Roger Beale AO Art | Visual arts
Roger Beale AO Art
Reviews
to load big map
25.01.2022 It has been a busy summer season in the studio. Two themes - landscapes particularly of Italy and Spain, but Australia and China too - and flower studies to be turned into major paintings. Here are some flower studies. The first is a study for a commission for the Ottoman to complete their suite of works. The second is a peony with a hybrid tulip (which I have modified a bit) in an imagined landscape. The third, which is sold, is another peony in a mixed bunch. All these paintings reflect the style of the Dutch baroque which I particularly love. They are all around 29cm x 41cm (think a typical A3 sheet), oil on paper and are priced at $A1950 framed, $1700 unframed.
24.01.2022 Another commission - the head gardener of Canberra’s famous Floriade. The other was a failed entry for a drawing prize. It later sold for $2000 which made me feel better and the family feel relieved.
23.01.2022 Waylien with Roger Carter opening Roger Beale's SUN RAIN FLOWERS at Humble House Gallery 93 Wollongong St Fyshwick 10am - 4pm Wednesday - Sunday until 27 October. www.humblehouse.com.au. Roger Beale replies to thank his support team.
22.01.2022 Thank you to Sherif and Gulbahar Kaya @ Ottoman Cuisine - Canberra's favourite fine dining restaurant and the hub of political power - for a huge vote of confidence in my art through buying 5 major works.
22.01.2022 Only a week to go to my next exhibition at Wombat Hollow 330 Kirkland Road Kangaloon. This is a painting of Lisianthus flowers set in a Highlands (Australia) garden. It uses the compositional structure of the great 18th century full length portraits, but it is of this century and this country.
22.01.2022 We don't spend all our time in the Mediterranean - just winter. Here are some paintings from closer to home. On my frequent hand cycle rides around Lake Burley Griffin I see many beautiful things but not many as dramatic as this. It looks like Parliament House is about to be overwhelmed by a great populist wave - fortunately just a thunderstorm (50cm x 50cm Pastel on MiTiente paper $2800). We often stay in Sydney to go to the opera - this is from our balcony in Quay Grand looking west. I love clouds (50cm x 70cm Pastel on MiTiente $3000). Finally no Queenslander can ever forget the Glass House Mountains. This is done from sketches taken on a trip north to Rockie. It is also 70cm x 50cm pastel on MiTiente paper and $3000.
21.01.2022 My next big solo show officially opens tomorrow. A dear supporter has already got in ahead of the crowd and bought two!
21.01.2022 Humble House Gallery #humblehousegallery are very excited about these paintings of Spring Flowers in the Candlelight. Oil on canvas 80cm X 70cm
21.01.2022 A pastel sketch of Wiebke von Benze and a drawing of my wife, muse and best critic
20.01.2022 Finally every artist does life drawing - it was a staple element of art classes in the early 60s and I do one from time to time still. The self portrait was drawn while I was preparing to draw Bob Gregory - it told me what to avoid!
17.01.2022 Of course while one show is about to start, work must be going on for the next. Next year's show will focus on countries of the Mediterranean - Spain, Italy and Greece. It will show 15 high quality drawings (A3 size) and an equal number of oils and pastels. Here is one of the drawings - the Alhambra and Old Granada with the Sierra Nevadas in the distance. We were there on an incredibly hot day this summer.
17.01.2022 These paintings are from my landscape series with a particular focus on Spain and Italy. Southern Spain can be very much like Australia - similar colours and these days even some eucalypts. Of course the culture and the cities are very different. I have always loved Spanish art, particularly Velasquez, Ribero, Zubaran, Goya and the Madrid realists like Antonio Lopez. These three paintings are located within 100km of each other between Granada and Malaga. The first is an aband...oned cork plantation - I am very pleased with this picture. It is pastel over acrylic on MiTiente paper 50cm x 70cm. The second is a farmhouse perched on a steep roadside hill. It is oil on canvas and 60cm x 40cm. The third is a wheat field near Malaga. I loved the way the sun caught the field before it disappeared as the summer thunderstorm moved across the landscape. It is pastel over acrylic with marble dust and is 50cm x 70cm. All of these works are priced at $3,000 unframed. See more
17.01.2022 What does an artist do on holidays? Why, draw of course. Everyday for this last month in France and Italy I have done at least one drawing - usually of people sitting in the same bar or bistro or visiting the same gallery. Here are a few
16.01.2022 I blame it on the Archibald. Every time it comes around I feel condemned to paint a portrait and of course I choose the one model who won’t complain.
16.01.2022 I have always loved Japanese art, food and design. The Imperial in Tokyo is one of our favourite hotels. I spent quite some time in Kyoto in multilateral international negotiations, including the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. This painting takes me there. It will be available at my next show 12-14 October at Wombat Hollow (www.wombathollow.net.au). It is 164cm(H) x 133cm(W). For other images see www.rogerbeale.com.au
16.01.2022 Another drawing for THE MED. This time looking down from the Telescope Bar in the village of Delphi to the Bay of Corinth - another hot day and in this case another bottle of wine. Graphite, charcoal and white chalk on grey paper. A3 size.
15.01.2022 No exhibition of flowers could possibly ignore poppies. Here are three pictured in a poppy field against the setting sun. It is 120cm x 120cm. So neither small nor huge! It will be available in my show next weekend at Wombat Hollow (www.wombathollow.net.au).
15.01.2022 An invitation to my latest exhibition - all are welcome. It will be very brief but very exciting from 12 October to 14 October in the Southern Highlands. For all the paintings and prices see www.rogerbeale.com.au
12.01.2022 And here we are in Italy. First we have a sacred grove with the remains of a Greek temple in Syracuse Sicily (Pastel on MiTiente paper 50cm x 70cm). Then a painting I call The Guardians - an old Gate House, ancient tree and massive gate posts on what was once the entrance to a royal palace but which is now a rural road in Piedmont. It is oil on canvas 70cm x 50cm. Finally afternoon on Isle Bella, Lake Maggiore - simply one of the most beautiful places in the world. It is hard not to be too "pretty' when painting it - Turner fixed that by painting it in stormy weather. It is also 70cm x 50cm on MiTiente paper. All these paintings are $3000.
12.01.2022 The show is being hung at Michael Yabsley's Wombat Hollow 300 Kirkland Road East Kangaloon. See you there over this weekend from 10am-5pm. www.wombathollow.net.au
12.01.2022 Gardenia Portrait 117cm(H) x 163cm(W) oil on canvas. This painting will be featured in my exhibition at Wombat Hollow (www.wombathollow.net.au). This exhibition is being held jointly with Maunsell Wickes (www.maunsellwickes.com) a major Sydney gallery. To purchase works you can contact Dom Maunsell at the gallery.... This is very much in the Baroque style the Dutch loved so much at the time of Rembrandt.
11.01.2022 Here is one of the four major flower works in my show SUN RAIN FLOWERS. A wonderful piece standing 162cm high by 127cm wide in oil on canvas. A grand statement in the 18th century manner. See it at Humble House Gallery 93 Wollongong St Fyshwick until October 27 from Wednesday to Sunday 10am-4pm
11.01.2022 But the show isn't just about flowers. I am particularly pleased to offer several important landscapes. Here is ABANDONED CORK PLANTATION acrylic and pastel 55cm X 70cm. Humble House Gallery 93 Wollongong St Fyshwick ACT
11.01.2022 I don’t do many portraits - usually they are on commission. I work from a combination of live sketches and photos. On the left is my 85 year old friend Bill Butler and on the right the very beautiful and cultured Wiebke von Benz. The latter portrait is now in Germany.
10.01.2022 Another of my works for the forthcoming show at Wombat Hollow (http://www.wombathollow.net.au/wombat-hollow-forum) from 12-14 October. These are camellias at the Villa Rufolo in Ravello on the Amalfi Coast of Italy. It is an ancient and beautiful villa, restored by a Brit, with a glorious garden that inspired Wagner when he was writing Parsifal. It is only possible to get these intense reds using hand ground paint - in this case Old Holland which has been in business since the time of Rembrandt. Costs an arm and a leg, is highly poisonous in many cases (don't lick the surface if you buy one even if it looks delicious). Behind the camellias are gardenias of the same colour and then out to a camellia bush in the courtyard.
10.01.2022 Discussing the hang with my studio assistant and hanger extraordinary Berend Kaak of Artisin - specialists in hanging storing and preparing art for transport. A critical part of the team that creates a 'solo' show. And here is the full team - curator (Kylie Forgarty), gallerist (Wailien co-owner of Humble House Gallery), Mike Welch owner of HangUps framing, my wife and adviser Venetia, yours truly and Andrew and Roger Carter (co-owner with Wailien).
10.01.2022 More paintings with an Italian flavour. Stephane was an incredible sitter - absolutely still and virtually unblinking. It produced a rather eerie portrait. On the other hand ...
06.01.2022 While we are thinking of portraits these two drawings of Professor Bob Gregory AO were a commission. Bob is a very important Australian economist and an old friend.
02.01.2022 These portraits share an Italian link. The drawing I did for our driver on a two week sketching expedition in Sicily. It is his daughter. On the right is AnnaRosa whom I painted in Florence.
