The World’s Local Fine Art

John de Burgh Perceval 1923-2000

John de Burgh Perceval is one of Australia's most important 20^th century artists, he remains the best-loved artist. Perceval created a relatively small body of work by comparison to Arthur Boyd, David Boyd or Charles Blackman, however his input to Australian contemporary art, and the development of Global art is major.

From the 1940's Perceval made a strong impact and by the 1960's he achieved great recognition and success. Perceval work is held by public galleries, museums and important collections. Awards: 1958 McCaughey Prize; 1960 Wynne Prize; 1991 AO Officer of the Order of Australia; 1966 Albert Hall Perceval Retrospective; 1984 Heide Museum of Modern Art Retrospective; 1992 NGV held Perceval Retrospective; 2000 Galeria Aniela Fine Art held Perceval Retrospective

auction results  John De Burgh Perceval 1923-2000 

JOHN PERCEVAL AO Biography 

VIDEO: Australian National NEWS John Perceval exhibition in Galeria Aniela

Photo (1943): John Perceval (right) Arthur Boyd left Photograph Albert Tucker National Library of Australia

1923 John de Burgh Perceval was born 1 February 1923 in Western Australia at Bruce Rock, Western Australia. Perceval birth name is Linwood Robert Steven South. He was the second child of Robert South and Dorothy née Dolton.

1925 Perceval parents separated. Perceval remained at his father's farm

1941 Perceval enlisted in the army in

1941 Perceval befriended Arthur Boyd

JOHN PERCEVAL played a major role in the Antipodean group in the late 1950's in Melbourne.

Perceval was the member of the famous group known as the Angry Penguins who redefined Australian art in the 40s and the 50's. Other members included John and Sunday Reed, Joy Hester, Sidney Nolan, Arthur Boyd and Albert Tucker.

John de Burgh Perceval (1923-2000) is one of the Australia's most important 20th century artists (Australian Painter) and remains the best-loved artist.

Perceval contribution to important historical group and the development of the contemporary Australian art is significant. All major public and private collections have acquired the representation of Perceval works.

With a contribution spanning nearly six decades, John Perceval created a relatively small body of work by comparison with artists like Arthur Boyd and Sidney Nolan, Perceval produced fewer than 600 original oil paintings.

VIDEO: ABC TV Australian National NEWS Perceval Retrospective Exhibition in Galeria Aniela

Awards:

1958 McCaughey Prize

1960 Wynne Prize

1966 Albert Hall, Canberra held Perceval first major Retrospective Exhibition.

1984 Heide Museum of Modern Art held Perceval Retrospective Exhibition

1992 National Gallery of Victoria Melbourne organized John Perceval major Retrospective (1945-1992)

1991 Officer of the Order of Australia

2000 Galeria Aniela held Perceval Retrospective exhibition open by Justin Miller, Chairmen of Sotheby's Australia (19 August to 19 October held 80 paintings from 1946 to 1999) VIDEO: Australian National NEWS | the ABC TV

VIDEO: Australian National NEWS Perceval Retrospective filmed by the ABC TV

PHOTOS:

Photo (1998): John Perceval, Celia Perceval and Aniela in Perceval Melbourne Studio

Perceval Retrospective was organized with the artist encouragement and support.

Justin Miler, Chairman Sotheby's Australia - 19 August 2000 open the Perceval Retrospective exhibition in  Galeria Aniela Fine Art Gallery.

VIDEO gallery website: JOHN PERCEVAL Retrospective ABC TV the Australian National News

JOHN PERCEVAL Videos 

JOHN PERCEVAL 1923-2000
Old Fishing Boat
 Oil on Canvas
 82 x102 cm
Price: SOLD

JOHN PERCEVAL 1923-2000
Sunflowers in Black vase on Purple
 Oil on canvas
  60 cm x 52 cm
Price: SOLD

 

JOHN PERCEVAL 1923-2000
Williamstown Fishing 1988
 Oil on Canvas
 82 x 102 cm
Price: SOLD

JOHN PERCEVAL 1923-2000
Brilliant Sunflowers
 Oil on Canvas
 82 x 82 cm
Price: SOLD

JOHN PERCEVAL 1923-2000
Sun in the Wheatfield
 Oil on canvas
 80 cm x 80 cm
Price: SOLD

JOHN PERCEVAL 1923-2000
The Big Boat
 Oil on Canvas
 82 x 102 cm
Price: SOLD

JOHN PERCEVAL 1923-2000
Sunflowers in Red vase on Purple
 Oil on canvas
  60 cm x 50 cm
Price: SOLD

JOHN PERCEVAL 1923-2000  
Ships at Williamstown 1988
 Oil on Canvas
 94 x 124 cm
Price: SOLD

JOHN PERCEVAL 1923-2000
Sunflowers on Blue
 Oil on Canvas
  45 cm x 35 cm
Price: SOLD

JOHN PERCEVAL 1923-2000
 Small Boats
  Oil on canvas
 82 x 102 cm
Price:  SOLD

JOHN PERCEVAL 1923-2000
Queen Bee 1988
 Oil on canvas
 100 x 75 cm
Price: SOLD

JOHN PERCEVAL 1923-2000
Nuns in Jeopardy 1990
 Oil on canvas
 92 cm x 122 cm
Price: SOLD

 JOHN PERCEVAL 1923-2000
Title: Sunflowers
 Oil on canvas
 46 cm x 36 cm
Price: SOLD

JOHN PERCEVAL 1923-2000
Williamstown Night Ship
 Oil on canvas
 60 x 92cm
Price: SOLD

 JOHN PERCEVAL 1923-2000
The Farmer 1988
 Oil on canvas
 61 cm x 71 cm
Price: SOLD

JOHN PERCEVAL 1923-2000
Pumpkin House
 Oil on canvas
 82 x 102 cm
Price: SOLD

 JOHN PERCEVAL 1923-2000
Flowers circa 1948
 Oil on Board
 38 x 42 cm
rice: SOLD

 JOHN PERCEVAL 1923-2000
 Light House, Small Boats
  Oil on canvas
 82 x 102 cm
Price:  SOLD

 JOHN PERCEVAL 1923-2000
Floating Mask 1990
 Oil on canvas
 71 x 81 cm
Price: SOLD

John Perceval AO 1923-2000
Sea Angel
Oil on Canvas
  91 cm x 92 cm
    Price: SOLD

John Perceval AO 1923-2000
Angel with Flowers 
 Oil on Paper
Image size: 54 x 74 cm
Price:  SOLD

John Perceval AO 1923-2000
Love Angel 
 Oil on Canvas
Image Size: 31 x 41 cm
Price: SOLD

John Perceval 1923-2000

JOHN PERCEVAL has played a major role in the Antipodean group in the late 1950s in Melbourne and in 1959 he signed the Antipodean Manifesto which determined the shape of Australian contemporary art. Antipodean group reacted strongly against the promoters of non-figurative painting who followed the trends in the United States and suggested that representational painting was unfashionable and outdated. In 30 June 2000 Sotheby's sold John Perceval "Scudding Swans" (Williamstown series) for $552,500 it was then a record for a living Australian painter. In March 2002 Dutscher Menzies sold John Perceval "Sulphur Smoke" for $596,600.

John de Burgh Perceval AO (1 February 1923 - 15 October 2000) was a well-known Australian artist. Perceval was the last surviving member of a group known as the Angry Penguins who redefined Australian art in the 1940s. Other members included John and Sunday Reed, Joy Hester, Sidney Nolan, Arthur Boyd and Albert Tucker.

He was born Linwood Robert Steven South at Bruce Rock, Western Australia, the second child of Robert South (a wheat farmer) and Dorothy née Dolton. His parents separated in 1925 and he remained at his father’s farm until reunited with his mother in Melbourne in 1935. Following the marriage of his mother to William de Burgh Perceval, he changed his name to John and adopted the surname de Burgh Perceval.

John Perceval moved to Melbourne with his mother in 1934 attending a local boarding school, Trinity Grammar, here he had his first access to a large library, where the school’s collection of art books left a profound impact on the teenager. Greatly influenced by Van Gogh’s famous painting of the same title, Perceval’s first work Sunflowers (1935) captures the essence of Van Gogh’s work but Perceval’s own flair can be seen in its depth and unique textural qualities.

In 1938 Perceval contracted polio and was hospitalised, giving him the opportunity to further his skills at drawing and painting. When he contracted polio and was confined to a hospital bed, Perceval spent much of this time developing his skills in drawing and painting. Although he survived the infection, it seriously affected his neck muscles, speech patterns and left him with a permanent limp. These problems continued to give Perceval constant troubles throughout his life.

Enlisting in the army in 1941, following the outbreak of war in the Pacific, Perceval was assigned to the Army Survey Corps when he was rejected as unfit for military duty. In the army Perceval first met and befriended Arthur Boyd. During this time he used his drawing skills to become a draughtsman and soon met other young artists such as Albert Tucker, Sidney Nolan and Arthur Boyd. Becoming a close friend with Boyd, Perceval later met his sister, Mary whom he married in 1944. His associations with Boyd also allowed him to be introduced to the well-known art patrons John and Sunday Reed who helped establish his name within Australia’s art circles. After leaving the army and moving into the Boyd family home at Open Country, Murrumbeena, he married Boyd's younger sister Mary in 1944. Together he and Mary Boyd produced four children.

From 1943, and the aftermath of the war, Perceval began to produce joyful religious and genre paintings with richly textured surfaces. Although he was exhibiting regularly with the Contemporary Art Society, Perceval held his first one-man show at the Melbourne Book Club in 1948.

Establishing a pottery workshop at Murrumbeena with Arthur Boyd and Peter Herbst in 1944, between 1949 and 1955, Perceval turned to ceramic work and created a series of angel figures. Returning to painting in 1956, Perceval produced a series of spontaneous images depicting Williamstown, Gaffney’s Creek and a range of seascapes.

Perceval held his first solo exhibition at the Melbourne Book Club in 1948 and showed regularly with the Contemporary Art Society. Between 1949 and 1955 he concentrated on producing earthenware ceramics and helped to establish the Arthur Merric Boyd Pottery in Murrumbeena. Returning to painting in 1956 Perceval produced a series of images of Williamstown and Gaffney's Creek.

In 1959, Perceval became a member of the Antipodeans, a group of self-taught Australian painters who dramatically changed the local art scene in the 1940s and 50s. Working alongside Arthur Boyd, Albert Tucker, Sidney Nolan and Joy Hester, during his time as an Antipodean Perceval worked with passionate intensity to put his strong responses to nature onto canvas. Proving to be one his most creative periods, his palette and style had matured greatly to show subtle contrasts in tone and vibrant use of colour. In 1961 he began to receive wider recognition and was asked to contribute to the renowned Whitechapel Gallery’s 50 Australian Painters show in London. His work was also included in the 1962 Rebels and Precursors in Australia, London’s Tate Gallery in 1963 and later at Brazil’s Museum of Modern Art.

Moving to England in 1963 Perceval held solo exhibitions in London, and travelled to Europe, before returning to Australia in 1965 to take up the first Australian National University Creative Fellowship (Australian National University Creative Fellowship in Canberra). John Perceval, a major retrospective exhibition, was held at Albert Hall, Canberra in 1966. Author Margaret Plant's monograph John Perceval, was published in 1971.

However, despite his rising success, Perceval was tackling serious health problems. Suffering from alcoholism and schizophrenia in 1974 Perceval committed himself to the psychiatric hospital Larundel, Melbourne, where he spent nearly ten years of his life and remained until 1981. Perceval produced a small number of crayon sketches during this time and he did not seriously take up drawing and painting until 1987. Some of the images Perceval produced after his release from hospital reflect strong elements of tension and trauma. This can be seen in his works Jack-in-the-box with rooster lid (1987) and Feeding the Seagulls (1988) which include axe images and troubled expression. After Perceval left the hospital he again to begin producing jubilant and brilliant paintings with richly textured surfaces which brought him fame in the 50’s in his early artistic acclaim.

In 1984 John Perceval Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings was held at Heide Park and Art Gallery. Perceval created the prestigious Sunflowers series and also continued his bellowed Williamstown series of paintings. John Perceval established very strong emotional connection with Williamstown, a small Melbourne Harbour. Williamstown paintings formed Perceval first major show in 1956 bringing Perceval an immediate artistic acclaim and financial success. Perceval early Williamstown paintings are in the prestigious permanent collection of the National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne) and the Heide Art Gallery, Victoria (John and Sunday Reed Collection).

In 1990 National Gallery of Victoria organized John Perceval major Retrospective exhibition.

In 1991 Perceval was awarded Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), it was the year after the National Gallery of Victoria organised John Perceval Retrospective.

In 2000 JOHN PERCEVAL held his last major retrospective exhibition at Galeria Aniela officially opened by Justin Miller, Chairman Sotheby's Australia on Saturday, 19 August. The exhibition included 85 works, from as early as 1943, oil paintings, drawings, pastels and watercolours some works have not been previously seen. The exhibition held for 3 months was a fabulous success and canvassed by the ABC TV Australian National News.

Perceval continued with his art until his death in 2000. As the last of the original core of the Antipodeans, Perceval death was considered a great tragedy.

Prior to his death Scudding Swans (1959) sold for $552,500, a record for a living Australian painter. Perceval is survived by his four children, all of whom Celia Perceval, Tessa Perceval and Matthew Perceval are practicing artists today.

 Perceval Retrospective Australian National NEWS, the ABC TV

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LEFT Nov. 2023 Photo:  Aniela and Cameron Menzies            RIGHT 2003 Photo: Aniela, Bob Hawke and Blanche D'Alpuget