31th August - 24th September
* Denotes on display at the Newcastle Region Gallery with the artists survey exhibition.
Click on images to enlarge
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Portrait of Kirin
(Homage to Vermeer)
44.5 x 34.5cms
Oil on canvas
$4,500
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Phyrne
65.5 x 90.5cms
Oil on canvas
$10,000
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Contessa
60 x 50cms
Oil on canvas
$6,000
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Amber
67 x 53cms
red conte crayon
$1,500
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Corrella Pears
34.5 x 45cms
oil on canvas
$1.600
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Back study Cecilia
60 x 32.5cms
mixed media on paper
$900
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Confronting the Mask
55 x 40cms
oil on canvas
$4,000
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Allegory of the Apple *
66 x 123cms
oil on canvas
$13,000
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Sitting Nude- (Kelly )
70.5 x 43.75cms
red conte crayon
$1,200
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Bruce Rowland
Commentary 2007
Bruce Rowland’s works are a celebration of the human form.
Visually sumptuous, often sensual, sometimes ambiguous, they abound with the hallmarks of the classical approach- representational, studied, composed and with an unswerving adherence to detail and colour.
That he should exhibit such masterful confidence in his treatment of say, drapery tells us much about his devotion to this tradition of classicism. That he should also pursue with such tenacity, this coupling of subject matter (nude) with this approach (classical/ figurative representational) indicates an artist utterly convinced of the inherent value of such a tradition- whereby primary concerns such as line, form, composition and colour remain essential painterly issues (irrespective of the pluralism and vagaries of much of contemporary art).
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Small Study No.3
28 x 18.2cms
pen wash
$700
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D’anjou Pears 2
20.5 x 36.5cms
oil on canvas
$950
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Maid in Amalfi *
60 x 50cms
oil on canvas
$4,500
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Amber Sleeping
50.5 x 70.5cms
red conte crayon
$1,350
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Nude With Oil Jug
76.5 x 57cms
oil on canvas
$3,000
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Orpheus plucks his Zither
55 x 75.2cms
oil on canvas
$7,000
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The still life’s, the drawings and the single nudes best exemplify this classical tradition – this tradition of ideals and realism. They can appear almost as studies in how to paint- studies in detail and nuance.
The group nudes however offer something else entirely. Granted, ‘the forms’ of the nudes, their shape and colour remain firmly realist. What is particularly interesting though is their composition (and the attendant ambiguity). In the ‘Zither Player’ for example we see five nudes in various poses (set upon in a mise en scene, elemental in design and drab in colour- a favoured Rowland tableau). These poses, though varied, conform to ideals of a classical study. Their positioning however does not. Whereas some may be seen to relate to each other, others most certainly do not. We wonder what they are doing there. Are they included to conform to a notion of compositional equilibrium? Or is their function more subversive, ironic or oblique? It is perhaps a testament to Rowland’s technical prowess that such questions of equal legitimacy can be posed. It is also this aspect of the group nudes that reveal Rowland as much more than an accomplished portraitist or still life painter, This ability to problematise the genre and to unfold a drama may in fact be his greatest triumph - to take a traditional nude scene and make us, the viewer, see it anew.
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Pomegranates
29.5 x 39.5cms
oil on canvas
$1,600 |
Small Study No.2
28 x 18cms
pen wash
$700
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D’anjou Pears 1
20.5 x 41cms
oil on canvas
$950
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Small seated Nude
29 x 18.75cms
pencil
$700
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Odalisque (Small Back Nude)
24.5 x 19cms
oil on canvas
$2,000
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Small Study No.1
28.5 x 18.2cms
pen wash
$700
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