The latest exhibition at QUT’s William Robinson Gallery in Old Government House – – pays moving tribute to Shirley, the artist’s wife of 64 years who passed away earlier this year.
Running from 27 September 2022 to 10 September 2023, the exhibition explores how the domestic and aesthetic are intrinsically linked, and how the figure of Shirley Robinson (née Rees, 1936–2022), encapsulates essential aspects of his vision.
Robinson is one of Australia’s greatest living artists and the only one with a public gallery dedicated to his work. He has won the for portraiture twice (Equestrian self-portrait in 1987 and Self-portrait with stunned mullet in 1995), and the for landscape in 1990 and 1996. Shirley, who he met in 1955 when they were art students at Brisbane’s Central Technical College.
“Through over 50 artworks produced from the 1970s until the recent decade, viewers can witness the relationship William shared with Shirley, and in turn, the role she played in nurturing his prolific artistic output,” said gallery director and curator, Vanessa Van Ooyen.
“These artworks, which capture their life together in Brisbane, Kingscliff, Beechmont and elsewhere, are not only visual meditations on the environment in which the artist lives; rather, they pay homage to the broader rhythms of life, nature and love—but, most importantly, to Shirley.”
The catalogue includes ‘Musings’ from Dame Quentin Bryce AM who, along with her late husband Michael (1938-2021), was a long-time close friend of William and Shirley. She writes with great affection of how much the couples treasured their time together, and describes Shirley as a ‘wife, muse, soulmate, and ardent supporter’ of William.
Dame Quentin helped plan the exhibition and writes that it is ‘a story in painting of a marriage of true minds.’
Ms Van Ooyen said the exhibition included many artworks never publicly exhibited before, thanks to the generosity of the Robinson family.
“Paintings such as Shirley in candy striped pants 1975 perfectly capture the essence of Shirley as a self-assured 39-year-old in an effortless and practical style—hair cropped short, white t-shirt and casual wide-legged trousers,” she said.
“Produced during Robinson’s post-impressionist ‘Bonnard’ period, it stands out from others as one of the few actual portraits of Shirley, with her gaze directed firmly at the viewer. Sprig of wattle 2010 is another rare more traditional portrait, and when displayed together, these two paintings act as bookends to the exhibition, portraying a pure and quintessential ‘Shirley’.”
Other works include Robinson’s famed landscapes and farmyard scenes, along with interior works dotted with Shirley in familial scenes of everyday life—at the dinner table with family, watching television with her husband, on the veranda, or enjoying a rare quiet moment alone— as well as ceramics and a series of lithographs produced from five trips to Paris between 1995 and 2005.
Ms Van Ooyen said it was the 15th exhibition to be mounted since QUT’s William Robinson Gallery opened at Old Government House in 2009.
