The excitement of romance

With Cupid in mind, we look at two works from QAGOMA’s collection with romance as their underlying subject – at the Gallery we believe that love conquers all barriers – and that is the way it should be. Arthur Boyd: The lady and the unicorn portfolio Arthur Boyd’s etchings for The lady and the unicorn…

Arthur Boyd, Australia 1920-1999 / The lady and the unicorn (portfolio) 1975

The Lady and the Unicorn, a story of love and betrayal

The series The Lady and the Unicorn 1975 (illustrated) are powerful and dreamlike etchings by Arthur Boyd (1920–99) which reveal his mastery of the medium couched in a story of love and betrayal. Boyd is celebrated for his paintings, but he is also recognised as a significant and innovative printmaker. Some of his best series…

Australian art, Fiona Foley, Australia b.1964, Badtjala woman 1994

We use art to question what we know

Telling the Story of Australian Art in new and innovative ways Swedish-born artist Oscar Friström’s Duramboi 1893 depicts James Davis, a young convict sent from Scotland to Australia. Davis escaped from a Moreton Bay penal colony in 1829 and lived with several Indigenous groups in the area, particularly on Fraser Island (where he was known as…

Arthur Boyd’s Sleeping bride

Arthur Boyd’s Sleeping bride 1957-58 is from the celebrated allegorical series of paintings ‘Love, Marriage and Death of a Half-Caste’ — often known as the ‘Brides’ — Sleeping bride is one of Boyd’s defining contributions to Australian art. The Victorian-born artist is, together with his contemporaries Sidney Nolan, Albert Tucker and Joy Hester, among the towering…