david van nunen
Farm Cove
cm 56 x 76
David van Nunen has been President of the Australian Watercolour Institute since 2009 and was a founding executive member of the Painters and Sculptors Association of Australia.
In 2020, David van Nunen was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for service to the visual arts. Born in Grafton, New South Wales, van Nunen graduated from the National Art School in 1974 and subsequently obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of New South Wales College of Fine Arts.
He has been awarded a number of Artist-in-Residencies, notably at the Power Studio, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris; the Museum and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory; Arthur Boyd’s Bundanon Trust property on the Shoalhaven River and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, in conjunction with that institution’s 1991 Bohemians in the Bush exhibition, which culminated in his solo exhibition there, David van Nunen: Paintings from the Curlew Camp, Sirius Cove.
In 2013, van Nunen was artist-in-residence at the Zendai Himalayas Art Museum, Zhujiajiao, culminating in a solo exhibition there of Chinese ink and watercolour paintings based on his expeditions to Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) and Suzhou. Since 1974, van Nunen has had over 45 solo exhibitions, including the Australian Embassies in Paris, Washington DC and Mexico City, and participated in over 170 group exhibitions in Australia, the United states, France, Italy, England, Scotland, Ireland, Mexico, China, Taiwan, Ireland, Korea and Thailand.
In his tenure as President of the Australian Watercolour Institute, David van Nunen has consolidated strong cultural links with China. A sinophile with a particular interest in Chinese ink painting, he has made numerous trips to China, including as an international guest artist, judge and opening speaker at the Lushan International Watercolour Festival, Lushan, China (2010, 2012, 2014, 2016).
He was also a guest artist in numerous exhibitions, including the Shenzhen International Watercolour Biennial; Qingdao International Watercolour Salon; Shanghai Zhujiajiao International Watercolour Biennial; Second Chinese Academy of Art Watercolour Exhibition; Qingdao-Jimo International Watercolour Exhibition 2016, Third Contemporary International Outstanding Watercolour Exhibition and Reinterpretation: International Watercolour Exhibition.
He has curated several international watercolour exhibitions, including Wattle, Rose and Thistle: The Finest Watercolourists of Australia, England and Scotland (2010) shown in Sydney, the Bankside Gallery, London, the Truro Art Museum, Cornwall, and the Royal Academy, Edinburgh; Tradition and Transformation: Taiwan-Australia Watercolour Exhibition (2012) shown at Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney, and at the Chung-Shan National Art Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan; Across the Water: China-Australia, Modern Masters of Watercolour (2015) shown at the Quanhua Watercolour Art Gallery, Shanghai, the Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China, and the Moran Arts Foundation’s Juniper Hall, Sydney; and Tradition and Transformation 2: Taiwan-Australia International Watercolour Exhibition (2020) shown at the Dadun Cultural Center, Taichung City, and the Moran Arts Foundation’s Juniper Hall Sydney; Memory, Myth and Metaphor: China-Australia (2024), China Cultural Centre, Sydney.
Van Nunen has been a guest lecturer at Georgetown University, Department of Fine Arts and Center for Australian and New Zealand Studies; the Australian Embassy, Washington DC; the National University, Mexico City, Mexico; and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, among other institutions.
His work is represented in major public and corporate collections in Australia, the USA, China, Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Hong Kong, Mexico and the Netherlands, including the National Gallery of Australia; the Art Gallery of New South Wales; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; the Stedlijk Museum, Amsterdam; Parliament House, Canberra; New South Wales State Parliament; the National Library of Australia and State and regional galleries throughout Australia.
Among his many commissions is a 4.5 metre tapestry, Obirri Rock, which hangs as a centrepiece in Darwin International Airport, commissioned by the Federal Airports Corporation.
David van Nunen’s work has been documented in numerous international books, catalogues and art journals, including McCulloch’s Encyclopedia of Australian Art (Melbourne University Press, 2006); Contemporary Australian Painting (McGraw Hill, 1992); Bohemians in the Bush (The Beagle Press, 1991); New Art One: New Directions in Contemporary Australian Art (Craftsman’s House, 1987), Arts International (Vol. XXV, 1982), Arts National, ‘David van Nunen: A New Vision of the Australian Landscape’ (1985).
He is co-author, with Linda van Nunen, of Brushes with History: Masters of Watercolour, published by The Beagle Press in 2015.
I have been an exponent of the plein air landscape painting tradition for more than four decades, the central themes of my oeuvre being Sydney Harbour and its foreshores, Australia’s wilderness areas, national parks and botanic gardens.
The lush, verdant vegetation of Australia’s sub-tropical rainforests is similarly a recurrent motif in my imagery, a visual influence of my early childhood in Queensland and the northern coast of New South Wales.
Invariably, my landscape subjects are informed by the vibrant palette and bold brushwork of European Fauvism.
Having always experienced a strong sense of place (genius loci), my paintings are emblematic evocations of the Australian landscape, conveying its intense light and local colour. Through my practice of painting in front of the motif en plein air, my work is a direct, painterly response to nature in its varied moods and moments, while presenting a dialogue between reality and abstraction.
Recently, I have been exploring Chinese ink painting in relation to Western watercolour brushwork and mark-making in my art practice, most notably in the series of works I executed during my tenure as artist-in-residence at the Himalayas Art Museum, Zhujiajiao, for my subsequent solo exhibition there in June/July 2013.
Sydney