The colourful landscapes and expressive portraits of Monto artist Gil Jamieson are now on display in Bundaberg in an exhibition showcasing his deep connection to Central Queensland.
‘Catching the Burnett: Gil Jamieson’ at Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery is on tour from the Monto Museum of Art and was curated by the museum Director, and Gil’s son, Matthew Jamieson.
Matthew said, while his father painted all around Australia, his enduring connection with his home region was a focus throughout his career.
“The subject matter is always Monto,” Matthew said.
“He never used photography and he always used a model or painting on location.
“He’s got this amazing ability to take himself back to where he’s seen.
“It’s all about home and where he comes from and, you know, that’s the wellspring of his story.”
The Jamieson family moved to Monto in around 1924 at around the time larger cattle stations were being broken up into smaller farms.
Gil was born in Monto in 1934 and pursued an artistic career as a young man.
“I think he’d been drawing all his life, and he was encouraged by his mother,” Matthew said.
“He went into National Service and then got rheumatic fever.
“His mother pulled him out of National Service so that he didn’t die.
“And the doctor said, ‘you’ve got a year to live, maybe you should become an artist’.”
Following a time in Brisbane when he ran a successful steel manufacturing company, he moved to Melbourne and became associated with the Antipodeans, a collection of Australian modernist painters.
“His use of colour as a figurative expressionist, comes from being self-taught.
“When he paints a picture, I think he’s thinking of the time of day.
“And he’s always talking about place.”
Matthew and his sister are co-owners of a large collection of around 3,000 works left after Gil’s death in 1992.
The collection has a permanent home in the Monto Museum of Art, a not-for-profit volunteer-run organisation started by Matthew and his family.
“We established the Monto Museum of Art to give life back to the Gil Jamieson collection which was in his studio,” Matthew said.
The touring exhibition draws from the collection and showcases Gil’s connection to the Wide Bay Burnett region as well as Monto.
Matthew said sharing Gil’s artworks and stories widely was important to preserving his legacy.
“It’s inspiring people about the dynamism of our region and to see it as a dynamic, colourful region to be in,” he said.
“It’s got this cultural history which Gil has documented.”
‘Catching the Burnett: Gil Jamieson’ is on display at Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery until Saturday 7 December.
