To the untrained eye, abstract art is often hard to interpret – but have you ever wondered why abstract art so captures the imagination of art lovers?

At an upcoming event on 24 June called In Conversation, the Macquarie University Art Gallery’s curators as well as art expert Paul McGillick, artist Andrew Christofides and freelance writer and curator Lizzy Marshall, will explore the origins of abstract art in Australia and the influence this art has had upon a new generation of abstract painters. The event will celebrate the gallery’s current exhibition Into Abstraction, which features a diverse range of abstract works from Macquarie University’s permanent collection.

On display during the current exhibition is an excitingly rare abstract piece called NIGHTLIGHT from well-known artist Harald Noritis, who has kindly donated the piece to the Macquarie University Art Collection. Art Critics and artists alike have described Harald as a progressive force in Australia during the 1960s, with critic James Gleeson heralding him “as one of the most gifted of our hard-edge abstractionists”.

The painting is a fitting addition to the Gallery’s existing collection from the same 1960s period that signaled a shift in pace from nationalism to internationalism in art at the time. Harald, whose paintings have found homes in institutions in Australia and overseas but mostly in private collections, says that NIGHTLIGHT is one of his seminal works which he kept, along with a few others, because it was important to him when he first started to exhibit his art.

“It was painted for my first solo show in the Central Street Gallery in 1968 and it received some favorable comments from art critics at the time. The Macquarie University Art Gallery had, since 2002 when they first mounted the show Central Street Live at the Penrith Regional & Lewers Bequest Gallery, exhibited interest in the work that the younger generation of artists in the sixties were making. This is when I first met Rhonda Davis and was able to assist with some of the material that she needed at that time to mount the exhibition,” Noritis explains.

“When Into Abstration was organised, I suggested to Rhonda that I was happy to send NIGHTLIGHT to the show and perhaps donate the work to the University where it would be in good company. After all, most of my friends’ and fellow artists’ work already resides in its collection,” he adds.

The donation has been met with much excitement from the Gallery’s curators and university staff alike.

“We are very fortunate to have received this wonderful painting from a prominent artist who was active during such an interesting time of Australian art history. Harald’s artwork certainly provides a unique insight into this heady period,” says Rhonda Davis, Senior Curator at the Macquarie University Art Gallery.

Other artists on display during the Into Abstraction exhibition include Sydney Ball, Andrew Christofides, John Coburn, Virginia Cuppaidge, Janet Dawson, Christine Dean, James Doolin, Michael Johnson, Alun Leach-Jones, Harald Noritis, John Peart, Robert Rooney, Rollin Schlicht, Joseph Szabo, George Ward Tjungurrayi, Tony Tuckson, Trevor Vickers, Dick Watkins and John White.

Exhibition details

When: Until 15 July
Where: Macquarie University Art Gallery

Event details for In Conversation

When: Friday 24 June, 1-3pm
Where: Macquarie University Art Gallery
Cost: Free
RSVP: Bookings are essential. Register online by 23 June.

With much elation, Macquarie University Art Gallery curators have reported that the long-lost painting from Wilmotte Williams – previously reported in This Week – has been found.

Staff were hoping to locate the painting in time to include it in an upcoming exhibition of the artist’s work, which will be officially opened at the Library on Wednesday 29 June.

“We just can’t believe it has been found! It is such a lovely ending to an intriguing local story,” said Rhonda Davis, Senior Curator at the Gallery.

The painting was last seen in public in the Ryde area in the mid-1960s. As the story goes, Williams originally bestowed the piece to a boy who was eyewitness to the artist capturing a local Ryde scene. Touched by the boy’s enthusiastic praise she called by his house and presented the painting to the boy as a gift.

The boy from the story and current owner, Dr John Christie, who now resides in Newcastle, happened across a mention of the painting search in The Sydney Morning Herald.

“It was about 11pm and I just happened to see Wilmotte Williams’ name. That prompted me to read further, thinking that I have a painting of hers, I wonder what this is about?  As soon as I got to the bit about the school boy walking home from Eastwood Primary I knew it was me. I did let out a yell of shock and excitement, but unfortunately my wife had gone to bed, so only the dogs heard it,” explained John.

The painting, he says, depicts an old barn and part of a cottage that previously resided on his family’s poultry farm on Sobraon Road – the opposite side of Epping Road to the University.

“The farm was started by my great-grandfather, and was owned by my grandfather, father and uncle until most of it was resumed by the Department of Education in 1966 to build a high school. The school was never built, and so the land was then subdivided for housing. The rest of the land is now Dunbar Park, where the Little Athletics field is. There were market gardens further up the road,” said John.

“The piece is a delightful example of Williams’ quaint impressionist style. Her country-inspired depictions capture the simple beauty of the Ryde landscape during this era,” explained Macquarie University Art Gallery curator, Leonard Janiszewski. “We are very glad that this little piece of Ryde history has now been discovered again.”

The Macquarie University Art Gallery has plans to recite the serendipitous tale of how the painting was unearthed as part of the upcoming exhibition of Williams’ work, with John kindly agreeing to loan the painting to the University for the event.

“I didn’t realise I was going to cause such excitement,” John concluded.