James Clifford (artist)
Encyclopedia
James Clifford was an Australian Modernist painter.
He was born in Muswellbrook
and in the 1960s moved to Sydney where he began exhibiting at Watters Gallery. He worked in various styles and became distinctive early on, combining hard edge abstraction with Art Nouveau
and surreal elements, later incorporating pop, text art, Decalcomania
, landscape and seascape painting. He became best known for his brand of Lyrical abstraction
which was influenced by Ralph Balson's matter paintings of the early 1960s. Four years spent living in India during the 1970s came to an end when Clifford returned in a poor state of health. His painting career regained momentum and was on the cusp of further success shortly before he died in 1987.
Clifford received favourable mention from a small number of notable art critics: Bernard Smith
, Elwyn Lynn and Gary Catalano
. Catalano wrote of Clifford as a casualty of the "provincial" Australian hard edged painting scene of the late 1960s, on which he commented: "Only a guilty provincial culture can so neglect its own, more native sources of renewal, and apply itself so assidiously to borrowed artistic fashions. And that The Field represented a fashion and not a convention is shown by the work of some artists who emerged at the same time as the exhibition....to (Elwyn) Lynn the artist who seemed 'most defiantly bored with the canons of flatness' was the Sydney painter, James Clifford. ..."His Cinematic Landscapes are a rapid series of takes: close-up shots mingle with distant vistas - there you see nothing but sky - and there was a forceful view of the ground. Despite their originality, they were not much admired by the critics, largely because they did not seem to be reflecting the going international concerns". Clifford's "original" cinematic landscapes were to a minor extent resemblant of the nineteen thirties paintings of surrealist Frederick I. Kann, in that they featured kaiedoscopic perspectives. Whilst living in in London, Clifford was an associate of blues singer Wendy Saddington
, a counter-culture icon in Australian rock music. The organic forms and psychedelic effects found in Clifford's art are in keeping with the trends in imagery associated with Psychedelic rock in the late Nineteen-sixties. Clifford's paintings of the human figure were usually homoerotic.
The painter Richard Larter
expressed admiration for Clifford's skill in Marbleizing and Decalcomania
. Larter wrote of Clifford's marbled paintings: "These works ranged from abstracts (like the ones in this exhibition) to paintings where waves, sandy beaches, cliffs, hills, swirling clouds in blue skies, expanses of seas and harbours with waves breaking and great sunsets were suggested. The paint used was mainly household enamel paint, the colours which ran into each other were usually cream, silver, white, ultramarine blue, pale blue, yellow, red and green. What was truly remarkable was that if you truly looked at the paintwork there was no sign of any brushwork. It was as if the paint had been magically placed on the canvas. Yet how spendidly had that paint been placed; one could discern white top waves breaking, sanded beaches, cliff faces, whole headlands with rolling hills beyond and turbulent water, not just breakers".
Little has been published about James Clifford's art. Art historian Helen Verity Hewitt quotes Elwyn Lynn musing on the painter's "fragile, diaphanous, lyric ephemerality"..."poised on uncertainty, their lyricism almost disguising their anxiety" (p.87, Patrick White, Painter Manqué). James Clifford, Chris O'Doherty
, Brett Whiteley
and Desmond Digby were the four young artists Patrick White
collected most avidly, the novelist bequeathed the works to the Art Gallery of New South Wales
. Clifford was a favourite of White, who described the Clifford as one of the best two living painters in Australia.
The author of Patrick White, Painter Manque, Helen Verity Hewitt has argued Sidney Nolan
and Brett Whiteley
were the main Australian artist influences on White's writing. Collectors of Clifford's work included Macquarie Galleries
director Lucy Swanton, prominent art publisher Mervyn Horton
, Mollie Gowing and the painter Max Watters, whose collection is housed at the Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre. A retrospective of Clifford's work was held at the Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre in 2008.
He was born in Muswellbrook
Muswellbrook, New South Wales
Muswellbrook, a corruption of 'Muscle Brook', is a town and Local Government Area in New South Wales, Australia. The original spelling and etymology of the town's name is a matter of some debate...
and in the 1960s moved to Sydney where he began exhibiting at Watters Gallery. He worked in various styles and became distinctive early on, combining hard edge abstraction with Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
and surreal elements, later incorporating pop, text art, Decalcomania
Decalcomania
Decalcomania, from the French décalcomanie, is a decorative technique by which engravings and prints may be transferred to pottery or other materials. It was invented in England about 1750 and imported into the United States at least as early as 1865...
, landscape and seascape painting. He became best known for his brand of Lyrical abstraction
Lyrical Abstraction
Lyrical Abstraction is either of two related but distinctly separate trends in Post-war Modernist painting, and a third definition is the usage as a descriptive term. It is a descriptive term characterizing a type of abstract painting related to Abstract Expressionism; in use since the 1940s...
which was influenced by Ralph Balson's matter paintings of the early 1960s. Four years spent living in India during the 1970s came to an end when Clifford returned in a poor state of health. His painting career regained momentum and was on the cusp of further success shortly before he died in 1987.
Clifford received favourable mention from a small number of notable art critics: Bernard Smith
Bernard William Smith
Bernard William Smith was an Australian art historian, art critic and academic.-Biography:Smith was born in Balmain, Sydney to Charles Smith and Rose Anne Tierney on 3 October 1916. In 1941, he married his first wife, Kate Challis, who died in 1989. Smith married his second wife, Margaret Forster,...
, Elwyn Lynn and Gary Catalano
Gary Catalano
Gary Catalano was an Australian poet and art critic.-Life:Calatano was born on 30 October 1947 in Brisbane. He married writer Helen Hewitt in 1990...
. Catalano wrote of Clifford as a casualty of the "provincial" Australian hard edged painting scene of the late 1960s, on which he commented: "Only a guilty provincial culture can so neglect its own, more native sources of renewal, and apply itself so assidiously to borrowed artistic fashions. And that The Field represented a fashion and not a convention is shown by the work of some artists who emerged at the same time as the exhibition....to (Elwyn) Lynn the artist who seemed 'most defiantly bored with the canons of flatness' was the Sydney painter, James Clifford. ..."His Cinematic Landscapes are a rapid series of takes: close-up shots mingle with distant vistas - there you see nothing but sky - and there was a forceful view of the ground. Despite their originality, they were not much admired by the critics, largely because they did not seem to be reflecting the going international concerns". Clifford's "original" cinematic landscapes were to a minor extent resemblant of the nineteen thirties paintings of surrealist Frederick I. Kann, in that they featured kaiedoscopic perspectives. Whilst living in in London, Clifford was an associate of blues singer Wendy Saddington
Wendy Saddington
Wendy June Saddington is an Australian blues / soul / jazz singer and was in the bands Chain, Copperwine and the Wendy Saddington Band. She wrote for teen pop newspaper Go-Set from September 1969 – September 1970 as an agony aunt in her weekly "Takes Care of Business" column and as a...
, a counter-culture icon in Australian rock music. The organic forms and psychedelic effects found in Clifford's art are in keeping with the trends in imagery associated with Psychedelic rock in the late Nineteen-sixties. Clifford's paintings of the human figure were usually homoerotic.
The painter Richard Larter
Richard Larter
Richard Larter is an Australian painter, often identified as one of Australia's few highly recognizable pop artists. Larter has also frequently painted in a Pointillist style. He took advantage of unusual techniques with painting: using a syringe filled with paint to create his early works, and...
expressed admiration for Clifford's skill in Marbleizing and Decalcomania
Decalcomania
Decalcomania, from the French décalcomanie, is a decorative technique by which engravings and prints may be transferred to pottery or other materials. It was invented in England about 1750 and imported into the United States at least as early as 1865...
. Larter wrote of Clifford's marbled paintings: "These works ranged from abstracts (like the ones in this exhibition) to paintings where waves, sandy beaches, cliffs, hills, swirling clouds in blue skies, expanses of seas and harbours with waves breaking and great sunsets were suggested. The paint used was mainly household enamel paint, the colours which ran into each other were usually cream, silver, white, ultramarine blue, pale blue, yellow, red and green. What was truly remarkable was that if you truly looked at the paintwork there was no sign of any brushwork. It was as if the paint had been magically placed on the canvas. Yet how spendidly had that paint been placed; one could discern white top waves breaking, sanded beaches, cliff faces, whole headlands with rolling hills beyond and turbulent water, not just breakers".
Little has been published about James Clifford's art. Art historian Helen Verity Hewitt quotes Elwyn Lynn musing on the painter's "fragile, diaphanous, lyric ephemerality"..."poised on uncertainty, their lyricism almost disguising their anxiety" (p.87, Patrick White, Painter Manqué). James Clifford, Chris O'Doherty
Reg Mombassa
Reg Mombassa is the pseudonym of Chris O'Doherty, a New Zealand born artist and musician. Resident in Australia, he is as well known there for his musical exploits — founder and former member of the popular Australian band Mental As Anything and member of Dog Trumpet - as he is for his art...
, Brett Whiteley
Brett Whiteley
Brett Whiteley, AO was an Australian artist. He is represented in the collections of all the large Australian galleries, and was twice winner of the Archibald Prize...
and Desmond Digby were the four young artists Patrick White
Patrick White
Patrick Victor Martindale White , an Australian author, is widely regarded as an important English-language novelist of the 20th century. From 1935 until his death, he published 12 novels, two short-story collections and eight plays.White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, shifting narrative...
collected most avidly, the novelist bequeathed the works to the Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery of New South Wales
The Art Gallery of New South Wales , located in The Domain in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, was established in 1897 and is the most important public gallery in Sydney and the fourth largest in Australia...
. Clifford was a favourite of White, who described the Clifford as one of the best two living painters in Australia.
The author of Patrick White, Painter Manque, Helen Verity Hewitt has argued Sidney Nolan
Sidney Nolan
Sir Sidney Robert Nolan OM, AC was one of Australia's best-known painters and printmakers.-Early life:Nolan was born in Carlton, a suburb of Melbourne, on 22 April 1917. He was the eldest of four children. His family later moved to St Kilda. Nolan attended the Brighton Road State School and...
and Brett Whiteley
Brett Whiteley
Brett Whiteley, AO was an Australian artist. He is represented in the collections of all the large Australian galleries, and was twice winner of the Archibald Prize...
were the main Australian artist influences on White's writing. Collectors of Clifford's work included Macquarie Galleries
Macquarie Galleries
Macquarie Galleries was a Sydney, Australia private art gallery established in 1925 by John Henry Young and Basil Burdett. It was located at "Strathkyle", 19 Bligh Street Sydney then moved to 40 King Street in 1945....
director Lucy Swanton, prominent art publisher Mervyn Horton
Mervyn Horton
Mervyn Emrys Rosser Horton AM was an Australian art editor, art collector and philanthropist.-Early life:Mervyn Horton was born and grew up in Sydney, attending Newington College , Stanmore and the University of Sydney where he studied engineering.-Working life:He was a Director of the Katoomba...
, Mollie Gowing and the painter Max Watters, whose collection is housed at the Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre. A retrospective of Clifford's work was held at the Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre in 2008.
Biliography
- Catalano, Gary. The Years of Hope
- Horton, Mervyn. Present Day Art in Australia. Ure Smith 1969
- Legge, Geoffrey. Ralph Balson and James Clifford
- Legge, Geoffrey A Growing Reputation.
- Lindsay, Robert. (ed) The Seventies. Australian Paintings and Tapestries from the collection of National Australia Bank. National Bank of Australasia Limited. 1982 Melbourne.
- Smith, Bernard. Australian Painting
- Verity Hewitt, Helen. Patrick White, Painter Manque
- Paddy's Pictures by Chris Wallace-Crabbe. Australian Book Review March 2003
- Yang, William. Patrick White: The Late Years