BARNES, ROBERT (1947-)

"Lying Figure" (1985)
oil on board
40 x 50cm
signed on verso
*private collection, Sydney
 
Barnes is a respected Australian Expressionist. This brilliant interior scene is reminiscent of the London School of Post War Figurative painters such as Leon Kossoff, Frank Auerbach & David Bomberg. It also has similarities to the work of the late Australian artist, Nicholas Harding. Brisbane-born Barnes studied Fine Art & Architecture at the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, part of the University of Dundee, graduating in 1971. In 1973 he returned to Brisbane, where he taught art and exhibited locally. His style developed from realist to heavy impastoed, expressionist works by the 1980s. Barnes's paintings have been exhibited in Brisbane (mainly through the Philip Bacon Gallery), New South Wales, New Zealand, Scotland and London. His work is represented in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Queensland Art Gallery, University of Dundee, and in private and corporate collections in Australia and abroad.