Ian Fairweather
1891 - 1974 Closing time 1962- polyvinyl acetate on paper on board
Fairweather was arguably the most successful abstract artist of the early modernist period. Born in Scotland 1891 and arriving in Melbourne in 1934, the nomadic Fairweather did lead an adventurous life, travelling extensively throughout Asia and the Pacific. During the First World War he served as lieutenant until being captured and went on to escape prisoner-of-war camps three times. In 1951 he embarked on a journey through the Timor Sea on a crude raft before retiring to an island off the coast of QLD where he lived and painted as a hermit until his death in 1974.
As an abstractionist Fairweather was unique, his works depicting a stringent, but highly personalised philosophy.
Source: Ashley Crawford, IAN FAIRWEATHER, Art Collector, Issue 27, January-March 2004
© Ian Fairweather/DACS. Copyright Agency, 2018