Blue Mountains Artists Connection: Member Profile

John Caldwell

Painter, Printmaker & Teacher
http://www.waragilstudios.com.au

Born in Sydney in 1942 and following schooling
there, Caldwell spent ten years in the pastoral
industry, primarily in the Channel Country
of south western Queensland. He travelled
overseas, living in London, Ireland and Europe
for three years, returning to Sydney in 1972
and studying for four years at the University of
New South Wales. Since 1977 he has worked
full time as an artist, with more than forty solo
exhibitions as well as many joint and group
exhibitions throughout Australia.

The primary focus of his work is the natural
landscape where there is little or no evidence
of human presence. Through regular working
trips in Australia and overseas he gathers the
reference material that results in his finished
studio work. Major solo exhibitions have
resulted from time spent in Antarctica, the
Ipswich coalfields, the granite country of
northern New South Wales and the Southern
Ocean coastline of Western Australia.
Other major sources of his work include
the Flinders Ranges of South Australia, the
Grampians and Great Ocean Road in Victoria,
the Riverina, Sydney Harbour and the
Kosciuszko region.

His overseas working trips include the UK
and Europe in 1979; Bali, New Caledonia,
Vanuatu and Tahiti in the 1980s; and France
and Cornwall in 1994.

His paintings, drawings and printmaking
also encompass portraiture, figurative and still
life subjects and he conducts a programme of
painting and drawing workshops from his base
in Blackheath.

Among his many other shows since 1981
Caldwell has exhibited jointly with Desiderius
Orban, Judy Cassab, Eva Kubbos, Shay
Docking, Peter Rushforth, Lloyd Rees, Jan
Senbergs and others.

A regular contributor to major art
competitions, Caldwell has won many awards
and been shortlisted in the Archibald Prize on
three occasions.

Reviews and comments:

Probably Australias finest watercolour artist.
John Coburn, 17 November 1996

Perhaps the best known is John Caldwell,
who lives at Blackheath and continues a long
exploration of rugged landscape in some of the
most accomplished work one is ever likely to
see.
Elizabeth Fortescue, Arts Editor, Sunday Telegraph,
25 April 2004

I do not think even his admirers necessarily
know what an exceptional and generally
unacknowledged artist we have here.
Giles Auty, Weekend Australian, 26-27 May 2001

An artist, who, in the craft and technique
of his medium, is the equal of any artist in
Australia working from the landscape.
John Millington, Courier Mail, 25 June 1998

Recent solo exhibitions
2000 High Lands and Coastlines. Port Jackson
Press Gallery, Melbourne

2000 Bathurst to Bruny. The Salamanca
Collection, Hobart

2001 The Beach to the Bush. Gallery 460,
Gosford

2001 John Caldwell and Friends. Trinity Delmar
Gallery, Sydney

2002 Paintings. Von Bertouch Galleries,
Newcastle

2003 By the Southern Ocean. The Taylor
Galleries, Sydney

2004 Paintings. Red Hill Gallery, Brisbane. June
2004

2004 Paintings. Beaver Galleries, Canberra.
August 2004

2004 Paintings. Hardware Gallery, Sydney.
October 2004

John Caldwells work is represented in the following collections:

Art Gallery of New South Wales
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
S H Ervin Gallery (Douglas Stewart Memorial
Purchase)
Bathurst Regional Art Gallery
Brisbane City Hall Art Gallery and Museum
Newcastle Region Art Gallery
Gosford Regional Art Gallery
Moree Plains Regional Art Gallery
Ipswich Regional Art Gallery
Mosman Art Gallery
New England Regional Art Gallery
University of New South Wales
University of Technology, Sydney
Macquarie University
Wollongong University
Charles Sturt University
James Cook University, Townsville
University of Western Australia
Warringah Municipal Council
Artbank
The Antarctic Division, Hobart, Davis and
Mawson
Kedumba Collection
Robert Holmes a Court Collection, Perth
Selected Awards
Wynne Competition, Trustees Watercolour Prize:
1984, 1987
Tattersalls National Landscape Award: 1997,
1999
Mosman Art Prize: 1986
Wyong Festival of Arts Open Award: 1996, 2000
Mahlab Law Week Art Prize: 1987
Sunday Mail Outstanding Landscape Award: 2000
Sydney Easter Show: seven first-place awards
19821986

Regional Gallery Solo and Joint Exhibitions
Antarctic Journey.

Following his visit by invitation to Antarctica in 1987 with Bea Maddock and Jan Senbergs. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (1988), Newcastle Regional Gallery (1988), Brisbane City Hall Gallery (1989), Manning Regional Art Gallery
(1991).

The Colours of Black. Based on the coalmining
district around Ispwich, Queensland. Travelling
exhibition to Biloela, Blackwater, Moranbah,
Capella, Mackay and Gladstone (1992);
Broken Hill and Bathurst regional galleries
(1994).

Granite Country. Outcropping granite areas
from Bathurst NSW to Stanthorpe Qld.
Toured regional galleries in Bathurst (1997)
and Wagga, Tweed River, Gold Coast, Moree,
Manning, Tamworth and Grafton regional
galleries (1999); also University of Technology,
Sydney.

The Harbour and the Hawkesbury. The natural
landscape of these two adjacent waterways of
Sydney. Mosman Art Gallery (2002).