PrintNGV announces that Gareth Sansom is the 2008 McCaughey Memorial Prize winner
The National Gallery of Victoria last night announced that one of Australia’s top art prizes has been awarded to Gareth Sansom, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Award.
In 2008 the John McCaughey Memorial Prize celebrates the lifetime achievement of a senior Australian artist, and carries an Award of $100,000, which includes the acquisition by the NGV of a major work by the artist. The work can be selected from the artist’s existing work or created especially for the purpose.
It is the longest running award associated with the NGV, and was established in 1957 by Miss Mona McCaughey to commemorate her father, pastoralist John McCaughey, and to promote and encourage Australian art. The award has generally been triennial, awarded in different categories over the years, with an initial value of 200 pounds in 1956 which was gradually increased. In its 50th year, the value has been increased to $100,000 for a special lifetime recognition award.
Those shortlisted for the Award in 2008 were Vivienne Binns, Dale Hickey, Tim Johnson, and Gareth Sansom.
Final judge of the Prize, new NGV Senior Curator of Contemporary Art Alex Baker said: “I am pleased to announce Gareth Sansom as the 2008 McCaughey Prize recipient. This award is justly deserved, celebrating an outstanding artistic career over almost 50 years.
“While all of the finalists have made important contributions to Australian contemporary art, Sansom's latest body of work especially resonates with recent directions in international painting that explore the gray areas between abstraction and representation."
NGV Director Dr Gerard Vaughan said the prize was a fitting recognition for Sansom’s long and important career: “Gareth Sansom has made a very important contribution to Australian art, and the NGV is delighted to award this Prize as tribute to his achievements.”
Prize winner Sansom said “I am honoured and thrilled by the award of this Prize. Art has indeed been my life, and I am moved and gratified to know the award has been made in recognition of a lifetime’s work. I would also like to pay tribute to the other shortlisted candidates for the Prize, whose work I admire”.
“I have found that if you keep going, and you work very hard and have a belief in yourself, then good things can come, even later in life and often when you least expect them."
Gareth Sansom was born in Melbourne in 1939. From 1959 to 1964 he studied at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. In 1982 he was a Visiting Artist at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and in 1985 an Artist-in-residence at the University of Melbourne. He held his first solo exhibition in 1959. In 1978 Survey Exhibition: Gareth Sansom 1964 -1978 was mounted by the RMIT Gallery, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. In 1986 Gareth Sansom: Paintings 1956 – 1986 was mounted by the University Gallery, University of Melbourne. In 1991 he represented Australia at the Seventh Triennale in New Delhi, India, and in 1991 and 1992 this work toured to various Australian public galleries. His work continued to develop as he was increasingly able to devote himself to painting full time (Sansom taught for 35 years, 15 of them at the School of Art at the Victorian College of the Arts, where he was first Head of Painting and then Dean.) An important survey of his work was held at the Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne in 2005. He has held over 40 individual exhibitions and received14 grants and awards during his career.
Sansom’s works are included in many public and private collections, including the Metropolitan Museum, New York; the Australian National Gallery, New Zealand’s National Art Gallery, the NGV and all other Australian State Galleries, and many regional collections.
The John McCaughey Memorial Prize has played a significant role in helping to develop the NGV’s collection of Australian art. To date 25 paintings have entered the NGV’s Collection through the prize, and they demonstrate the strength of contemporary painting and the diversity of styles in Australia.
These works include Sali Herman’s Country street scene (1959) Donald Laycock’s Star Cycle (1972) James Gleeson’s Harbinger (1986) Gordon Bennett’s Home Décor (Preston and De Stijl) Panorama (1997) and Jan Nelson’s Walking in tall grass – Grace (2003).
A key role of the Prize when established was to motivate Australian painters to depict ‘various aspects’ of their own country, and provided strong encouragement to local artists.
In 2008, the Prize winning works from the past 50 years have been brought together in an exhibition at the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, at Federation Square. The exhibition is open to the public from 14 February 2008 and entry is free. The exhibition celebrates the long-standing contribution made by the award and the generosity of the McCaughey Trust, as well as the accomplishments of some of Australia’s most important artists.
“The exhibition illustrates the range of styles and approaches that have been the subject of the Prize during its history”, said Alex Baker.
As the conditions of the Prize have changed over time, the entries have come to include contemporary, figurative, and abstract works. This is a Prize which has developed its own history, and the exhibition reveals the often – debated award winners together for the first time.
McCaughey Trust Chair, Barbara Kane, said: “The McCaughey trustees are delighted that The John McCaughey Memorial Prize in its 50th year acknowledges Gareth Sansom's outstanding contribution to contemporary Australian painting. We warmly congratulate him, and applaud too the life-time achievement of fellow short-listed senior Australian artists, Vivienne Binns, Dale Hickey and Tim Johnson. I am sure Miss Mona McCaughey would be astonished and delighted to see the variety and complexity of the paintings which have entered the collections of the NGV in celebration of her father. “
For media enquiries contact
Sue Coffey 0417 558 511 sue.coffey@ngv.vic.gov.au
Kitty Walker 0417 575 088 kitty.walker@ngv.vic.gov.au
