A mighty tree has fallen – the passing of William Robinson
William Robinson is regarded by many as Queensland’s greatest artist and tributes are flowing after his death at 89 this week.
Tributes are flowing for William Robinson, the man many regard as Queensland’s greatest artist. Robinson, 89, died in Brisbane on Tuesday.
The news filtered out throughout Wednesday as the art world came to grips with the sad news. A message from his daughter Kate reads: “After a brief illness and care from the wonderful staff at the Wesley Hospital, it is with heartfelt sorrow to tell you that our beloved father, Bill, passed away last night. He died peacefully surrounded by his family. He was much loved and we will miss him dearly.”
The arts world bush telegraph was abuzz. Robinson was widely loved and admired and for those of us who came to know him by covering his exhibitions over the years, it was devastating news.
Not long after I heard, I received a message from Auguste Blackman, an artist himself and son of the late great Charles Blackman. Auguste had been at the opening of William Robinson’s recent exhibition at Philip Bacon Galleries. He sums up the loss quite beautifully: “A great tree has fallen.”
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That’s fitting, considering Robinson’s works in tribute to the mountains and rainforests of our border ranges.
His close friend and Brisbane art dealer Philip Bacon says it’s “hard to believe Bill Robinson has died … but what a legacy he has left”.
“Decades painting so many masterpieces, many of them, fortunately, held in public collections so we can continue to see them and marvel at his unique vision and stunning technique,” Bacon says.
“One of the very few artists in Australia to have a gallery devoted to their work, the William Robinson Gallery at QUT’s Old Government House will continue to be a source of inspiration and delight for lovers of his art, and introduce him to a whole new generation.
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“I’m so pleased Bill was able to come to the opening of his very last exhibition Farmyards here at my gallery just a few short weeks ago, and enjoy the wonderful warm and witty speech by his great friend, Dame Quentin Bryce, surrounded by hundreds of his friends, fellow artists and his beloved family. Little did we know it was to be the last time most of us would see him again.”
A QUT alumnus and teacher, Robinson graduated from Brisbane’s Central Technical College (the precursor to QUT) in 1962. He had a lengthy career teaching art at several of the university’s predecessor institutions and left teaching in 1989 to work fulltime as an artist.
Critically acclaimed for his striking compositions of South East Queensland mountains and rainforests and seascapes of northern NSW, Robinson’s work changed the way we perceive the Australian landscape.
His work achieved national and international renown. He won the Archibald and Wynne prizes twice. His second Archibald win, for Self-portrait with stunned mullet, demonstrated his wry humour.
Any interview with Robinson was fun and Bill, as he preferred it, liked a laugh. While many of his paintings were mystical and magisterial, others could be full of fun. And sometimes he and his beloved late wife Shirley were whimsical subjects within the paintings. I recall a work of his in which he appeared looking rather like Alfred Hitchcock in profile. These little visual treats were in store in every exhibition over the years.
In 2009, the William Robinson Gallery was founded at Old Government House at QUT’s Gardens Point campus. It is now visited by art lovers from around the world and will serve as a fitting testament to the man we all knew as Bill, a quietly spoken gentleman of the old school who had a love of family, art and music.
He played the piano every day and as a young man had an ambition to be a concert pianist. Luckily, for all of us, he didn’t like performing on stage so he pivoted to art. We can all be grateful about that.
Vale William Robinson AO.