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Born in Hurstville, in 1924, Robert Dickerson was the third child of four born to Albert Dickerson, a Sydney tinsmith. As a boy Dickerson spent many hours fashioning tin funnels and scoops in his father's workshop, and in his leisure time would visit the Art Gallery of New South Wales to study paintings, or the Australian Museum, where he drew birds and animal skeletons.
Dickerson attended Bourke Street Public School but left at fourteen to work at manual jobs. As a teenager Dickerson also trained to be a boxer and at sixteen fought professionally. Two years later, Dickerson joined the R.A.A.F. and saw active service in Borneo, the Halmaheras, New Guinea, and Northern Australia. Dickerson began to paint and draw while waiting to be demobilised in Morotai in 1946, and on his return to Australia, Dickerson took a number of factory jobs but continued to work at his art, largely self - taught.
In1959 Robert Dickerson emerged as a professional painter, his future made more certain by his inclusion in the historic Antipodeans exhibition of the same year. Success followed quickly and in 1961 Dickerson was included in the exhibition of Australian contemporary art at the Whitechapel, London. In 1963 Dickerson was part of a mixed exhibition at the Tate Gallery and in 1967 Dickerson exhibited at the Sao Paulo Biennale in Brazil. The same year Dickerson’s paintings were included in the Harold Mertz Collection of Australian Art, an exhibition which toured the United States of America.
In 1973, Dickerson exhibited at the London Qantas Gallery and in 1977 at Der Koepelkerk, Amsterdam. Dickerson has since had exhibitions in Hong Kong and London and in 1995 at the Cite des Arts, Paris, where he held the Moya Dyring studio. In 1996 Dickerson’s paintings were exhibited at the Beijing International Art Fair.
The paintings of Robert Dickerson are to be found in all major public galleries, university and corporate collections in Australia.
REPRESENTED
National Gallery of Australia; Australian National University; Museum of Modern Art and Design, Melbourne; Art Gallery of New South Wales; National Gallery of Victoria, Queensland Art Gallery; Art Gallery of South Australia; Art Gallery of Western Australia; Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery; University of Melbourne; University of Western Australia; University of New South Wales; most provincial and regional galleries in Australia.
Numerous Private and Corporate collections
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1956, 58 Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne
1959, 67 Farmers Blaxland Gallery, Sydney
1960, 61 Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney
1962, 69, 81 Barry Stern Gallery, Sydney
1962,63 Clune Gallery, Sydney
1962, 66, 67, 70, 82 von Bertouch Gallery, Newcastle
1964, 65 Kym Bonython Gallery, Adelaide
1964, 67, 69 Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane
1968 Australian Galleries, Melbourne
1968 The Hungry Horse Gallery, Sydney
1970 John Gild Gallery, Perth
1970 Adelaide Festival exhibition
1970 Leveson Street Gallery, Melbourne
1972 Bakehouse Gallery, Mackay
1972 John Cooper Gallery, Qld
1972, 74, 77 Lister Gallery, Perth
1973, 75, 78, 83, 86, 88, 90, 93, 95 Holdsworth Gallery, Sydney
1973 Qantas Gallery, London
1973, 76 Andrew Ivanyi Gallery, Melbourne
1974, 83, 87 Greenhill Gallery Adelaide
Grand Central Gallery, Brisbane
1976, 77, 92, 96, 99, 2004, 06 Philip Bacon Gallery, Brisbane
1976 Graphics Gallery, Manuka, ACT
1977 De Koepelkirker, Amsterdam Holland
1979 Adelaide Fine Arts & Graphics
1980 Avenel Bee Gallery, Adelaide
1981 Forbes Town Hall, NSW
1981 Georges Gallery, Melbourne
1983 Masterpiece Gallery, Hobart
1983 Anvil Gallery, Wodonga
1984 Holdsworth Gallery (Tokyo show)
1985, 89, 91 Schubert Gallery, Gold Coast
1986, 98, 2000 Greythorn Gallery, Melbourne
1987 Greenhill Gallery Perth
1987 Melbourne Art Exchange
1991 England & Co Gallery, London
1992 Noosa Regional Gallery
1992 Gallery 460, Gosford, NSW
1993 Caulfield Arts Complex (with Andrew Ivanyi)
1993 Bell Gallery, Berrima, NSW
1994 Etti Jennings Gallery,Kenthurst, NSW
1996, 2004, 05 Kensington Gallery, Adelaide
1996, 2004, 05 Stafford Studios, Perth
1997, 99, 2000, 04,06 Rex Irwin Art Dealer
1999, 2000 Queen Street Fine Art, Sydney
2000 Savill Galleries, Melbourne
2006, 05, 01 Dickerson Gallery, Melbourne and Sydney
2004 -05 Chiaroscuro Grafton Regional Art Gallery, Shoalhaven City Arts
Centre, Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, Horsham Art Gallery,
Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Nolan Gallery ACT
2005 Newcastle Region Art Gallery
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1949-1956 Contemporary Art Society exhibitions. Sydney & Melbourne
1953 Eric Mack Gallery, Sydney
1954 Mirka Mora Gallery, Melbourne
1957 David Jones Gallery, Sydney
1958 Painted refrigerator for Australian Women's Weekly exhibition
1958 Blake Prize (second place)
1959 Antipodean exhibition, Melbourne
1961 Whitechapel Gallery, London
1963 Tate Gallery, London
1965 RAS Easter Show (human image prize)
1967 Sao Paulo Biennale, Brazil
1967 Touring USA exhibition “Australian Painters” (Mertz Collection)
1973 Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane
1975 Woman In Arts, Fremantle Arts Centre
1989 Perth Gallery
1992 Stafford Studios at Hong Kong Trade Centre
1994 Noosa Regional Gallery PRISM group exhibition
1995 Exposition International Cite Des Arts Studio, Paris
PRIZES
1954 Clint Prize, 1959 Tumut Prize, 1966 Mirror-Waratah Grand Prize, 1975 Gold Coast Art Prize, 1990 DDB Needham Inaugural Art Prize, 1996 Award of Merit, Beijing International Art Expo
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A Treasury of Australian Art, Rigby Ltd Adelaide, 1981
Bonython Kym., Modern Australian Painting and Sculpture, Adelaide, 1960
Bonython Kym, Modern Australian Painting 1950-1980 ,Rigby, Adelaide,
Barbara Burton and William Splatt, 100 Masterpieces of Australian Painting, Rigby 1973
Catalano Gary, The Years of Hope, Australian Art and Criticism1959 1968, O U P
City Art, Heinemann Educational Australia Pty Ltd, 1978
Encyclopaedia of Australian Art, Hutchinson, Melbourne, 1977
Germaine Max, Artists and Galleries of Australia and New Zealand, Lansdowne Press,
Gleeson James, Modern Painters, 1931-70, Lansdowne Press,1971
Haese Richard, Rebels and Precursors: The Revolutionary Years of Australian Art, Allen
Lane, Ringwood, 1981
Hughes Richard, The Art of Australia, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1970
Luck R, The Australian Painters , 1964-1966 (Mertz Coll.), Griffin Press, Adelaide, 1966
Luck R.K., A guide to Modern Australian Painting, Sun Books, Melbourne, 1969
Modern Australian Art, Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 1958
Smith Bernard, Australian Painting 1799-1970, Oxford University Press, 1974
Thomas Laurie,The Most Noble Art of Them All, University of Queensland Press, 1976
Two Hundred Years of Australian Painting, Bay Books, Sydney 1971
Who's Who in Australia, 1992/1993/1994 Information Australia P/L Melbourne
Jennifer Dickerson, Robert Dickerson - Against the Tide, Pandanus Press 1995
TRAVEL AND STUDIOS
1972 Travelled to UK and Europe
1973 Travelled in U.K.
1976 Commenced printmaking in Brisbane studio
1978 Travelled and worked in USA
1984 Travelled in Japan
1989 Worked in Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne
1991 Worked in London studio
1992 Moved studio to Eumundi, Qld
1994 Travelled and worked in USA, UK & Europe
1995 Nominated by NSW Art Gallery for tenure of Moya Dyring Studio, Paris
1996 Order of Merit, Beijing International Art Fair
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