Royston Harpur: A Painter’s Painter is an important retrospective celebrating the life and work of the late Australian abstract painter and poet, Royston Harpur (1938–2023). Deeply informed by Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism, Harpur was a pivotal figure in the evolution of Australian abstract painting during the 1960s and ’70s.
This exhibition, devoted to the Mudgee-based artist, emerges from extensive conversations held with Harpur in the years before his passing. To honour his vision, a curatorium comprising longtime artist friends Brad Buckley and Helen Hyatt-Johnston and Noel Thurgate, with family members Jocelyn and Jonathan Stenson, has brought this project to fruition. The exhibition is accompanied by the first scholarly catalogue dedicated to Harpur’s work, made possible through the generous support of the Gordon Darling Foundation.
Spanning more than five decades, the exhibition includes paintings from 1968 to 2017, alongside significant objects from Harpur’s personal collection of Asian ceramics, scrolls, and a life-size reclining gold-leafed Buddha – elements central to his Ch’an (Zen) Buddhist practice. Together, they illuminate the depth and breadth of his creative journey.
A central aim of this retrospective is to affirm Harpur’s place within the lineage of Australian post–World War II abstract painting. He belonged to a select group of artists -including Stanislaus Rapotec, Yvonne Audette, Peter Upward, John Olsen and Ian Fairweather – who shared an affinity for the Zen ideals of restraint, contemplation and distilled expression. This exhibition not only reflects Harpur’s mastery of form and surface but also his enduring contribution to the spiritual and intellectual fabric of Australian art.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a major catalogue, supported by the Gordon Darling Foundation and will be on display from 26 September – 7 December 2025. It includes the free opening on Friday 26 September at 6pm.
The exhibition is proudly supported by Create NSW.
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