Roger Kemp
(Australia 04 Jul 1908–14 Sep 1987)
- Title
- Revolving forms
- Year
- (circa 1960-circa 1965)
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- synthetic polymer paint on hardboard
- Dimensions
-
135.3 x 150.6cm sight; 145.2 x 160.5 x 3.2cm frame
- Credit
- Gift of Merle Kemp 1994
- Accession number
- 28.1994
- Copyright
- © Reproduced with permission
- Location
- 20th & 21st c Australian art
- Further information
Roger Kemp was a prodigious artist who produced a significant body of symbolic-abstract work of stunning power and conviction in a career spanning over 50 years. He began his studies in the mid 1930s at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School, and early inspiration came from the school’s library, where he pored over reproductions of the old masters, particularly El Greco, Daumier and Raphael. Another key influence at this time was the Theosophy movement, which combined elements of Buddhism, Hinduism, Christian mysticism and scientific philosophy.
From these diverse interests, Kemp began to develop his own language of symbolic visual forms, which included his own direct interpretation of music. In 'Revolving forms', Kemp uses a palette of blues, reds and white, set within a black armature which is reminiscent of Gothic stained glass, as well as the spiritually-charged work of the French painter Georges Rouault.
- Bibliography (7)
-
Editor Unknown (Editor), Society of Artists Spring Exhibition, Sydney, 1912, 32.
Maudie Palmer (b.1944) (Editor), Encounters with Australian modern art, South Yarra, 2008, 103, 104. General reference
'Roger Kemp: Universal cycles' by Andrew Frost, pg. 102-103., Australian art collector Oct 2002-Dec 2002, Oct 2002-Dec 2002, 103 (colour illus.).
'Exploring hidden treasures in Parallel Visions' by Barry Pearce, pg. 124-126., The world of Antiques & Art Jul 2002-Dec 2002, Jul 2002-Dec 2002, 126 (colour illus.).
Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Parallel visions: works from the Australian collection, Domain, 2002, front and back cover (colour illus., detail), 105 (colour illus.), 110, 144, 147.
Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Domain, 2000, 235 (colour illus.), 300.
Patrick McCaughey (Northern Ireland; Australia, b.1943) (Author), Roger Kemp (Australia, b.1908, d.1987) (Author), Roger Kemp: cycles and directions 1935-1975, Clayton, 1978, front cover (colour illus.), (illus.). cat.no. 48
- Exhibition history (3)
-
Roger Kemp: cycles and directions 1935-1975 (1978), University Gallery, The University of Melbourne, 05 Sep 1978–30 Sep 1978.
Roger Kemp: cycles and directions 1935-1975 (1978), Benalla Art Gallery, 09 Oct 1978–05 Nov 1978.
Parallel Visions: Twenty-two artists from the Australian collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 22 Feb 2002–May 2003.
