Arthur Boyd's Agony and Ecstasy: A modern look at the artist's work
An exhibition celebrating one of Australia's best known artists has opened at the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) in Canberra.
Arthur Boyd made a massive donation of his work to the national collection in 1975 and many of those works are on display in the new show.
He is well-known for his shimmering landscapes of the Australian bush, but the works in this show explore the darker side human life - love, sex and death.
The earliest work on show is an intense self-portrait Boyd painted at age 17.
Boyd, who died in 1999, worked in many mediums.
Ceramics, tapestries, lithographs and even sketches for theatre costume designs are on show in the exhibition, called Agony and Ecstasy.
The NGA has deliberately shied away from calling this show a retrospective, instead describing it as a survey of his experience of making art, and his focus on the human condition.
Gallery director Ron Radford said they were showcasing some of his earlier, grittier works.
"He shows himself as the artist in agony," he said.
"These are probably his most arresting works."
Mr Radford said audiences would glimpse a more personal and profound side of the artist in this show.
New perspectives on Arthur Boyd's artistic journey
There are works in the exhibition that have never been displayed before, including a fragment of a mural Boyd painted in his uncle's house.
Called The Prodigal Son, it has been painted on a giant chunk of concrete that the NGA had to carefully transport into the gallery.
Curator Deborah Hart is especially pleased the show includes several works from the Nebuchadnezzar series, based on the biblical story of a king cast into the wilderness.
"It's great to be able to see not just one or two of those series but to look at the way he played across the ideas almost like a musician riffing on a theme," Dr Hart said.
A giant black and white tapestry called The Lady and the Unicorn dominates one room.
Alongside it are a series of prints Boyd made when he was preparing to execute the final work.
"We see the very fine, delicate prints that show the influence of medieval tapestries," Dr Hart said.
"And then the prints are shown with the tapestry, woven in black and white with these subtle, tonal gradations."
Arthur Boyd: Agony and Ecstasy is on display at the NGA until November 9.
