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'WHEN he died in 1974 after a long period of self-imposed austerity and improvisation on Bribie Island, Queensland, Ian Fairweather was at the apex of his fame. He had been called ‘our greatest painter’, and his works were keenly sought by galleries, collectors and artists.
'Born in 1891 in Scotland, Fairweather had lived a peripatetic life, forever seeking the right place to settle. He was a prodigious and idiosyncratic letter writer—wryly documenting for friends and family members his travels, his struggles with his painting and Chinese translations, and the changing conditions on Bribie, as well as commenting on literature and world affairs.
'In their selection Claire Roberts and John Thompson have created the definitive volume of Fairweather’s correspondence: the closest thing to an autobiography of one of Australia’s most important and enduring artists.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Out of the Blue, Go Through the Mess
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , April 2020;
— Review of Ian Fairweather : A Life in Letters 2019 selected work correspondence -
Artist, Nomad, Epistler : Ian Fairweather as an Avid Sponge
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 416 2019; (p. 13-14)
— Review of Ian Fairweather : A Life in Letters 2019 selected work correspondence'Artist, hermit, instinctive communicator, a nomad who built studio nests for himself all over the globe, Ian Fairweather is a consistent paradox – and an enduring one. In an art world of fragile and fluctuating reputations, his work retains the esteem with which it was received – by his peers – when he landed in Australia in 1934 and, with their help, exhibited almost immediately. His way of life – eccentric, solitary, obsessive – was extraordinary then, and continued so until his death in 1974. Success never sanded off his diffident, abrasive edges.'(Introduction)
-
Artist, Nomad, Epistler : Ian Fairweather as an Avid Sponge
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 416 2019; (p. 13-14)
— Review of Ian Fairweather : A Life in Letters 2019 selected work correspondence'Artist, hermit, instinctive communicator, a nomad who built studio nests for himself all over the globe, Ian Fairweather is a consistent paradox – and an enduring one. In an art world of fragile and fluctuating reputations, his work retains the esteem with which it was received – by his peers – when he landed in Australia in 1934 and, with their help, exhibited almost immediately. His way of life – eccentric, solitary, obsessive – was extraordinary then, and continued so until his death in 1974. Success never sanded off his diffident, abrasive edges.'(Introduction)
-
Out of the Blue, Go Through the Mess
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , April 2020;
— Review of Ian Fairweather : A Life in Letters 2019 selected work correspondence
