Rarely seen artworks make exclusive Tasmania visit in national tour
Image: Clarice Beckett, Evening landscape, c 1925, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1974
The remarkable work and story of Australian modernist painter Clarice Beckett will be on exclusive display in Tasmania at the Queen Victoria Art Gallery at Royal Park until 25 May.
On tour from the National Gallery of Australia, Clarice Beckett: Paintings from the National Collection presents an intimate, rarely seen group of works by one of the most original artists of early twentieth century Australia.
Deeply sensitive to the effects of colour, light and atmosphere, Beckett painted the life and scenery of her coastal home in south-east Naarm/Melbourne with an eye for the commonplace and fleeting effects of nature. Her work captures a world on the cusp of modernisation, evoking both the natural environment and simple pleasures of suburbia.
City of Launceston Mayor Matthew Garwood said the City is lucky to host this exhibition featuring artworks of national significance.
"Launceston is the fifth stop on the national tour for these beautiful works and it's your only chance to see them in Tasmania," Mayor Garwood said. "The exhibition is here for a strictly limited six-week season, so I invite everyone to come to the Art Gallery to discover the art and story of Clarice Beckett."
Deirdre Cannon, Assistant Curator, Australian Art at the National Gallery of Australia, said Clarice Beckett was one of Australia's most original modern artists.
"Her works encapsulated the unique way she perceived the everyday beauty in the world around her," said Cannon.
"While she was active in the 1920s and 30s, her style really anticipated abstract painting movements that would take another three decades to take hold internationally and in Australia."
Beckett passed away in 1935, and with her death, her work disappeared from public consciousness for many years before being rediscovered in the early 1970s by art historian Rosalind Hollinrake.
In 1972, the artist’s sister Hilda Mangan donated a group of Beckett’s works to the National Gallery. It is this collection that will be on view for the first time, their freshness and vitality recently restored by extensive conservation treatment.
QVMAG Director Shane Fitzgerald said the institution is able to bring this special exhibition to Tasmania through its ongoing partnership with the National Gallery of Australia.
"Beckett's paintings together with her story are incredible," Fitzgerald said. "Sadly, it's a very female story about being hidden and remaining hidden for her lifetime. We are delighted to share her rediscovered and restored work with the community."
Visitors can go behind the scenes of the exhibition in two special events at the Art Gallery at Royal Park:
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Author Talk: Edith Ziegler on The Worlds and Work of Clarice Beckett. Join historian Dr Edith Ziegler in a conversation about her latest book, a biographical study of this important early modernist artist. Sunday 25 May, 11.30am.
Clarice Beckett: Paintings from the National Collection is on display at the Art Gallery at Royal Park (2 Wellington Street, Launceston) from 19 April to 25 May 2025. Entry is free.
To see what’s on at QVMAG, visit www.qvmag.tas.gov.au
This exhibition is a National Gallery Touring Exhibition supported by The Australian Government through Visions of Australia.