton, by his partner Marna Shapiro. This led to him painting a extensive collection of baby fantasy paintings reflecting this new period in his life. In 1989 he married Wendy Shaw and his painting became more personalised and intimate.
In 2002 Hope had a major retrospective exhibition at the Heide Museum of Modern Art
Heide Museum of Modern Art
Heide Museum of Modern Art, more commonly just Heide, is a contemporary art museum located in Bulleen, east of Melbourne, Australia. Established in 1981, the museum comprises several detached buildings and surrounding gardens & parklands of historical importance that are used as gallery spaces to...
in Melbourne touring to the Sir Hermann Black Gallery at the University of Sydney and the Customs House Galley, University of Queensland.
Laurence Hope is represented in a large number of public and private collections, including the National Gallery of Australia
National Gallery of Australia
The National Gallery of Australia is the national art gallery of Australia, holding more than 120,000 works of art. It was established in 1967 by the Australian government as a national public art gallery.- Establishment :...
, National Gallery of Victoria
National Gallery of Victoria
The National Gallery of Victoria is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest and the largest public art gallery in Australia. Since December 2003, NGV has operated across two sites...
, Art Gallery of South Australia
Art Gallery of South Australia
The Art Gallery of South Australia , located on the cultural boulevard of North Terrace in Adelaide, is the premier visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of over 35,000 works of art, making it, after the National Gallery of Victoria, the largest state...
, Queensland Art Gallery
Queensland Art Gallery
The Queensland Art Gallery is part of the Queensland Cultural Centre, and is located nearest to Brisbane River at South Bank...
, Heide Museum of Modern Art and University Art Museum - University of Queensland.
External links
- http://artsearch.nga.gov.au/Detail.cfm?IRN=119641
- http://artsearch.nga.gov.au/Detail.cfm?IRN=119642
- http://www.abc.net.au/rn/arts/nclub/stories/s503656.htm