Ray Crooke Biography

Seven Treasures

Ray Crooke Biography

Ray Crooke ( b 1922 )

Painter and printmaker

STUDIES

Swinburne Technical College, Melbourne under Roger James

In 1939, Crooke joined AIF and started painting during his service in Borneo and the islands north of Australia. After the war, he lived in the area for some time, then returned to full time painting in 1946 and began exhibiting in 1949. Over the years his paintings, inspired by his time in the SW Pacific area, have been widely shown at the Australian Galleries, Melbourne, also in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and also in London at the Australian Art Exhibition, Tate Gallery, 1963, and one man show at Leicester Galleries in 1974,

Crooke lived in Melbourne with his wife and family 1955-59 and taught art but soon moved back to North Queensland and full time painting. For the next eight years he travelled constantly in the north, WA, Fiji, Tahiti and returned to live in Sydney in 1969.

In 1978 he won the Archibald Prize of the Art Gallery of NSW for his portrait of George Johnson. He is also known as a printmaker and has proved to be one of Australia's most popular and best loved artists.

EXHIBITIONS

1960,61,62,64,66,67,79.72
Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane
1960 Terry Clune Galleries, Sydney
1962 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1964 Darlinghurst Galleries, Sydney
1965.88 Von Bertouch Galleries, Newcastle
1969,73 Skinner Galleries. Perth
1970, 78, 80, 84,88,90,92
Holsworth Gallery, Sydney
1972 Retrospective, Adelaide Festival of the Arts
1974 Leicester Galleries, London
1979,82,86,88,95
Philip Bacon Galleries, Brisbane
1979 Cintra House Galleries, Brisbane
1982 Upstairs Gallery, Cairns, Queensland (Joint show with his daughter Diana)
1983.88 Apnews Gallery, Loondon
1999 Eddie Glastra Gallery, Sydney
1989,92 Greenhill Galleries, Adelaide and Perth
1997 Rex Irwin Art Dealer, Sydney

REPRESENTED
Australian National Gallery, Canberra; Art gallery of Now South Wales

BIBLIOGRAPHY
James Gleeson, Ray Crooke, Collin, Sydney (Australian Artists Eds);
Rosemary Dobson, Focus on Ray Crooke, University of Qld Press1971;
Art and Australia, Volumes 10/3, page 252 and 10/4, page 352,
Bernard Smith, Australian Painting] 788
Directory of Australian Printmakers, 1976;
Kyrn Bonythont Ewyn Lyim Modern Australian Painting 1970