Arthur Boyd AC OBE (1920–1999) was one of Australia's greatest artists. Born in Murrumbeena, Victoria, Boyd's mother and father, Doris and Merric, were artists, as were his paternal grandparents, Arthur Merric and Emma Minnie Boyd. He began making paintings as a boy and briefly attended night classes at the National Gallery School in Melbourne, developing a vigorous and expressive style. During the Second World War he was conscripted into the Cartographic Unit of the Australian Army. Although he did not see active service, the war inspired paintings depicting a grotesque and unbalanced world. In the 1960s, living mainly in England, Boyd embarked on ambitious cycles of paintings based on biblical and mythological themes in Australian bush settings, and designed theatre costumes and sets. Returning to Australia in the early 1970s, he bought a property on the Shoalhaven River in New South Wales, Bundanon, where he continued to paint landscapes. Also known for his philanthropy, Boyd made an immense gift of his own work to the National Gallery of Australia in 1975; in 1993 he generously gifted Bundanon to the Australian people.
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
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