CROOKE Ray

Ray Crooke exhibited at the Tate Gallery London in 1963 and was awarded the Archibald Portrait Prize in 1969. His painting trips to Thursday Island, New Guinea, Cape York and Fiji continue to be inspiration for his work. Crooke explores contour and silhouette using rich blocks of colour, and the nuances of positive and negative space in the manner of Gauguin. The artist reveals in his travel diaries and sketchbooks the basis for his paintings - the strong light effects at different times of the day, the colour of the lush foliage after rain, and contrasting golden skin tones.

His paintings are in major collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, state galleries and the Vatican Collection Rome.

Biography

1922 Born in Melbourne, Victoria

1937-39 Studied at Swinburne Technical College

1940-44 Enlisted in the army, serving in the Mornington Peninsula, WA, Townsville and Cape York. Lived for a period on Thursday Island. Worked at map making. Studied drawing by correspondence with Douglas Dundas through East Sydney Technical College

1944 Lived in Borneo, then returned to Melbourne

1946-48 Completed art studies at Swinburne Technical College

1949 Moved to Thursday Island, exploring the Barrier Reef and Islands, returning to Melbourne in 1950

1950 Married June Bethel. Lived in Cairns and Thursday Island

1955-60 Returned to Melbourne to prove himself as a painter. Held several successful exhibitions in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane. Held teaching posts at Swinburne and Ferntree Gully junior technical colleges.

1961 Returned to Cairns to paint full-time

1961-70 Painting trips throughout Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf Country, Central Queensland, WA, New Guinea, Fiji and Tahiti

1965 Lived in Caloundra, north of Brisbane

1968 Moved to Sydney 1969 Awarded the Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney

1971 Visited Kimberley Region in WA

1974, 75 Visited London, Paris, Madrid, Toledo, Venice, Rome, with tours of the European galleries

1976 Returned to North Queensland, living in Cairns

1981 Travelled to Europe (France, Italy, Amsterdam)

1983 Travelled to London, Madrid, North England, Ireland

1985 Visited Hawaii 1986-87 Painting trips to Cape York Peninsula and Fiji

1988 Travelled to London, North England, Ireland, Italy

1989 Painting trip to Darwin and Kakadu. Moved to property at Kuranda near Cairns

1990-92 Lived in North Queensland. Annual painting trips to Fiji and Sydney

1993 Awarded Member of the Order of Australia for services to the visual arts, in particular landscape painting

1995 Donated his collection of works by Russell Drysdale, Donald Friend, Margaret Olley and Arthur Boyd to the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville

1996 Awarded Honorary Doctorate from Griffith University, Brisbane. Moved to Cairns

Selected Exhibitions

1948 Paintings, Drawings and Etchings by Ray Crooke, Kosminsky Gallery, Melbourne

1949 Ray Crooke, Joseph Greenberg, Georges Gallery, Melbourne 1957 Ray Crooke, Kosminsky Gallery, Melbourne

1958 Group Exhibition, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

1959 Third Anniversary Exhibition, Australian Galleries, Melbourne; Ray Crooke, Australian Galleries, Melbourne; Group Exhibition, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

1960 Oil Paintings by Ray Crooke, Terry Clune Galleries, Sydney; Group Exhibition, Australian Galleries, Melbourne; Ray Crooke, Skinner Galleries, Perth; Raymond Crooke, The Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane

1961 Ray Crooke, Australian Galleries, Melbourne; Raymond Crooke, The Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane

1962 Ray Crooke: Painting of North Queensland, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney; Ray Crooke, Bonython Art Gallery, Adelaide

1963 Australian Painting Today, toured Australia, and Tate Gallery, London; Paintings by Ray Crooke, Arts Council of Australia, Canberra; Group Exhibition, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney; Ray Crooke: paintings

1962-63, The Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane; Ray Crooke, Australian Galleries, Melbourne; Group Exhibition, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney

1964 Ray Crooke: paintings and Drawings, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney; Ray Crooke, Commonwealth Institute Galleries, London; Ray Crooke: Paintings of New Guinea, The Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane; Ray Crooke, Darlinghurst Galleries, Sydney; Ray Crooke, Bonython Gallery, Adelaide

1965 Ray Crooke, Von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle; Ray Crooke - Recent Paintings, Darlinghurst Galleries, Sydney; Ray Crooke: Studies for the Stations of the Cross, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney

1966 Recent and Early Works by Ray Crooke, Barry Stern Galleries, Sydney; Paintings by Ray Crooke, The Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane

1967 Ray Crooke, Skinner Galleries, Perth; paintings by Ray Crooke, The Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane

1968 Ray Crooke, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney; Ray Crooke, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

1969 Ray Crooke: Exhibition of paintings of the NorthWest, Western Australia, Skinner Galleries, Perth

1970 Archibald, Wynne, Pring and Sulman Prizes, AGNSW, Sydney; Ray Crooke, Von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle; Ray Crooke: Recent Paintings and Prints, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney; The Palmer River Paintings by Ray Crooke, The Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane; Ray Crooke: The Yasawas Paintings, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney; Ray Crooke, Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney

1972 Ray Crooke retrospective exhibition, Adelaide Festival of Arts, John Martin and Co, Adelaide; Paintings and Drawings by Ray Crooke, Macquarie Galleries, Canberra; Tahiti: Paintings and Drawings by Ray Crooke, The Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane; Tahiti: Paintings and Drawings b Ray Crooke, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

1973 Ray Crooke, Artarmon Galleries, Sydney; Paintings by Ray Crooke, von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle; Ray Crooke, Skinner Galleries, Perth

1974 Paintings by Ray Crooke, The Leicester Galleries, London

1976 Paintings by Ray Crooke, Macquarie Galleries, Canberra; Recent Paintings by Ray Crooke, Australian Galleries, Melbourne; Exhibition of Paintings by Ray Crooke, Greenhill Galleries, Adelaide

1978 Recent Works by Ray Crooke, Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney

1979 Ray Crooke: The Islands and North Queensland. Painting, Memories and Records, Philip Bacon Galleries, Cintra House Galleries, Brisbane

1980 An Exhibition of Paintings of Sydney Harbour by Ray Crooke, Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney; Blake Prize, Commonwealth bank, Sydney

1981 Ray Crooke, von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle

1982 North Queensland: Paintings and Drawings by Ray Crooke, Phillip Bacon Galleries, Sydney; Group Exhibition, Barry Stern Galleries, Sydney; Ray Crooke, Upstairs Gallery, Cairns; Archibald, Wynne, Pring and Sulman Prizes, AGNSW, Sydney

1983 Ray Crooke, David Dridan: Australian Landscapes, Thos. Agnew and Sons, London

1984 Ray Crooke: Paintings of the Tropics, Solander Galleries, Canberra; Diana Crooke and Ray Crooke, von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle; Paintings of Fiji by Ray Crooke, Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney; Aspects of Australian Figurative Painting

1942 - 1962, The Power Institute of Fine Arts, University of Sydney

1985 Ray Crooke, Phillip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane 1986 Ray Crooke, Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney

1988 Ray Crooke, Diana Crooke: Paintings, von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle; Ray Crooke: North of Capricorn, Phillip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane; Ray Crooke: Recent Paintings, Thos. Agnew and Sons, London; Ray Crooke: Recent Works, Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney

1989 Ray Crooke, Greenhill Galleries, Perth

1990 Ray Crooke: Paintings, Drawings and Prints. Adelaide Festival of Arts Exhibition, Carrick Hill, Adelaide

1991 Diverse Visions: Twelve Australian Mid to Late Career Artists, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; Ray Crooke, Phillip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane

1993 Ray Crooke, Greenhill Galleries, Adelaide

1994 Ray Crooke: The Islands, Holdsworth Galleries, Sydney

1995 Ray Crooke: Two Islands, Phillip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane; A Time Remembered: Art in Brisbane 1950 - 1975, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane

1996 The View From Here: Six Kuranda Artists, Cairns Regional Gallery

1997-98 Retrospective Exhibition, North of Capricorn: The Art of Ray Crooke, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville; touring Cairns, Gladstone, Rockhampton, Brisbane, Campbelltown, Canberra and Melbourne

Awards

1969 Archibald Prize

1993 Member of the Order of Australia

1996 Honorary Doctorate from Griffith University, Brisbane

Reference: www.graysonline.com/handlers/AttachmentHandler.ashx?t=l...  Downloaded 15 May 2012